Taung – The Nexus of African Paleoanthropology

Taung – The Nexus of African Paleoanthropology

Professor Jeffrey McKee
(Dept. of Anthropology, The Ohio State University)

When: Friday March 11, 2022
Time: 1:30pm
Where: Via Zoom

The Department of Anthropology’s Annual SPENCE LECTURE (2021-2022)

The fossil site of Taung, South Africa, is famous for the 1924 discovery of an early hominin, the first such find of an early human ancestor on the African continent. The fossil skull of a juvenile Australopithecus africanus initially stirred much controversy, as did the nature of the fossil site. Not much was known about the site until the 1988 to 1993 excavations at Taung, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand, under the field direction of Jeffrey K. McKee. This presentation will give an overview of the historical importance of Taungin shaping scientific understandings of our evolutionary past, and will recount the adventurous excavations led at that key fossil site.

*Thank you to Social Science Students Council for their support via the Student Donation Fund*


Everyone is welcome.

RSVP by March 1 to anthrorsvp@uwo.ca