The new hominid skeleton from Sterkfontein, South Africa: age and preliminary assessment

A new hominid skeleton from Sterkfontein Member 2 attaches to foot bones re covered from loose blocks during the 1980s and first described in 1995. Sev eral flowstone horizons are present above and below the skeleton and have g iven clear palaeomagnetic signatures. Five changes in magnetic polarity hav e been identified; when constrained by the available biostratigraphy, this sequence can be placed confidently between 3.22 and 3.58 Ma. Interpolation of sedimentation rates over the small intervals between reversals allows th is range to be reduced to 3.30-3.33 Ma. The skeleton is thus the oldest yet discovered and is considered to belong to a species of Australopithecus ot her than africanus. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.