Abstract

This paper examines some large-scale patterns of behavioural change that are often viewed as indicators for the advent of cultural modernity and developed symbolic communication. Using examples from Africa and Eurasia, the paper reviews patterns of lithic and organic technology, subsistence and settlement as potential indicators of modern behaviour. These areas of research produce a mosaic picture of advanced technology and behavioural patterns that come and go during the late Middle and Late Pleistocene. Based on these data the emergence of modern behaviour, as seen in the archaeologically visible material record, appears to be gradual and heterogeneous in space and time. The evidence for the use of pigments is consistent with these data.

During the early part of the Late Pleistocene personal ornaments in the form of sea shells are documented in south-western Asia and southern Africa. By about 40 thousand years ago (Kya) a diverse array of personal ornaments is documented across the Old World in association with Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans in Europe. These include both modified natural objects and fully formed ornaments. The timing and distribution of the appearance of figurative art and other classes of artefacts including musical instruments point to a more punctuated development of fully modern behaviour during the middle of the Late Pleistocene at approximately 40 Kya. Due perhaps in part to the long and intense history of research much, but by no means all, of the relevant data come from Europe. Early figurative art from the Aurignacian of south-western Germany, northern Italy, Austria and southern France provides undisputed evidence for fully developed symbolic communication and behavioural modernity.

This paper also discusses some of the hypotheses for the development and spread of cultural modernity and rejects a strict monogenetic model in favour of a pattern of historically contingent, polygenetic development within a dynamic equilibrium between archaic and modern humans. The paper highlights the need for new refutable, regional and super-regional hypotheses for the advent and spread of behavioural modernity.

Résumé

Le présent article examine quelques-uns des aspects du changement comportemental généralement considéré comme indicateur de l'apparition d'une modernité culturelle et d'un système de communication symbolique élaboré. Sur la base d'exemples tirés d'Afrique et d'Eurasie nous passerons en revue la technologie lithique et en matière dure animale, les modes de subsistance et d'habitat comme vecteurs potentiels d'un comportement moderne.

Abstract

The oldest archaeological sites currently known in northernmost South Africa are found in the Mapungubwe National Park (formerly known as the Vhembe-Dongola National Park) and neighbouring farms, where there is a widespread distribution of open-air sites in deflated contexts. They are sealed by Holocene sands, which at some of the sites contain Later Stone Age (LSA) artefacts. The industry to which the older assemblages are most comparable is final Earlier Stone Age (ESA) in character, with parallels to the Sangoan Industry, or what has locally been proposed as the Charaman from Zimbabwe. A developed phase of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) with segments and retouched points is also represented on one landscape. Rockshelter sites are being investigated to locate stratified deposits to which the open sites may be compared. In the interim, the material provides a form of ‘archaeological signature’ that can contribute to the overall evaluation of Stone Age occupations in northernmost South Africa. Large-scale climatic fluctuations during the course of the Pleistocene have influenced occupations across southern Africa. The archaeology of the Mapungubwe area appears to have more in common with developments north of the Limpopo than it does with the South African sequence.

Résumé

Les plus anciens sites préhistoriques de la région septentrionale de l'Afrique du Sud se trouvent dans le Parc National de Mapungubwe (appelé auparavant Parc National de Vhembe-Dongola) et dans les fermes voisines. Il s'agit de gisements de plein air localisés dans des plaines et recouverts de formations sableuses datant de l'Holocène qui contiennent, dans certains des sites, des objets du Later Stone Age. Les industries les plus anciennes de la région sont comparables à celles de la fin du Early Stone Age (ESA), avec quelques ressemblances avec le Sangoan ou le Charaman du Zimbabwe. Une phase évoluée du Middle Stone Age (MSA), avec des segments et des pointes retouchées, a également été identifiée dans une zone. Des abris sous roche font actuellement l'objet de prospections avec l'objectif de localiser des dépôts archéologiques stratifiés auxquels rattacher les sites de plein air.

Abstract

Over the past twelve years Blombos Cave has yielded a well-preserved sample of faunal and cultural material in Middle Stone Age (MSA) levels. The MSA phases are separated from the < 2 thousand years (Ka) Later Stone Age (LSA) levels by a blanketing aeolian dune sand 5–50 cm thick dated at c. 70 Ka by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). Careful examination of sediments and anthropogenically derived deposits within individual levels over the past four years has allowed us to sub-divide the MSA levels into three major phases, namely (1) a Still Bay, or M1, phase dated at c. 75 Ka by OSL and thermoluminescence, (2) a middle M2 phase provisionally dated by OSL at c. 78 Ka, (3) a lower M3 phase provisionally dated by OSL at > 100 Ka. Artefacts unusual in a Middle Stone Age context have been recovered from all three phases. These include marine shell beads, bifacial ‘laurel-leaf’ points, bone tools, engraved bone and engraved ochre in M1, and bone tools in M2. The likely symbolic significance of these finds suggests levels of cognitively modern behaviour not previously associated with Middle Stone Age people. Key issues discussed in this paper are the possibility of admixture of older and younger deposits at Blombos Cave and whether some MSA artefacts derive from the LSA levels (also see Klein, 2000: 29).

Résumé

Au cours des douze dernières années, la grotte de Blombos a livré des restes fauniques et culturels bien conservés dans les niveaux du Middle Stone Age (MSA). Les couches du MSA sont séparées de celles du Later Stone Age (LSA), datés de moins de 2 Ka, par une dune éolienne épaisse de 5 à 50cm, datée aux alentours de 70 Ka par luminescence stimulée optiquement (OSL). Un examen détaillé du dépôt a permis au cours des quatre dernières années de subdiviser les couches du MSA en trois phases principales, soit (1) une phase Still Bay ou M1 datée par OSL et thermoluminescence à environ 75 Ka, (2) une phase moyenne M2 datée provisoirement par OSL à environ 78 Ka, (3) une phase ancienne M3 provisoirement datée par OSL à plus de 100 Ka.

Abstract

Diepkloof is a large rock shelter overlooking the lower reaches of the Verlorenvlei in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Earlier excavations have shown that a series of Middle Stone Age (MSA) assemblages underlie a shallow Later Stone Age (LSA) occupation of the shelter. Current excavations under the direction of the authors have resolved the cultural stratigraphy and generated valuable associations between stone tool sets, faunal, plant and wood charcoal remains and a large series of intentionally marked ostrich eggshell fragments, including at least one demonstrable water flask mouth. Stone tool assemblages of characteristically Howieson's Poort forms are overlain by MSA assemblages with unifacial points and quite different raw materials and underlain by MSA assemblages that are as yet hard to classify. The intentionally marked ostrich eggshell fragments are found in the upper part of the Howieson's Poort series.

Résumé

Diepkloof est un grand abri qui domine l'estuaire du Verlorenvlei, situé dans la Province du Western Cape, en Afrique du Sud. Les premières fouilles du site ont mis en évidence une séquence comprenant une fine couche du Later Stone Age (LSA) sus-jacent plusieurs couches contenant des assemblages du Middle Stone Age (MSA). Les fouilles en cours, menées sous la direction des auteurs, ont précisé la stratigraphie du site et étudié la relation entre les industries lithiques, les restes fauniques, les fragments de bois et de charbon d'un côté et une série de fragments d'oeufs d'autruche gravés de l'autre. Ces analyses révèlent la présence d'une industrie Howieson's Poort sous-jacente à un MSA à pointes unifaciales et utilisant des matières premières différentes. La couche inférieure contient une industrie MSA encore à définir. Les fragments d'oeuf d'autruche gravés proviennent du sommet de la couche Howieson's Poort.

Introduction

Diepkloof is one of two very high overhangs, or abris, that overlook the Verlorenvlei River about 18 km upstream from its mouth in the southern corner of Elands Bay (Fig. 1). One of these has an abundance of rock paintings and a shallow (less than a metre) deposit mostly comprising Middle Stone Age materials. It is an interesting site that demands more investigation. The other overhang, on which we concentrate here, has fewer rock paintings but a much deeper set of deposits and has been the focus of several excavations since the early 1970s.

Abstract

Vegetation and climate influence the lifestyles and behaviour of the fauna in any region, so much so that animals with certain requirements can only live in suitable areas. Modern humankind can manipulate the vegetation to suit his needs but early humankind was at the mercy of the elements. Before we can postulate how and when evolutionary changes, modifications or adaptations occurred in the hominids, we need to know what the vegetation and climate were like. Comparative studies of fossil faunas with modern faunal distributions have been used to predict the palaeoclimate and vegetation. Pollen, phytolith and light isotope studies are also used, but the most direct method is to look at the actual fossil plants. Unfortunately these are not often preserved with the faunal remains but where they do occur an interesting picture emerges. Four case studies will be presented here, from East and South Africa, from short periods within a long time range. From Laetoli (Tanzania) fossil woods have been collected, between 4,3 and 3,8 Ma (million years), which show a complex diversity of species. Many seeds have been preserved just below the Foot Print Tuff, dated at 3,56 Ma. Detailed research has just begun on these plant remains. A multi-disciplinary project at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, has revealed many fossil plants: wood of Guibourtia coleosperma, sedges, grasses and other woody plants still to be identified. These plants come from upper Bed I and lower Bed II, approximately 1,8–1,7 Ma. Together with the tephrostratigraphy and sedimentology, these show that there have been dramatic and frequent fluctuations in the vegetation and climate. The saline lake has expanded and contracted, and faulting has also changed the drainage pattern, so the fluvial systems and wetlands have shifted a number of times. Fossil woods from the Sterkfontein Cave site in South Africa show that there was gallery forest during Member 4 times. One piece of wood has survived from the Florisbad site in South Africa. This is much younger, 259–125 Ka (thousand years), and appears to have been worked into a tool. The wood, Zanthoxylum chalybeum, is not a local one, and shows that there has been a climatic shift and the area is much drier today. The data and interpretation by other researchers and from other sites are discussed here.

Abstract

Personal ornaments have come to play an important role in the debate on the origin of behavioural modernity and the evolution of our ancestors’ cognitive abilities. All authors agree in categorising beads as one of the hallmarks of cultural modernity, i.e. the cultural traits that underlie societies similar to ours. Divergent opinions exist, however, as to the dating of the first evidence of bead use and the taxonomic status of the first bead makers. Recent data seem to suggest that the most ancient personal ornaments were not put on in Europe but rather in Africa or in the Near East, and they can therefore no longer be seen as tied to the Aurignacian. It seems equally established in Europe that not only anatomically modern humans but also late Neanderthals produced and used such objects. Undoubtedly these discoveries have important implications for the question regarding the unique or multiple emergence(s) of symbolic thought and its association with one or more human types. But beads may offer more. In traditional societies they play at least fourteen different and often multiple roles (e.g. they may be used to beautify the body, function as ‘love letters’ in courtship, or as amulets, exchange media, expressions of individual and group identity, markers of age, class, gender, wealth or social status) which offer varied and rich information on the individuals, social groups, and societies that used them. This paper focuses on the variety of functions that personal ornaments have in human societies and on the methods we may use to understand the role beadwork played in the earliest symbolic cultures. Application of such methods to a review of the earliest evidence for bead use from Europe, the Near East, Australia and Africa suggests that the motives that stimulated the creation of beadwork traditions in the different areas were different. The main function of the earliest African beadworks seems to be that of circulating in an exchange system to reinforce reciprocity networks ensuring the survival of hunter-gatherer groups in times of stress. In Europe beads seem rather to have been used to strengthen affiliation to a group and visualise social and individual roles within the group.

Abstract

Inferences drawn from the study of the variability in sets of stone artefacts are central to the debate on the emergence of modern behaviour in the Middle and Late Pleistocene in Africa. Some argue that the Middle Stone Age demonstrates little variability while others emphasise the clear temporal and regional patterning. These contrary perceptions result from using methodologies that highlight different aspects of the variability. How the methodologies influence the detection and interpretation of variability is discussed with reference to the Klasies River site. This artefact sequence has been assessed as reflecting typological and technological stasis with marked change in the sequence only recognisable in the Howieson's Poort sub-stage. The study reported here suggests that technological variables indicate that the MSA I, MSA II and Howieson's Poort represent distinct technological conventions or technocomplexes aimed at the production of different end-products. In the MSA I, a blade strategy dominates, in the MSA II a Levallois-like production strategy is inferred while the Howieson's Poort again represents a blade reduction strategy with a more extended chaîne opératoire than the other sub-stages. To clarify the differences between the MSA I and MSA II, univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of the continuous variables of the end-products, points and blades were undertaken. This confirmed and quantified that the MSA I can be distinguished from the MSA II in terms of technological characteristics. It is evident that the platform characteristics of the end-products are time-sensitive indicators of differences between the sub-stages. It is important that the changes in the sequence at Klasies River are correlated with other Middle Stone Age occurrences. It is only when regional patterning is clarified that the issue of modern behaviour can be addressed in terms of the variability in Middle Stone Age artefacts.

Résumé

La variabilité des assemblages lithiques est au coeur du débat sur l’émergence des comportements moderne au cours du Pléistocène moyen et supérieur en Afrique. Certains auteurs considèrent que le Middle Stone Age (MSA) se caractérise par une faible variabilité alors que d'autres identifient des différences diachroniques et régionales. Ces visions opposées sont la conséquence des méthodes d'analyse, chacune mettant en évidence certains aspects de la variabilité entre assemblages.

Abstract

Excavations at Blombos Cave have produced early evidence for advanced cognitive behaviour associated with the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in South Africa. An important question posed at this site was whether these significant artefacts may perhaps represent intrusions from the younger Later Stone Age (LSA) levels. Here it is demonstrated how optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements of individual quartz grains can provide experimental data from which mixing between adjacent sedimentary layers can be assessed. By association, the likelihood of movement of artefacts through these sedimentary layers can be inferred. The stratigraphic sequence at Blombos Cave is ideal for such a study, since a thick archaeologically sterile aeolian dune layer separates the c. 2 Ka old LSA from the c. 70 Ka old MSA occupation layers. Based on the known age estimates from the LSA and MSA, an artificial sediment mixture was produced and measured in the laboratory to simulate what measured De values for grains from the dune layer would look like if mixing of LSA and MSA sediments had occurred. This mixture is then used as a guideline against which the measured distribution of De values from the natural sediment sample obtained from the dune layer itself can be compared. OSL measurements on a large number of quartz grains from the dune layer found no evidence for mixing and confirmed the stratigraphic integrity of the MSA artefacts.

Résumé

La fouille de la grotte de Blombos, en Afrique du Sud, a permis la découverte, dans des couches du Middle Stone Age, de preuves particulièrement anciennes de comportements cognitifs modernes. Une question cruciale concernant ce site est de savoir si les objets permettant de proposer l'hypothèse d'une origine précoce des comportements modernes pourraient en fait représenter des intrusions des niveaux plus récents, datés du Later Stone Age (LSA). Nous montrons dans cette contribution de quelle façon les mesures faites par luminescence stimulée optiquement (OSL) sur des grains de quartz singuliers peuvent fournir des données expérimentales permettant d’évaluer le degré de mélange entre couches sédimentaires adjacentes. Par analogie, nous pouvons déduire la probabilité que des objets se soient déplacés à travers les couches archéologiques.

Abstract

The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition in Western Europe presents evidence for two species of Homo living side by side. The anatomically archaic species, the Neanderthals, borrowed certain practices from their Homo sapiens neighbours, but did not borrow others. It is hypothesised that the reason for their selectivity was their type of consciousness. While Homo sapiens people had higher-order consciousness, Neanderthals had a form of primary consciousness that did not permit them long-term symbolic memory or the ability to conceive of a spirit world. Coping with the shifting nature of higher-order consciousness, anatomically modern people necessarily divided the spectrum of mental states into evaluated segments. In this way, social discrimination and religion originated in tandem. Image-making in subterranean caverns was both a religious ritual and an instrument for social discrimination.

Résumé

La transition Paléolithique moyen – Paléolithique supérieur en Europe occidentale se caractérise par la présence de deux espèces d’Homo vivant l'une à côté de l'autre. L'espèce anatomiquement archaïque, l'homme de Néandertal, a emprunté certaines pratiques de son voisin l’Homo sapiens, mais n'en a pas emprunté d'autres. Nous proposons comme hypothèse que la raison de cet emprunt sélectif réside dans le type de conscience dont étaient pourvus les néanderthaliens. Alors que l’Homo sapiens avait une conscience d'ordre supérieure, l'homme de Néandertal avait une forme de conscience primaire qui ne lui offrait pas une mémoire symbolique à long terme ni la capacité de concevoir un monde spirituel. Faisant face à la nature changeante d'une conscience d'ordre supérieur, les hommes anatomiquement modernes divisaient inévitablement l’éventail des états mentaux en segments évalués. En suivant ce model, la stratification sociale et la religion sont apparues ensemble. La production d'images dans la les grottes profondes était à la fois l'expression d'un rituel religieux et un moyen de différenciation sociale.

Introduction

The West European Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition (c. 35 000–40 000 BP) is richly evidenced. During that time, Homo neanderthalensis groups, makers of the longenduring Mousterian technocomplex, lived in proximity to in-coming Aurignacian Homo sapiens communities. The Neanderthals took over some practices from the new arrivals to create the Châtelperronian technocomplex. Nevertheless, by the end of the period, the Neanderthals were extinct. During contact times H. sapiens produced an efflorescence of cave and portable imagery and sometimes elaborately furnished graves.

Abstract

Excavations of poorly known or previously understudied sites within the Sterkfontein region over the past several years have revealed an abundance of new information concerning the mode and tempo of hominin evolution and culture, faunal variability and faunal change through time, and the chronology of sites. They have also increased our understanding of cave formation processes, which have a bearing on the taphonomy of fossil assemblages. As excavations have extended, it has become clear that early hominin cultural remains are more prevalent than has been previously hypothesised and the presence or absence of cultural remains appears to be more closely related to the excavations’ proximity to cave entrances than to other factors. Additionally, the increased diversity of work has offered considerable insight into supposedly rare faunal forms and the frequency of their occurrence in the South African assemblages. The extension of research into these ‘new’ sites has also yielded information about the chronological ‘windows’ preserved in the region. The application of new technologies, in particular GIS, promises to allow greater understanding of these assemblages.

Résumé

Des fouilles dans des sites peu connus ou qui n'avaient pas fait l'objets d'analyses systématiques dans la région de Sterkfontein ont révélé au cours des dernières années des nouvelles informations sur les populations d'hominidés qui ont vécu dans cette région, sur leurs cultures, sur la variabilité et les changements des faunes et sur la chronologie des sites. Ils nous ont également permis d'accroître notre compréhension du mode de formation des cavités et des dépôts, fait crucial pour comprendre la taphonomie des assemblages fossiles. En élargissant les surfaces fouillées est apparue une abondance insoupçonné de restes et la concentration de ceux-ci à l'entrée des cavités.

Ces nouvelles fouilles ont également produit des nouvelles informations sur la présence et fréquence de certains taxons dans les assemblages fauniques sud-africains et sur la chronologie des gisements. L'application de techniques SIG offre une nouvelle clef pour la compréhension de ces gisements.

Introduction

Within the Sterkfontein valley area – now designated the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site by UNESCO – cave sites bearing stone tools have been considered rare.

Sub-Saharan Africa provides an archaeological and palaeontological record that is crucial to understanding hominid anatomical and behavioural evolution. This cradle of humanity has attracted a number of international interdisciplinary research teams in search of answers as to what made us human. Collaboration with African scientists has been particularly fruitful, producing in the last few decades some of the most significant contributions to these fields of study. Since the 1920s French archaeologists and palaeoanthropologists have collaborated with South African colleagues to unearth and highlight this unique heritage. The primary aim of the symposium was to synthesise and debate results of current research on the origin of humankind and share thoughts on the future of this endeavour. More specifically, it provided the opportunity to highlight results of collaborative French–South African research projects in the framework of international research programmes conducted in southern Africa, and envision paths for future collaboration.

Scholars interested in the human past are living in an exciting era, in which crossfertilisation between disciplines such as palaeoanthropology, primatology, genetics, archaeology, palaeoecology, climatology, linguistics, ethnography, evolutionary psychology and the neurosciences is producing novel integrated attempts at modelling biological–cultural interactions. The challenge is how to promote this dialogue in a manner that stimulates better comprehension of the human adventure without creating dogmatic paradigms or mainstream scenarios.

In the past the concept of ‘culture’ played a crucial role in creating a conceptual barrier between humans and other primates. We now accept that chimpanzees possess rather complex cultural traditions that are independent of ecological constraints (Whiten et al., 1999). Partly as a consequence of this, it has become commonplace to use the notion of ‘behavioural modernity’ rather than that of culture to indicate the range of ‘advanced’ traits that distinguish us and our recent ancestors from living primates and a fluctuating number of fossil hominid populations (Bar-Yosef, 2002; Klein, 1999; McBrearty & Brooks, 2000). However, it is argued that the definitions of ‘behavioural modernity’ proposed thus far are ambiguous and often represent ad hoc accommodative arguments to provide a theoretically grounded basis for the interpretation of archaeological evidence (d'Errico, 2003; d'Errico et al., 2003; Henshilwood & Marean, 2003).

Abstract

The chronologies of the Still Bay and the Howieson's Poort techno-complexes have been hotly debated for the last three decades, because though these technologies belong to the South African Middle Stone Age (MSA) they show affinities with those of the Late Stone Age (LSA) and are found associated with remains that reflect modern human behaviour. The aim of this article is to sum up and discuss the various published chronological data. In the first part are summarised the hypotheses derived from multidisciplinary (geological, palaeontological, stable-isotopic…) studies at Border Cave and Klasies River Mouth which place the Howieson's Poort within the last glacial cycle. In the second part a summary and evaluation of the radiometric and biochemical dates obtained since 1990 for the remains associated with these two techno-complexes is followed by a presentation of the thermoluminescence ages recently calculated for the burnt stones from the Howieson's Poort levels of the Klasies River Mouth (56 ± 3 thousand years (Ka) and the [Still Bay] levels of the Blombos Cave (74 ± 5 Ka).

Résumé

La chronologie des techno-complexes Still Bay (SB) et Howieson's Poort a fait l'objet de nombreuses discussions depuis une trentaine d'années car, bien qu'attribués au Middle Stone Age (MSA) de l'Afrique australe, ces techno-complexes présentent des affinités avec ceux du Later Stone Age (LSA) et sont associés à des vestiges qui reflètent des comportements modernes. L'objectif de cet article est de faire le bilan des données chronologiques disponibles et de les discuter. La première partie résume le résultat d’études pluridisciplinaires (géologie, paléontologie, isotopes stables…) réalisées dans les sites de Border Cave et de Klasies River Mouth. Ces études situent l'Howieson's Poort au sein du dernier cycle glaciaire. La seconde partie dresse le bilan des datations radiométriques ou biochimiques réalisées depuis les années 90 sur des vestiges associés à ces deux techno-complexes. Puis elle présente les âges moyens obtenus récemment par la méthode de la thermoluminescence appliquée aux pierres chauffées du niveau Howieson's Poort de Klasies River Mouth (56 ± 3 Ka) et du niveau Still Bay de Blombos Cave (74 ± 5 Ka).

Introduction

The Howieson's Poort and Still Bay techno-complexes include certain characteristics usually attributed to Late Stone Age: the backed geometric tools of Howieson's Poort are reminiscent of Wilton and the bifacial foliate points of Still Bay have been compared to those of the Solutrean (Fig. 1).

Abstract

Until 2000, several scientists considered Ardipithecus ramidus from Ethiopia, at 4,5 Ma old (million years) to be a very early ancestor of later hominids, australopithecines and hominines. Based on molecular clocks, the dichotomy between apes and humans was supposed to be situated around 6 Ma, and this discovery was viewed as supporting the molecular data. But, at the time, the hominoid fossil record between 9,5 and 4,5 Ma was very poor (only a few fragments of bones, maxillae and mandibles were known – all from Kenya) and new material was clearly needed. In 2000, field work by the Kenya Palaeontology Expedition (a Franco-Kenyan cooperative project) led to the discovery of Orrorin tugenensis in the Tugen Hills (Kenya), which dates to between 6,0 and 5,7 Ma. The species was originally represented by eleven specimens: a mandible in two pieces, several isolated teeth and postcranial bones (three fragmentary femora, a distal humerus and a proximal manual phalanx). Since 2000, the number of specimens has doubled, including more teeth and postcranials. The teeth show a complex mixture of primitive ape-like features (such as the presence of a low distal shoulder on the upper canine crown, a mesiodistally elongated upper canine) and derived hominid features (the molars – small, squarish with thick enamel and with almost vertical lingual walls – recall those of hominids, a lower canine with a distal tubercle and a mesial marginal ridge, and the absence of a C-P3 diastema). The femoral features show clear evidence of adaptation to bipedalism (presence of an obturator externus groove, an elongated femoral neck, an anteriorly twisted head, and the pattern of the cortical distribution in the femoral neck among others). However, Orrorin exhibits some differences from the australopithecines in the morphology of the femoral neck, the position of the lesser trochanter and projection of the femoral head; but also shares some features with them (asymmetrical cortical distribution in the neck, length of the neck, presence of the m. obturator externus groove, among others). The humerus and phalanx imply arboreality in Orrorin. Dentally, Orrorin appears to be a very early hominid, a conclusion reinforced by the adaptation to bipedalism.

Our Embassy is deeply committed to the continuing development of a sound co-operation between France and South Africa in the fields of palaeontology and palaeoanthropology. There are several reasons for this. Subsidising the discovery of the past, our origins and our ancestors has been a well-established, almost centennial tradition of our department ever since we began archaeological missions to the Middle East. This tradition continues today and is fitting for a country where cultural research is a vital part of its transition to democracy.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs devotes around one third of its budget to ‘cultural cooperation’, which is considered an important component of our diplomacy. By supporting our quest for the past through various missions throughout Africa, France reinforces her well-known commitment to the promotion of cultural diversity throughout the world and her respect for diversified forms of human fulfilment.

In this regard, we share President Thabo Mbeki's homage to the work of Phillip Tobias and Francis Thackeray at the inauguration of the Freedom Park Museum in Pretoria. Here he stressed how important for the new South Africa the work of these two eminent scholars and their colleagues are, because when investigating the past three million years of human evolution, they see beyond the divisions of race, colour and creed and stress instead the unifying aspects of our common ancestry. We share that belief and this homage to Professor Tobias, our guest of honour today.

Another reason for our sustained efforts in this field lies in the already established research cooperation between France and South Africa, as the number of speakers in this seminar attests. Public funds to the tune of €1 500 000 per year are made available for the development of scientific cooperation between our two countries. We wish to maintain and if possible increase this level, particularly through support for the training of students, researchers or technical agents from historically disadvantaged communities. This cooperation is based on both a common respect for and interest in the exceptionally rich heritage of our two countries.

This conference celebrates and explores the origins of technology and the human brain, and the evolution of our species. It is particularly appropriate that it is held in South Africa. For more than a decade, South Africa has been at the centre of dynamic change that has reshaped our world and our ideas about ourselves as Africans and South Africans. We achieved, against all odds, a relatively peaceful transition from a racially oppressive system to a functioning democracy. Every person in our country has guaranteed rights of democracy and freedom of speech under our Constitution. In addition, through our Constitution – one of the most progressive in the world – we as South Africans make a series of promises to each other concerning treating each other with dignity, equality and non-discrimination, as well as providing each other with basic socio-economic rights. From the base premises of apartheid we have joined as South Africans in aspiring to create a non-racial society based upon the fundamentals of civilised conditions and mutual respect. In doing so we have done more than merely refuse to be the prisoners of our degrading racial past. We have in fact demonstrated to the world the innate potential of humanity – the qualities of restraint, coordination and respect that have helped make Homo sapiens such a successful species.

Yet, we still struggle. As the scientists assembled here will almost certainly tell us, we are very far from perfect – we have flawed anatomies, we misuse and abuse our technologies, and we have a too-marked propensity for intra-species violence. At this time in history, almost more than at any other time, humankind as a species faces grave issues. Here in Africa and around the world we face a mass epidemic of HIV/AIDS – a disease that probably originated in Africa. Our continent struggles with wars and famine, with racism, ethnicity, tribalism and religious intolerance. Our technologies – the very subject this conference explores – have been a blessing and a burden. We have used them for good: curing diseases, uplifting human lives, and exploring our world around us. In doing so, we utilised the power of the human brain, evolved here in Africa, to its fullest.