Human Evolution Research Institute at University of Cape Town
@heriuct.bsky.social
Our work drives transformative research on the African record of human evolution. Learn more: https://linktr.ee/heri.uct
Ancient tooth proteins reveal the biological sex and genetic diversity of Paranthropus robustus.
Led by Dr. Palesa Madupe of the University of Copenhagen and UCT’s HERI, this study provides the oldest human genetic data from Africa.
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Led by Dr. Palesa Madupe of the University of Copenhagen and UCT’s HERI, this study provides the oldest human genetic data from Africa.
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 19, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Ancient tooth proteins reveal the biological sex and genetic diversity of Paranthropus robustus.
Led by Dr. Palesa Madupe of the University of Copenhagen and UCT’s HERI, this study provides the oldest human genetic data from Africa.
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Led by Dr. Palesa Madupe of the University of Copenhagen and UCT’s HERI, this study provides the oldest human genetic data from Africa.
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Flowstones from the Cradle of Humankind in #SouthAfrica reveal no evidence of intrusion.
New work, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, counters arguments that the flowstones are uniform & intrusive, adding support for their role in dating fossils.
🔗 www.heriuct.co.za/news-content...
New work, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, counters arguments that the flowstones are uniform & intrusive, adding support for their role in dating fossils.
🔗 www.heriuct.co.za/news-content...
November 12, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Flowstones from the Cradle of Humankind in #SouthAfrica reveal no evidence of intrusion.
New work, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, counters arguments that the flowstones are uniform & intrusive, adding support for their role in dating fossils.
🔗 www.heriuct.co.za/news-content...
New work, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, counters arguments that the flowstones are uniform & intrusive, adding support for their role in dating fossils.
🔗 www.heriuct.co.za/news-content...
🦴 The #TaungChild fossil changed how we understand human origins in #Africa. Its story is shaped by prejudice, rivalry and hidden hands.
🎧 Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child from HERI and ARC explores its history and legacy.
Listen here 👉 linktr.ee/arcdocs
🎧 Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child from HERI and ARC explores its history and legacy.
Listen here 👉 linktr.ee/arcdocs
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 AM
🦴 The #TaungChild fossil changed how we understand human origins in #Africa. Its story is shaped by prejudice, rivalry and hidden hands.
🎧 Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child from HERI and ARC explores its history and legacy.
Listen here 👉 linktr.ee/arcdocs
🎧 Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child from HERI and ARC explores its history and legacy.
Listen here 👉 linktr.ee/arcdocs
Science is stronger when every voice is heard. At HERI, diversity drives discovery, challenges assumptions, and creates richer stories of our shared human story.
October 29, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Science is stronger when every voice is heard. At HERI, diversity drives discovery, challenges assumptions, and creates richer stories of our shared human story.
Applications are open for the 2025 Student Development Workshop (SDW) at Skukuza, Kruger National Park! 🌿🦓
A great opportunity for students in archaeology & heritage management.
📅 6–10 Dec 2025
See details on SAASS social media & website: www.saassarchaeology.com/upcoming-eve...
A great opportunity for students in archaeology & heritage management.
📅 6–10 Dec 2025
See details on SAASS social media & website: www.saassarchaeology.com/upcoming-eve...
October 24, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Applications are open for the 2025 Student Development Workshop (SDW) at Skukuza, Kruger National Park! 🌿🦓
A great opportunity for students in archaeology & heritage management.
📅 6–10 Dec 2025
See details on SAASS social media & website: www.saassarchaeology.com/upcoming-eve...
A great opportunity for students in archaeology & heritage management.
📅 6–10 Dec 2025
See details on SAASS social media & website: www.saassarchaeology.com/upcoming-eve...
Africa’s caves are timekeepers of climate and life. 🌍
An all-women research team, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, has revealed how rock layers called speleothems record shifts in Africa’s past and help us date fossils more reliably.
#WomenInScience & rooted in Africa.
An all-women research team, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, has revealed how rock layers called speleothems record shifts in Africa’s past and help us date fossils more reliably.
#WomenInScience & rooted in Africa.
October 22, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Africa’s caves are timekeepers of climate and life. 🌍
An all-women research team, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, has revealed how rock layers called speleothems record shifts in Africa’s past and help us date fossils more reliably.
#WomenInScience & rooted in Africa.
An all-women research team, led by HERI’s Georgina Luti, has revealed how rock layers called speleothems record shifts in Africa’s past and help us date fossils more reliably.
#WomenInScience & rooted in Africa.
HERI brings #Africa to the heart of #humanevolution research, blending innovation, inclusivity and transformative training. From ancient biomolecules to archaeology, we’re shaping a more ethical and African-centered science.
October 15, 2025 at 8:00 AM
HERI brings #Africa to the heart of #humanevolution research, blending innovation, inclusivity and transformative training. From ancient biomolecules to archaeology, we’re shaping a more ethical and African-centered science.
The #TaungChild has been silent for over 2 million years — until now.
Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.
🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs
Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.
🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs
October 8, 2025 at 8:30 AM
The #TaungChild has been silent for over 2 million years — until now.
Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.
🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs
Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.
🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs
HERI made a podcast! 🎧 With ARC DOCS we bring the #TaungChild story to life - not for academics but everyone interested in humanity.
Commemorate 100 years since the fossil centred human origins in #Africa by listening NOW!
Unburied Season 2🔗 Listen linktr.ee/arcdocs
Commemorate 100 years since the fossil centred human origins in #Africa by listening NOW!
Unburied Season 2🔗 Listen linktr.ee/arcdocs
September 29, 2025 at 4:20 PM
HERI made a podcast! 🎧 With ARC DOCS we bring the #TaungChild story to life - not for academics but everyone interested in humanity.
Commemorate 100 years since the fossil centred human origins in #Africa by listening NOW!
Unburied Season 2🔗 Listen linktr.ee/arcdocs
Commemorate 100 years since the fossil centred human origins in #Africa by listening NOW!
Unburied Season 2🔗 Listen linktr.ee/arcdocs
📍 Sunday morning at #campHERI, camping at the West Coast Fossil Park: Participants took part in a stone tool knapping exercise, engaging with ancient technologies through hands-on learning in an immersive outdoor setting.
September 28, 2025 at 11:45 AM
📍 Sunday morning at #campHERI, camping at the West Coast Fossil Park: Participants took part in a stone tool knapping exercise, engaging with ancient technologies through hands-on learning in an immersive outdoor setting.
This sexual harassment workshop, led by our Co-director Rebecca Ackermann, is one of the most important parts of #campHERI.
The session invites women to share experiences, learnings and concerns about harassment in the field.
The session invites women to share experiences, learnings and concerns about harassment in the field.
September 27, 2025 at 8:45 AM
This sexual harassment workshop, led by our Co-director Rebecca Ackermann, is one of the most important parts of #campHERI.
The session invites women to share experiences, learnings and concerns about harassment in the field.
The session invites women to share experiences, learnings and concerns about harassment in the field.
How does a #PhD student condense years of research into a three-minute presentation? #campHERI is thrilled to have @kerrynwarren show us how!
Kerryn is the past winner of the @3MT_official competition Science category for her work in #archaeology.
#campHeri
Kerryn is the past winner of the @3MT_official competition Science category for her work in #archaeology.
#campHeri
September 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM
How does a #PhD student condense years of research into a three-minute presentation? #campHERI is thrilled to have @kerrynwarren show us how!
Kerryn is the past winner of the @3MT_official competition Science category for her work in #archaeology.
#campHeri
Kerryn is the past winner of the @3MT_official competition Science category for her work in #archaeology.
#campHeri
#campHERI is here! Today is the start of our annual camp that gives students from UCT and partner institutions a safe and supportive environment to develop skills, build community & address challenges faced in field-based sciences.
September 26, 2025 at 8:15 AM
#campHERI is here! Today is the start of our annual camp that gives students from UCT and partner institutions a safe and supportive environment to develop skills, build community & address challenges faced in field-based sciences.
📢 Podcast news! The #TaungChild proved our roots lie in #Africa but its story is tangled in colonial bias & forgotten voices.
Listen to the full story with Unburied Podcast Season 2 from HERI and ARC DOCS
🎧 Unburied Season 2 Episode 1 out NOW
📆 New Episodes on Thursdays
🔗 Listen linktr.ee/arcdocs
Listen to the full story with Unburied Podcast Season 2 from HERI and ARC DOCS
🎧 Unburied Season 2 Episode 1 out NOW
📆 New Episodes on Thursdays
🔗 Listen linktr.ee/arcdocs
September 25, 2025 at 3:30 PM
📢 Podcast news! The #TaungChild proved our roots lie in #Africa but its story is tangled in colonial bias & forgotten voices.
Listen to the full story with Unburied Podcast Season 2 from HERI and ARC DOCS
🎧 Unburied Season 2 Episode 1 out NOW
📆 New Episodes on Thursdays
🔗 Listen linktr.ee/arcdocs
Listen to the full story with Unburied Podcast Season 2 from HERI and ARC DOCS
🎧 Unburied Season 2 Episode 1 out NOW
📆 New Episodes on Thursdays
🔗 Listen linktr.ee/arcdocs
Dominant theories of #humanevolution say our ancestors evolved behaviours seen as ‘modern’ 100,000 years ago along the #SouthAfrican coast. What if we could flip that narrative?
HERI researchers did just that in 2021 with this @nature.com paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
HERI researchers did just that in 2021 with this @nature.com paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
September 3, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Dominant theories of #humanevolution say our ancestors evolved behaviours seen as ‘modern’ 100,000 years ago along the #SouthAfrican coast. What if we could flip that narrative?
HERI researchers did just that in 2021 with this @nature.com paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
HERI researchers did just that in 2021 with this @nature.com paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
This is what #womeninscience look like!
Our @drpeechiwara.bsky.social is extracting a quartzite block to be geochemically tested. Part of her #postdoc field work, the aim is to pinpoint where raw materials used to make ESA & MSA stone tools in Kalahari of #SouthAfrica were obtained.
Our @drpeechiwara.bsky.social is extracting a quartzite block to be geochemically tested. Part of her #postdoc field work, the aim is to pinpoint where raw materials used to make ESA & MSA stone tools in Kalahari of #SouthAfrica were obtained.
August 20, 2025 at 11:22 AM
This is what #womeninscience look like!
Our @drpeechiwara.bsky.social is extracting a quartzite block to be geochemically tested. Part of her #postdoc field work, the aim is to pinpoint where raw materials used to make ESA & MSA stone tools in Kalahari of #SouthAfrica were obtained.
Our @drpeechiwara.bsky.social is extracting a quartzite block to be geochemically tested. Part of her #postdoc field work, the aim is to pinpoint where raw materials used to make ESA & MSA stone tools in Kalahari of #SouthAfrica were obtained.
These are ancient waterfalls in the now-dry Kalahari.
Called tufas, HERI researchers have dated them to between 110,000 to 100,000 years ago - exactly when evidence of modern humans was found nearby.
Read more of their findings here: https://buff.ly/49idakk
Called tufas, HERI researchers have dated them to between 110,000 to 100,000 years ago - exactly when evidence of modern humans was found nearby.
Read more of their findings here: https://buff.ly/49idakk
February 13, 2025 at 9:09 AM
These are ancient waterfalls in the now-dry Kalahari.
Called tufas, HERI researchers have dated them to between 110,000 to 100,000 years ago - exactly when evidence of modern humans was found nearby.
Read more of their findings here: https://buff.ly/49idakk
Called tufas, HERI researchers have dated them to between 110,000 to 100,000 years ago - exactly when evidence of modern humans was found nearby.
Read more of their findings here: https://buff.ly/49idakk
Helping produce #Setswana translations for this #Taung Child special issue from
@SAJS_Official
was a very special project for us.
Thanks to all for their support #languagematters
👉🏾https://sajs.co.za/article/view/20667/23562
@SAJS_Official
was a very special project for us.
Thanks to all for their support #languagematters
👉🏾https://sajs.co.za/article/view/20667/23562
February 7, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Helping produce #Setswana translations for this #Taung Child special issue from
@SAJS_Official
was a very special project for us.
Thanks to all for their support #languagematters
👉🏾https://sajs.co.za/article/view/20667/23562
@SAJS_Official
was a very special project for us.
Thanks to all for their support #languagematters
👉🏾https://sajs.co.za/article/view/20667/23562
So proud of this #Taung Child special issue from the South African Journal of Science (SAJS). And having our Co-directors Rebecca Ackermann & @pickeringrobyn.bsky.social along with HERI's Lauren Schroeder and UCT's Yonatan Sahle supporting to guest edit the special issue. sajs.co.za/article/view...
February 7, 2025 at 1:13 PM
So proud of this #Taung Child special issue from the South African Journal of Science (SAJS). And having our Co-directors Rebecca Ackermann & @pickeringrobyn.bsky.social along with HERI's Lauren Schroeder and UCT's Yonatan Sahle supporting to guest edit the special issue. sajs.co.za/article/view...
Happening in 10 minutes! 👇🏾
Celbrate today's 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the #Taung Child skull with the #palaeoanthropology community in #SouthAfrica🌍
Starting at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
Celbrate today's 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the #Taung Child skull with the #palaeoanthropology community in #SouthAfrica🌍
Starting at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
February 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Happening in 10 minutes! 👇🏾
Celbrate today's 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the #Taung Child skull with the #palaeoanthropology community in #SouthAfrica🌍
Starting at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
Celbrate today's 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the #Taung Child skull with the #palaeoanthropology community in #SouthAfrica🌍
Starting at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
The story of Taung Child should be told by South Africans, for South Africans, and from #SouthAfrica.
Join us to commemorate the light #Taung shines on our heritage & shared origins.
➡️Friday 7 Feb at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
🌍Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
Join us to commemorate the light #Taung shines on our heritage & shared origins.
➡️Friday 7 Feb at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
🌍Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
February 5, 2025 at 9:34 AM
The story of Taung Child should be told by South Africans, for South Africans, and from #SouthAfrica.
Join us to commemorate the light #Taung shines on our heritage & shared origins.
➡️Friday 7 Feb at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
🌍Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
Join us to commemorate the light #Taung shines on our heritage & shared origins.
➡️Friday 7 Feb at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
🌍Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
This February is the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the #Taung Child skull.
Join the #palaeoanthropology community in #SouthAfrica to commemorate at this free online webinar.
Happening Friday 7 Feb at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
Join the #palaeoanthropology community in #SouthAfrica to commemorate at this free online webinar.
Happening Friday 7 Feb at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
January 28, 2025 at 2:27 PM
This February is the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the #Taung Child skull.
Join the #palaeoanthropology community in #SouthAfrica to commemorate at this free online webinar.
Happening Friday 7 Feb at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
Join the #palaeoanthropology community in #SouthAfrica to commemorate at this free online webinar.
Happening Friday 7 Feb at 15.00 SAST / 08.00 EST
Register here: bit.ly/4hyV28M
How is HERI building a cohort of black womxn researchers in human evolution studies?
Read more in the Unviersity of Cape Town 2023 #Sustainability & #SDGs report
👉🏾http://bit.ly/SDGReport2023
Read more in the Unviersity of Cape Town 2023 #Sustainability & #SDGs report
👉🏾http://bit.ly/SDGReport2023
January 27, 2025 at 12:49 PM
How is HERI building a cohort of black womxn researchers in human evolution studies?
Read more in the Unviersity of Cape Town 2023 #Sustainability & #SDGs report
👉🏾http://bit.ly/SDGReport2023
Read more in the Unviersity of Cape Town 2023 #Sustainability & #SDGs report
👉🏾http://bit.ly/SDGReport2023
Are you ready to break the silence? 🩸⚒️
Then let's talk about menstruation in the field!
Tell us in the comments about steps you've taken to provide support & safety for students who menstruate.
And learn more about the initiative here: https://buff.ly/3CKOlBp
Then let's talk about menstruation in the field!
Tell us in the comments about steps you've taken to provide support & safety for students who menstruate.
And learn more about the initiative here: https://buff.ly/3CKOlBp
January 3, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Are you ready to break the silence? 🩸⚒️
Then let's talk about menstruation in the field!
Tell us in the comments about steps you've taken to provide support & safety for students who menstruate.
And learn more about the initiative here: https://buff.ly/3CKOlBp
Then let's talk about menstruation in the field!
Tell us in the comments about steps you've taken to provide support & safety for students who menstruate.
And learn more about the initiative here: https://buff.ly/3CKOlBp