Object Listing

S94-2344-  Antidorcas sp. RM3 .Sterkfontein M5 West.
S94-2339- Damaliscus sp. lower molar Sterkfontein M5 West.
S94-146707- Size II Bovid molar. Sterkfontein M5 West.  
S94-8038- Damaliscus sp. RM2 .Sterkfontein M5 West.
S94-7119- Size II Bovid M2
C.O.H.2245- Gazella bondi M2. Cave of Hearths LB.
CO.H.1546- Gazella bondi M3. Cave of Hearths SH.
C.O.H.1413-Gazella bondi. Cave of Hearths Beds 1-8.
C.O.H.8562- Gazella bondi. Cave of Hearths Beds 1-8.
C.O.H.1624- Gazella bondi. Cave of Hearths Beds 1-8.
C.O.H.1610- Gazella bondi. Cave of Hearths Beds 1-8.
C.O.H.2184- Gazella bondi. Cave of Hearths Beds 1-8.
SF3716- Size II Bovid. Sterkfontein Block T (T/60)
SF4096- Size II Bovid. Sterkfontein Block T (T/60)
SF3786- Size II Bovid. Sterkfontein Block T (T/63)
SF3670- Size II Bovid. Sterkfontein Block T (T/47)
-Antidorcas. Sterkfontein PM6 Infill
- Antidorcas. Sterkfontein PM6 Infill
- Antidorcas. Sterkfontein PM6 Infill
-Damaliscus dorcas. Sterkfontein PM6 Infill

33 bags with georeferenced coordinates

Each bag contains hundred of unsorted fossil bones of micromammals (rodents, bats, shrews, etc.) from Sterkfontein T3 - Milner Hall

 temporary export of fossil shale samples 

Batch name for 74 fossil teeth to be exported from Swartkrans, Sterkfontein and Kromdraai

I intend on taking these fossils overseas to work on with my collaborator at Durham University, Prof. David Harper for the month of November. As such, I am duly tendering my application with SAHRA to obtain the necessary permit for export. The fossils that I am working on are of importance in that they have not been looked at since they were collected in the mid-late 20th century by Oosthuizen. These fossils are of the highly endemic Malvinokaffric Realm that is only known from South Africa, parts of South America and Antarctica. With respect to time equivalents elsewhere, fossils from South Africa are poorly understood owing to lack of expertise in invertebrate palaeontology. This being the reason for having to take these fossils to the UK. We intend on revising their taxonomy in order to identify potential new species as well as to provide resolution on local biostratigraphy and relative age constraints during the Devonian Period of South Africa.

temporary export of fossiliferous breccia

Objectives: The overarching goal for this project is to reconstruct the tropic level of southern African Australopithecus and how much meat – compared to plant-based resources – these early hominins consumed in the Pleistocene. These essential deficits of knowledge can be addressed by nitrogen isotopes (15N) studies, because it can inform about the individuals position in the (paleo)food chain. Until now, determination of 15N data was only possible on (hominin) specimens younger than 100,000 years due to the need of large quantities of fossil collagen which were only insignificantly geochemically changed due to postmortem alteration. In recent years, a new biogeochemical method measures 15N values with high precision on extremely small sample sizes, which finally permits to analyze Pleistocene samples, e.g., fossil (hominin) enamel. In cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC) in Mainz (Germany), A baseline 15N values of faunal elements which were potentially available to Australopithecus will be established to then ultimately analyze the hominin tooth enamel itself. The new 15N results will be unique and, for the first time, allow the reconstruction of trophic level and meat consumption of hominins from the Pleistocene.

four carved used wooden Tsonga headrersts collected in Mozambique/Limpopo/Mpumalanga by the missionary A.A. Jaques

This permit application is for conducting palaeohistological analyses on the early Pliocene three-toed horse Eurygnathohippus hooijeri and the recently extinct cape zebra Equus capensis, two crucial species during the evolution of equids in Africa. Bones and teeth of both extinct horses will be histologically analysed to estimate key life history traits of the species, including their age at maturity, their growth rate, their age at death and/or their age at weaning. Because life history traits are highly influenced by ecological conditions - mainly predation pressure and resource availability -, the life history data obtained for both fossil equids will be used to reconstruct the ecological context in which African fossil equids evolved.

 temporary export of 7 fragments of microfauna

permanent export of 19 fragments of tortoise carapace

Iron bar/point (B421) from Bosutswe (scale divisions 10 mm)

Iron adze (B425) from Bosutswe (scale divisions 10 mm)

Iron adze (B425) from Bosutswe (scale divisions 10 mm)

Etched section through an iron bar (B421) from Bosutswe, showing fine pearlite (textured) in a matrix of ferrite (light) due to normalisation and air cooling (magnification 90X)