Hughes A R, Tobias P V
Nature. 1977 Jan 27;265(5592):310-2. doi: 10.1038/265310a0.
A skull with numerous Homo features was discovered at Sterkfontein, near Krugersdorp, Transvaal, in August 1976. It stems from member 5 of the Sterkfontein Formation, with stone tools and with fauna pointing to an age of 2.0-1.5 Myr. The underlying member 4 contains Australopithecus africanus, no stone tools, and fauna dated 3.0-2.5 Myr. The new find supports the view that the Sterkfontein toolmaker was not the earlier A. africanus, but a later hominid related to Homo habilis. By a remarkable double coincidence, the first pieces of the new skull, Stw 53, were found on August 9, 1976, 40 years to the day after Robert Broom's first visit to Sterkfontein, while the last part came to light on August 17, the 40th anniversary of Broom's first discovery of a hominid cranium at Sterkfontein. Although most of the fragments were found in a decalcified pocket of cave earth, one large part of the calvaria was still present in the calcified wall of the pocket, thus establishing indisputably the provenance of the specimen.
1976年8月，在德兰士瓦省克鲁格斯多普附近的斯特克方丹发现了一个具有众多人属特征的头骨。它来自斯特克方丹地层的第5层，伴有石器和动物化石，表明其年代为200万至150万年前。其下方的第4层含有非洲南方古猿，没有石器，动物化石年代为300万至250万年前。这一新发现支持了这样一种观点，即制造斯特克方丹石器的不是更早的非洲南方古猿，而是后来与能人有关的原始人。一个引人注目的双重巧合是，新头骨的第一批碎片Stw 53于1976年8月9日被发现，这一天正好是罗伯特·布鲁姆首次访问斯特克方丹40周年；而最后一部分于8月17日被发现，这一天是布鲁姆在斯特克方丹首次发现原始人头骨的40周年纪念日。尽管大多数碎片是在洞穴泥土的一个脱钙小坑里发现的，但头盖骨的一大部分仍在小坑的钙化壁中，从而无可争议地确定了标本的出处。
