Our incredible origins: The astonishing tale of Homo naledi

Lee Berger helped unearth stunning fossils of ancient human relatives in Africa. He explains why we need to rewrite our family tree

[timhansell]

Dear Lee - Given the incredible journey you have been on, given the proud moment of discover by your son . . . you have also revealed the rare but special trait of few modern men . . . and that is humility. Your talk is one of enrichment and enchantment. Thank You.

[zoebenda]

I was so upset that I had to watch this video for school until I actually watched this. This is incredible. Amazing.

[mytwocents]

Lee Berger is not only an exceptionally nice person, but an incredible innovator. I hang on his every word and discovery that makes our ancient history so exciting. Thank you, so much, Lee! I love his book and have re-read it several times. It never gets old.

[jamesdolan]

Lee Berger certainly chose the right career. His lecture was very inspiring.

[mwj]

Dr Berger's excitement is infectious, stirs the imagination. I feel like he's an inspiring milestone in action, a powerful speaker, and a ground-breaking (no pun intended ha!) scientist of historic proportions.

[blowfishes]

Sharing with the world when others would be overtly protective of their discovery is so refreshing. We find out in near real time things that may usually take years if not decades. This is how you get young people interested in your field of study. This is how you build and leave your legacy. Fabulous stuff 💜

[alexandrag]

Brilliant!!! Besides the fascinating lecture and engaging story, the closing speech are words to live by. I am inspired.

[TheWildernessChannel]

I grew up in this area around the Magaliesberg, where all these sites are found. There are numerous caves and sinkholes and wonderful cliff sites in gorges like Tonquani, which are wonderful for rock-climbing. I have been fortunate enough to explore some of those caves and climb some of the climbing sites with my friends. The environment above-ground is also very beautiful with some incredible plant and animal life. There are many antelope and leopard here and many birds of prey. The Magaliesberg is the place where the Sable Antelope was first discovered and named to science. Close-by are some of the richest platinum mines in the world and the richest and deepest gold mines (up to 4km deep) ever discovered. About 60% of all the world's gold ever mined was found in these South African mines.

The Sterkfontein Caves are one of many incredible sites that scientists are still exploring. There is a lot of ancient and modern history in this area. There are fossil hominids, bushmen paintings, ancient village sites and more modern historical sites.

The Magaliesberg is also infamous for being the area where the AmaZulu and many Sotho tribes massacred each other in the Difecane, which led to the death of between 1.5 - 2 million people (it was a true genocide) in the late 1800's. The Boers fought the British in this area during the Anglo-Boer Wars and there was a lot of other interesting history that occurred here.

Wits University, my alma mater, has done considerable research in this area, particularly but not exclusively, done by the palaeontology department.

This was a wonderful lecture and I hope that people understand that South Africans are more than just the Apartheid history we get labelled with. There were many great discoveries, inventions and scientific studies done by South Africans, and much of the history of the world is attributable to what occurred on our shores.

During the battle of Spioenkop in the Anglo-Boer war, Gandhi (a stretcher bearer at the time), Winston Churchill (a young British officer) and Generla Louis Botha (the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa) were present and all went on to make considerable contributions to the history of the world. For the record the Boers won that Battle.

[claudelebel]

So much better than a TED talk.
Awe-inspiring and humbling.

[NewbFixer]

I thought he was rather funny, pitty the audience wasnt in a laughing mood. Must have been monday. Good show Mr Lee Berger! Thumbs!

[caseyjude]

I listen to this story over & over. It’s such an excellent tale, and I love how he tells the truth about success—perseverance, hard work & many hours of study produces results.

[gypsycruiser]

I lived close to these areas and never went near those caves ...these researchers are brave

[SolaceEasy]

On Lee's closing comment:
I climbed my 411th mountain with prominence yesterday, 13006' Pennsylvania Mountain. I saw an alpine flower I've never seen before, and I have been exploring tundra at least once a week for the last month.

[mj-joes]

Exploration is never dead! I love his message and his determination to not destroy while exploring.

[leapingkitties]

Dr. Berger is the most inspirational scientist I have ever heard. Wow. I can't wait to see the new work.

[albertzhou]

Actually Spiffing talk. I was told to watch by Bio teacher and found it extremely interesting. 5/5 would recommend it. Five stars review.

[Theshizlenizle]

Incredible talk 👏 I would have loved joining that adventure

[sarahferguson]

Absolutely amazing. I'm truly humbled by these things. I'm not sure i completely understand our family tree but i'm learning. Wonderful lecture.

[gil]

I remember first learning about australopithecus, homo habilus, and homo erectus when I was in 7th grade social studies class. It absolutely fascinated me then, and still does, almost 50 years later.

[johnharris]

A great man, imo, and a great scientist, speaker, professor, and leader.