num_pages: 64
description: From the fossil hunter who discovered the Homo naledi fossils in September 2015 this book is an amazing account of Lee Bergers 2008 hunt -- with the help of his curious 9-year-old son -- for a previously unknown species of ape-like creatures that may have been direct ancestors of modern humans. The discovery of two remarkably well preserved two-million-year-old fossils of an adult female and young male known as Australopiitecus sediba  has been hailed as one of the most important archaeological discoveries in history. The fossils reveal what may be one of humankind's oldest ancestors.Berger believes the skeletons they found on the Malapa site in South Africa could be the Rosetta stone that unlocks our understanding of the genus Homo and may just redesign the human family tree.Berger an Eagle Scout and National Geographic Grantee is the Reader in Human Evolution and the Public Understanding of Science in the Institute for Human Evolution at the University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa.The focus of the book will be on the way in which we can apply new thinking to familiar material and come up with a breakthrough. Marc Aronson is particularly interested in framing these issues for young people and has had enormous success with this approach in his previous Ain't Nothing But a Man and If Stones Could Speak.Berger's discovery in one of the most excavated and studied areas on Earth revealed a treasure trove of human fossils--and an entirely new human species--where people thought no more field work might ever be necessary. Technology and revelation combined plus a good does of luck to broaden by ten times the number of early human fossils known rejuvenating this field of study and posing countless more questions to be answered in years and decades to come.Releases simultaneously in Reinforced Library 978-1-4263-1053-9  $27.90/$32.00 Can
language: English
title: Skull in the Rock, The: How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth Opened a New Window on Human Origins
publisher: National Geographic Kids