In dispute, truth is born
Once, a young woman from South Africa saw on the fireplace in her friend's house something that reminded her of the skull of an extinct baboon. The lady was interested in fossils and could not pass by the strange exhibit. She asked a friend where he got the remains of the baboon. He replied: from a quarry belonging to him, which is 10 km from Taung, which was then part of the Bechuanaland protectorate. When limestone was blown up in a quarry, fossils were sometimes exposed in the rock. The skull was one of them. But it is unlikely, added a friend, it belongs to a great ape, because in South Africa no one has ever found their remains. The woman turned out to be especially extremely meticulous and at the first opportunity she told about what she saw to her friend, professor of anatomy, Dr. Raymond Dart. The scientist at that time was teaching at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Dart agreed with the woman's buddy about the great apes - they had never really met in South Africa. But he was ready to argue about baboons as much as he wanted: these large monkeys are well adapted to a terrestrial (non-arboreal) way of life in an arid area, which is that land. They lived in South Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago, and are still found today.are still found today.are still found today.
Valuable package
Raymond Dart was eager to see the fossil with his own eyes. He asked the owner of the quarry to do him a favor: if new fossils come across, send them to him by mail.
Time passed, and one day in 1924, Dart received a weighty package - two large boxes with fragments of limestone. In the first, Darth did not find anything interesting, but when he opened the second, his joy knew no bounds. The box contained a round piece of limestone that stood out against the jagged debris. Dart recognized him as an endocrane. So in the language of scientists is called the relief on the inner side of the cranium, reflecting the pattern of large furrows, convolutions and vessels of the brain. It was obvious that this endocrane was formed in a natural way: once the molten rock filled the inner cavity of the skull and hardened in it, exactly reproducing the size and shape of the long-disappeared brain. According to Dart, the convolutions and grooves of the brain, blood vessels were clearly visible on the surface of the stone. Raymond Dart knew what he was talking about:a native of Australian Queensland, studied anthropology at the University of Sydney and University College London. His experienced eye immediately determined: the skull broke in an explosion during limestone mining. That is, until recently, he was safe and sound.
Jewelry work
At first, the anthropologist decided that this was a baboon's endocrane. But he soon realized that he had jumped to conclusions. The brain was too large for a baboon, and it also differed in shape. Then who did he belong to? Chimpanzee or gorilla? It is not excluded. After all, these great apes have a more developed intellect and a larger brain compared to baboons. And suddenly it dawned on Dart: why not assume that in the distant past, hitherto unknown, now extinct great apes lived in South Africa? He frantically rummaged through the stone box, trying to find a piece that would match the brain cast. If he succeeded, he would have had the skull itself. But then there was a loud and persistent knock on the door of his office. This knock brought Dart back to earth. He remembered,that it was for today that his best friend's wedding was scheduled, at which Dart volunteered to act as best man. With difficulty tearing himself away from his favorite fossils, Raymond was forced to hurry to the wedding ceremony. But in the evening, returning from the wedding, he rushed into the office and literally a minute later was holding in his hands a piece of rock that exactly matched the endocrane. Staring at this second fossil, the scientist realized that he was looking inside a small head. Turning the fossil upside down to see the obverse, Dart discovered that it was covered in a crust of limestone mixed with sand and gravel. This dense, cement-like material, called breccia, made it impossible to see the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it.on which Dart volunteered to act as best man. With difficulty tearing himself away from his favorite fossils, Raymond was forced to hurry to the wedding ceremony. But in the evening, returning from the wedding, he rushed into the office and literally a minute later was holding in his hands a piece of rock that exactly matched the endocrane. Staring at this second fossil, the scientist realized that he was looking inside a small head. Turning the fossil upside down to see the obverse, Dart discovered that it was covered in a crust of limestone mixed with sand and gravel. This dense, cement-like material, called breccia, made it impossible to see the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it.on which Dart volunteered to act as best man. With difficulty tearing himself away from his favorite fossils, Raymond was forced to hurry to the wedding ceremony. But in the evening, returning from the wedding, he rushed into the office and literally a minute later was holding in his hands a piece of rock that exactly matched the endocrane. Staring at this second fossil, the scientist realized that he was looking inside a small head. Turning the fossil upside down to see the obverse, Dart discovered that it was covered in a crust of limestone mixed with sand and gravel. This dense, cement-like material, called breccia, made it impossible to see the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it. Raymond had to hurry to the wedding ceremony. But in the evening, returning from the wedding, he rushed into the office and literally a minute later was holding in his hands a piece of rock that exactly matched the endocrane. Staring at this second fossil, the scientist realized that he was looking inside a small head. Turning the fossil upside down to see the obverse, Dart discovered that it was covered in a crust of limestone mixed with sand and gravel. This dense, cement-like material, called breccia, made it impossible to see the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it. Raymond had to hurry to the wedding ceremony. But in the evening, returning from the wedding, he rushed into the office and literally a minute later was holding in his hands a piece of rock that exactly matched the endocrane. Staring at this second fossil, the scientist realized that he was looking inside a small head. Turning the fossil upside down to see the obverse, Dart discovered that it was covered in a crust of limestone mixed with sand and gravel. This dense, cement-like material, called breccia, made it impossible to see the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it.which exactly matched the endocrane. Staring at this second fossil, the scientist realized that he was looking inside a small head. Turning the fossil upside down to see the obverse, Dart discovered that it was covered in a crust of limestone mixed with sand and gravel. This dense, cement-like material, called breccia, made it impossible to see the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it.which exactly matched the endocrane. Staring at this second fossil, the scientist realized that he was looking inside a small head. Turning the fossil upside down to see the obverse, Dart discovered that it was covered in a crust of limestone mixed with sand and gravel. This dense, cement-like material, called breccia, made it impossible to see the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it.did not allow to consider the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it.did not allow to consider the features of the facial skeleton. But Dart knew that the face could be seen if the hardened remains of the rock were removed from it.
Anthropology is not paleontology. Dart had only a rough idea of how to remove the breccia. But he wanted to get to the bottom of the truth by all means, and therefore armed himself with the necessary tool and set to work. As it turned out later, he was going in the right direction. Unaware of how fragile the skull would be, for fear of damaging it with the sharp blows of the chisel, Dart placed the fossil in a sandbox for stability and shock absorption. Then he took a small chisel and began, like a sculptor, carefully cutting off everything unnecessary. When Dart beat off the roughest pieces, the wife's needle was used, which he honed, making it triangular on one side. With this needle, Raymond chipped off piece by piece, and after 73 days, the fossil was completely cleaned.
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Missing link
Over the course of two months of painstaking work, Raymond Dart every now and then wondered whose skull would appear in front of him at the end. The result exceeded all expectations! The skull most likely belonged to a six-year-old child! His mouth was full of milk teeth. The permanent teeth that replace them in an adult have just begun to erupt. The fact that the skull belonged to a baboon was out of the question. He was too tall and round, while his face looked more like a human. And the fangs characteristic of both baboons and gorillas with chimpanzees were missing. Turning the find over, Dart drew attention to an interesting feature: the large occipital foramen, which serves for the exit of the spinal cord, was located on the underside of the skull. And this clearly indicated that the child was walking erect, on two legs. In baboons and chimpanzees, this hole is located closer to the back of the head - such a structure of the skull occurs only in animals that move on four legs. So maybe it's just a bipedal monkey? But this was contrary to all scientific ideas! The range of great apes was 2,000 miles from Taung. Then what is it? And then it dawned on Raymond: in his hands is the missing link, the transitional step from monkey to man!
No time for jokes
What scientist doesn't dream of a great discovery? So Raymond Dart, in his early 30s, dreamed of the worldwide fame of the discoverer. And suddenly fate itself sent a grandiose find into his hands. He was simply bursting with desire to tell the whole world about his discovery. The anthropologist sat down and wrote an article in Nature, the authoritative English journal that published the most important scientific findings. Later, Dart admitted that in those days it was customary not to talk about such finds; they could be made public only 10 years later, after the council of scientists from the British Museum or another no less respectable organization expressed their opinion about them. "However, I was convinced that my conclusions were irrefutable." The journal accepted for publication an article by a young scientist, and soon readers learned about a new creature - "African Australopithecus."What started here! The resonance was crazy. The new creature was dubbed "the baby from Taung", and Dart himself was dubbed his dad or godfather. Only the lazy didn’t talk about the “child from Taung”. But when scientists expressed their doubts about Dart's conclusions, society pounced on the young scientist like a boa constrictor on a rabbit. "Baby" suddenly became a symbol of ugliness, and reporters, who had recently dreamed of interviewing its discoverer, practiced their wit at the address of the "monster from Taung." Even the respectable London weekly Spectator and the conservative newspaper Morning Post have joined the competition. The entertainers acted out scenes with each other on the stage of the music halls in Britain: “Listen, who is this girl with whom I saw you last night? Is she not from Taung? " Composers were composing songsdedicated to the monkey from the Transvaal. In parliament, which sat in Johannesburg, one of the deputies, inflamed by the discussion, turned to his opponent with the following words: "If this is really so, as the honorary member of Taung said …" I The offended parliamentarian addressed a strong protest to the chairman "Honorary members refer to other honorary members, taking into account their appearance." Australopithecus gained such fame that even the Prince of Wells, who traveled to South Africa, expressed his gracious desire to examine the skull from Taung. In Johannesburg, he patronizingly declared: "In South Africa, I don't seem to hear of anything else like Professor Dart's baby!"addressed his adversary with the following words: "If this is indeed the case, as the honorary member of Taung said …" The offended parliamentarian lodged a strong protest to the chairman, who seriously urged "honorary members to address other honorary members, given their appearance." Australopithecus gained such fame that even the Prince of Wells, who traveled to South Africa, expressed his gracious desire to examine the skull from Taung. In Johannesburg, he patronizingly declared: "In South Africa, I don't seem to hear of anything else like Professor Dart's baby!"addressed his adversary with the following words: "If this is indeed the case, as the honorary member of Taung said …" Australopithecus gained such fame that even the Prince of Wells, who traveled to South Africa, expressed his gracious desire to examine the skull from Taung. In Johannesburg, he patronizingly declared: "In South Africa, I don't seem to hear of anything else like Professor Dart's baby!"Australopithecus gained such fame that even the Prince of Wells, who traveled to South Africa, expressed his gracious desire to examine the skull from Taung. In Johannesburg, he patronizingly declared: "In South Africa, I don't seem to hear of anything else like Professor Dart's baby!"Australopithecus gained such fame that even the Prince of Wells, who traveled to South Africa, expressed his gracious desire to examine the skull from Taung. In Johannesburg, he patronizingly declared: "In South Africa, I don't seem to hear of anything else like Professor Dart's baby!"
The church also began to blaspheme Raymond Dart. Angry priests and religious fanatics attacked him. Here is one of the samples of Darth's mail of those days: "How can you, with the gift of genius invested in you by God, and not a monkey, change the Creator and become an accomplice of the devil, as well as his obedient instrument?" It finally came to calls to put Dart in an insane asylum …
In 1936, anthropologist Robert Broome discovered the skull of another "Australopithecus Africanus" in Sterkfontein Grotto, near Johannesburg … The skull was incomplete (the lower jaw was missing), it belonged to a female 15-16 years old, so the remains were given the name "Miss Plaz". The geological age of the find was about 2.5 million years. "The Taung Child" and "Miss Plaz" were as if sculpted from the same dough. After the reconstruction of the external appearance, everything spoke of their kinship: a small head, set straight on a short, strongly pushed forward neck, narrow shoulders, a narrow, low forehead, a small flattened nose.
From that moment on, the existence of Australopithecus was recognized by official science.
Dart's opponents finally fell silent, he could rest on his laurels. Recently, however, doubts have reappeared. Ron Clarke and Lee Berger from the same University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg all this time tried to solve the riddle of a strange creature, conducting research on its remains. As a result, they came to the conclusion that these remains do not belong to humans. In their opinion, Dart discovered … the skull of an alien. The poor man did not die a natural death, as evidenced by the characteristic lesions on his skull. Such marks remain after falling on sharp stones.
Ron Clarke and Lee Berger are also 100 percent convinced that the humanoid was an adult, not a child. It is likely that his interplanetary ship landed unsuccessfully or that the humanoid himself made an unsuccessful first step on a planet unknown to him. It is possible that the humanoid died as a result of the attack of a large bird of prey. Other remains - the bones of monkeys found in the same area, are pushing to this conclusion. If the theory of Ron Clarke and Lee Berger is correct, then, given the age of the find (2.5 million years), we can conclude that the "child from Taung" is the oldest alien discovered so far.
Journal: Archives of the 20th century No. 2, Elena Abramova