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THE most complete skull of an early hominid discovered so far has been
unearthed in South Africa. The skull belongs to a female Australopithecus
robustus and is about 1.8 million years old. Retired geologist Andre Keyser
of the University of the Witwatersrand found the skull at a new site a few
kilometres away from Sterkfontein Caves, the location of many early hominid
finds. The new site is easier to excavate than Sterkfontein and should yield a
treasure trove of hominid remains. Details will appear in this month’s South
African Journal of Science.