STS 14

STS 14

Exhibit item

Site: 

Sterkfontein, Republic of South Africa

Date of discovery: 

1947

Discovered by: 

Robert Broom and John T. Robinson

Age: 

About 2.5 million years old

Species: 

Australopithecus africanus

Curved spine

This partial skeleton consists of several thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, a pelvis, a sacrum, and pieces of a rib and a femur. The vertebrate show this species walked upright in a way very similar to modern humans. The uniquely human curve of your lower back absorbs shock when you walk. This early human's spine had the same curve.

Image Credit: Copyright Smithsonian Institution