PAST hopes to heal rift over Sterkfontein skeleton The Palaeo-Anthropological Trust (PAST) hopes to halt the damage done by the rift between three leading South African scientists over the latest hominid find at Sterkfontein. Newly-appointed chief executive for PAST, Christine Read, says one of her priorities is to calm the furore over StW 573. This 3,3 million year old australopithecine discovered by Ron Clarke's team at Sterkfontein, has been the subject of a bitter dispute between senior PAST trustees. It has also led to a split of palaeo-anthropological studies at Wits University, and has caused uncertainty amongst the donor community that the science is so reliant on. Dr Ron Clarke At the centre of the storm are Clarke, former Wits palaeoanthropology head Professor Phillip Tobias and his successor Dr Lee Berger. The saga is a complicated one which had its roots in the discovery of StW 573 by Stephen Motsumi and Nkwane Molefe in June 1997. Clarke did not inform Berger or Tobias of the find and worked secretly on excavating it from Sterkfontein Member 2 for 18 months. During this time, Berger, concerned about Clarke's apparent lack of productivity, decided not to renew his contract. Clarke, after securing a position with a Johannes Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, revealed the existence of the skeleton in September 1998. This led to considerable embarrasment for Wits which was lambasted in the press for axing Clarke. This in turn provoked sharp exchanges between Clarke and Berger, who accused Clarke of misleading him by keeping the skeleton a secret. At that point Tobias appears to have decided to come out of retirement to side with Clarke against Berger. The two of them motivated that a separate unit be established at Wits to run the Sterkfontein site under their direction. The University compromised by acceding to their request and promoting Berger to head a new Research and Exploration Unit which will be housed under the Bernard Price Institute on the Wits main campus. Despite this behind-the-scenes battle, the discovery of StW573, has been hailed as a "national triumph" by President Thabo Mbeki. The skeleton is one of the earliest australopithecines to have been found and may turn out to be a new species. It is still being excavated from Sterkfontein under Clarke's part-time guidance, and a detailed analysis of the find is not expected for several years. Both Berger and Tobias are trustees of PAST having been instrumental in establishing the fund-raising body in 1993. PAST has become the biggest funder of palaeo-anthropological research on the African continent and recently commissioned professional fund-raiser Clive Grinaker to assist in its drive to finance the boom times South Africa is experiencing in the search for human origins. ©Copyright Prime Origins 2001 CONTACT BRETT HILTON-BARBER primeorigins.co.za is an iafrica.com Private Label site

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