View source for SK 847

{{Short description|Hominin fossil}}
{{short lead|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox fossil
| catalog number   = SK 847
| common name      =
| image            = SK 847 NMNH.jpg
| species          = ''[[Homo habilis]]''
| age              = 1.8-1.5 mya
| place discovered = [[Swartkrans]], Republic of South Africa
| date discovered  = July 23, 1969
| discovered by    = [[Ronald J. Clarke|Ronald Clarke]]
| footnotes        = Replica of SK 847 at Washington
}}
'''SK 847''' is the abbreviated designation for the fossilized fragments of a ''[[Homo habilis]]'' cranium, discovered in South Africa, which was dated to an age between 1.8 and 1.5&nbsp;million years. This fossil shares morphological traits with the early African ''Homo erectus'', sometimes known as ''Homo ergaster''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/sk-847 |title=SK 847 |newspaper=Humanorigins |date=  2010-01-24|author= |accessdate= December 30, 2016}}</ref>
There has been much controversy over SK 847 - being actually a composite skull reassembled from 3 separate pieces. Academics have attributed this composite skull to at least 5 different hominin taxa at one time or another.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~orsa/Sk847_details.html |title=Weclcome to the Open Research Scan Archive! |newspaper=Indiana edu |date=  |author= |accessdate= December 30, 2016}}</ref>
== Discovery ==
SK 847 was discovered on July 23, 1969 in [[Swartkrans]], Republic of South Africa by [[Ronald J. Clarke|Ronald Clarke]], who is also credited with the discovery of "[[Little Foot]]". It is made up of three separate pieces including facial fragments, a temporal bone, and a maxilla. The maxilla, however, was discovered previously by [[Robert Broom]] in 1948. It was not until Clarke discovered the other two fragments did they know that the three pieces belonged to the same individual and were part of the same cranium. The sex of this individual is still unknown. This discovery is significant because it is evidence for early ''[[Homo]]'' in southern Africa living at the same time or even possibly later than ''[[Homo habilis]]'' and early ''[[Homo erectus]]'' in East Africa.<ref>Ackermann, R.R., L. Schroeder, and F.L. Williams. 2012. The mid-face of lower Pleistocene hominins and its bearing on the attribution of SK 847 and STW 53. National Center for Biotechnology Information 63(4):245-57.</ref> Also, this fossil could give evidence of the earliest uses of controlled fire.
== Taxonomy ==
Formerly  SK 847 was attributed to the ''[[Australopithecus robustus]]'' group of hominid fossils, but it has been recently been attributed to the genus ''Homo''. There has been much controversy regarding this fossil specimen because this fossil has similarities to early African ''Homo erectus'', sometimes known as ''[[Homo ergaster]]''. Yet, it shows other similarities to ''Homo habilis'', also known to occur from Eastern to Southern Africa. SK 847, like another specimen StW 53, has characteristics that are not consistent with any one hominid species.
=== Evidence that suggests SK 847 belongs to the genus ''Homo'' ===
The facial features of this specimen contribute anatomical evidence that make anthropologists believe that SK 847 is not part of the australopithecine group. SK 847 has a relatively short and narrow face, pronounced brow ridge, thick supraorbital torus, a sharp sloping frontal bone, delicate curved cheekbones, a rounded forward projecting nasal bones, an obvious supratoral sulcus, and a moderate constriction of the cranium behind the eye socket. These features contrast with those of the average robust australopithecine. SK 847 also has a short palate and a small temporomandibular joint that could only fit a small, short lower jaw and not the typically massive mandible of a robust australopithecine.<ref name="name">Edgar, Blake and Donald Johanson. 2006. From Lucy to Language. New York: Simon and Schuster.</ref>
=== ''Homo gautengensis''? ===
In 2010, another argument was made by Darren Curnoe suggesting that SK 847 along with many other fossil specimens, including some from ''Homo habilis'', ''Homo ergaster'', and Australopithecus species, obtained from South Africa gives evidence to a whole new hominin species called ''Homo gautengensis'', which he believes is the earliest species of the genus ''Homo''.<ref>Curnoe, Darren. 2010. "A review of early ''Homo'' in southern Africa focusing on cranial, mandibular and dental remains, with the description of a new species (''Homo gautengensis'' sp. nov.)". National Center for Biotechnology Information 61(3):151-77.</ref>
=== Evidence suggesting that SK 847 is an australopithecine ===
Paleoanthropologists who rejected the classification of SK 847 as ''Homo'' referred to the single species hypothesis, which states that because of competitive exclusion, two species of hominids could not occupy the same niche. <ref>Ciochon, R.L., and S.L. Washburn. 1976. The Single Species Hypothesis. American Anthropologist 78(1): 96</ref> Therefore, all hominids from Swartkrans were of the same species and SK 847 is simply a small robust australopithecine. However, the single species hypothesis is no longer valid or accepted as true by anthropologists. Also, at the time of discovery, Swartkrans was known as a place with bulk of australopithecine fossils and this individual would be the only evidence of ''Homo'' found in Swartkrans.<ref name="name" />
== See also ==
* [[List of human evolution fossils]]
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
* [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8296872 Taxonomic affinity of the early Homo cranium from Swartkrans, South Africa.]
[[Category:Homo habilis fossils]]
[[Category:Archaeology of South Africa]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites of Southern Africa]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Southern Africa]]
[[Category:Archaeological history of Southern Africa]]