Unburied S2E1: When Humanity Became African

100 years ago, a tiny fossil skull in Taung, South Africa rewrote human history. The Taung Skull proved that humankind’s roots lie in Africa, but its story is tangled in colonialism, bias, and forgotten voices. In this season premiere, Unburied digs into how the discovery of Australopithecus Africanus challenged scientific dogma, reshaped our understanding of human origins, and revealed how power shaped the stories we tell about the past. Featuring the voices of geologists, paleoanthropologists, historians, and the Taung community, we uncover what was celebrated, what was erased, and what this fossil still has to teach us. This episode was produced in partnership with The Human Evolution Research Institute ( HERI ) and the University of Cape Town. This series draws on original research published in the South African Journal of Science special issue, “The Taung Child then and now: Commemorating its centenary in a postcolonial age.” Special thanks to our guests in this episode: Dr. Robyn Pickering, PhD — Geologist, University of Cape Town Dr. Lauren Schroeder, PhD — Paleoanthropologist, University of Toronto Dr. Stephanie Baker, PhD — Anthropologist, University of Johannesburg Christa Kuljian — Research associate; WiSER (WITS) Bahidile “Mike” Dichaba — Community guide, Taung Resources & Links ARC: arcdocs.org HERI: heri.co.za SAJS Special Issue: ARC Angel : Facebook : Instagram : Tiktok : Support the Show

You can listen to Unburied S2E1: When Humanity Became African online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Unburied S2E1: When Humanity Became African is an episode from Sound Africa by ARC.

This episode is 30:33 long.

This episode was published on Sep 25, 2025.

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