Today's post on the Rising Star Expedition blog is by one of our six advance scientists, Elen Feuerriegel: "The View From a Caver/Scientist".
In the process of clearing the Puzzle Box, Alia and I excavate a critical section of frontal bone that can begin to reveal the face of the ancient hominids in this chamber. Our hands shake visibly as we painstakingly remove it from the ground and I finally hold it up to the camera for Lee to see. There’s a moment of breathless suspense as he looks at the camera and finally seems to register what he’s seeing. When his delighted exclamation of “Wow!” finally comes over the coms, it’s the cue for everyone to breathe out. The fossil is beautifully preserved. It’s exactly what we needed to start making some sense of this site.
We’re ecstatic. I know I can hardly contain my excitement long enough to pass off the fossil to Alia for recording and packing to take to the surface.
This is a great piece, giving her perspective through the cave system. If you're following the expedition from a classroom, it's the one to get your students reading!
