140 EXAM PRACTICE Read the text about the discovery of skeleton remains in a cave in South Africa, then choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) for questions 1–7. Put a cross ( ) in the correct box. The first one (0) has been done for you. READING 3 The discovery of Homo naledi In 2015, bones were found in a South African cave that turned out to be a new species of an ancient human relative called Homo naledi. They were excavated by six scientists with a hard-to-find combination of skills. The advertisement on Facebook called for “tiny and small specialised cavers and spelunkers with excellent archaeological, palaeontological and excavation skills”. And there was a catch: they would work for no pay. “Why wouldn’t you apply, with an advertisement like that?” recalled successful applicant Elen Feuerriegel, speaking at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa after scientists claimed the discovery of a new human ancestor. “How could you not? It was the thrill of discovery.” There were 57 applicants for the excavation: the six chosen were all women. “I suspect that physiology probably played a part,” Feuerriegel said. “I know for a fact that we were all of a size appropriate for getting into this cave, and we also had the caving experience.” The all-female team – Hannah Morris, Marina Elliot, Becca Peixotto, Alia Gurtov, Lindsay Eaves and Feuerriegel – were drawn from Australia, Canada and the US. Feuerriegel – 1.60 m, 52 kg and ‘pretty skinny’ – said: “It was really unusual, in terms of teamwork, how well we got on, because you really expect there are going to be small clashes of personality at least, but we got on really great. I think that a lot of it had to do with a shared goal and that we were sort of in the public eye as National Geographic was funding the expedition. There was quite a bit of media attention, and I think that helped foster camaraderie among us – the shared distaste of being in the limelight all the time.” The 21-day excavation meant crawling for 20 minutes through a narrow underground tunnel, illuminated only by head torches to find the chamber containing the remains. Feuerriegel, who is studying for a PhD in human evolutionary biomechanics at the Australian National University, reflected: “To get in, there was a 12-metre vertical shaft that you had to drop into. We were moving within 200 metres of an underground cave system with very tight and very narrow squeezes, including points where it got down to about 18 centimetres in breadth. You could feel the press of the rock on either side, but aside from that it was actually all right getting in with a little bit of wriggling.” “It’s a bit crowded, there’s not much room, so we did have to coordinate these yoga poses, the three of us who were down there at any given time, to work around each other. We often had to exchange positions because someone’s legs would get tired and go numb, and then we’d have to go and try to move delicately over to the next little rocky outcrop without crushing any of the remains.” Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des V rlags öbv
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