On April 8, Becca Peixotto spoke to SR's Middle School about her work and education as an archaeologist. She was one of the archaeologists selected to be a part of an expedition in 2013, The Rising Star Expedition in South Africa. The expedition was ultimately responsible for the discovery of the new hominid species, named Homo naledi.
Ms. Peixotto shared with the girls the story of how she was chosen to be on the team. Her education and experience were defining qualifications, but she was also the right size to fit into difficult parts of the Rising Star Cave. According to Ms. Peixotto, “they were expecting to find one partial skeleton that wouldn't take too long to excavate. As it turned out, it wasn’t just one partial skeleton, it was up to a minimum of 15 individuals. None of us would have imagined we would be saying we found 1,500 fossil elements from 15 individuals down in that cave.”
Ms. Peixotto is a seasoned outdoor educator with expertise in wilderness expeditions in mountain and desert environments. Ms. Peixotto is presently a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at American University. She often finds herself excavating in difficult to reach places like the Rising Star Cave fossil hominid deposit and the interior of the Great Dismal Swamp.
Learn more about this discovery at:
www.washingtonian.com/2015/09/30/becca-peixotto-homo-naledi-rising-star-expedition-american-university
