Almost Human

The Astonishing Tale of Homo Naledi and the Discovery That Changed Our Human Story

By: Lee Berger, John Hawks

Narrated by: Donald Corren

A story of defiance and determination by a controversial scientist, this is Lee Berger's own take on finding Homo naledi, an all-new species on the human family tree and one of the greatest discoveries of the 21st century.

In 2013, Lee Berger, a National Geographic explorer-in-residence, heard of a cache of bones in a hard-to-reach underground cave in South Africa. He put out a call around the world for petite collaborators - men and women small and adventurous enough to be able to squeeze through eight-inch tunnels to reach a sunless cave forty feet underground. With this team, Berger made the discovery of a lifetime: hundreds of prehistoric bones, including entire skeletons of at least 15 individuals, all perhaps two million years old. Their features combined those of known prehominids like Lucy, the famous Australopithecus, with those more human than anything ever before seen in prehistoric remains. Berger's team had discovered an all new species, and they called it Homo naledi.

The cave quickly proved to be the richest prehominid site ever discovered, full of implications that shake the very foundation of how we define what makes us human. Did this species come before, during, or after the emergence of Homo sapiens on our evolutionary tree? How did the cave come to contain nothing but the remains of these individuals? Did they bury their dead? If so, they must have had a level of self-knowledge, including an awareness of death. And yet those are the very characteristics used to define what makes us human. Did an equally advanced species inhabit Earth with us, or before us? Berger does not hesitate to address all these questions.

Some colleagues question Berger's interpretation of this and other finds. Here, this charismatic and visionary paleontologist counters their arguments and tells his personal story: a rich narrative about science, exploration, and what it means to be human.

©2017 Lee Berger (P)2018 Blackstone Publishing

More Vanity than Anthropology

Seven chapters in and I can tell you many useless things about this man, yet very little about Early Man.

Amazing!

An amazing journey! Wonderfully written and read. i highly recommend this book to all, especially those starting in this field of study.

A Great Anthropology Story

I really enjoyed this. The discovery of Homo Naledi and Professor Berger's whole career are fascinating. There are a few editing errors in the audio, repeated passages and stuff like that. I didn't find them too distracting.

A well-written narrative for interested non-scientists.

I’m NOT an expert in paleo anthropology. I AM a well-educated novice who has been fascinated by the topic and following new research since the mid-80’s.

I’m not going to opine on the specific scientific merits of the author’s position.

The work is engaging to listen to, fascinating for those interested in the subject, and presented in a way to make it accessible for folk whose interest in the subject might not be as deep as mine is.

His ideas are radical for some folk in his field, but his finds ARE definitely worth a longer look and careful consideration by his peers.


Plus, it’s free. Give it a listen, and at least hear the man out.

Loved this brief primer

Short and to-the-point primer on the field excavation for two of Berger's hominid discoveries. Good storytelling about the expedition and the dramatics of academia of the time. No prior specialized paleontological knowledge required to comprehend.