SCIENTISTS SEEK CRADLE OF MAN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18496, 23 June 1928, Page 4

SCIENTISTS SEEK CRADLE OF MAN.

i PARTY WILL EXPLORE KALAHARI DESERT. I NEW YORK. May 31 A party of adventurers and scientists have sailed in the steamer New York for the Kalahari Desert, where I they expect to find the cradle of the I human race. “Skulls believed to be 1,000,000 year* old have been found in the region we shall explore,” said Dr Cable, a member of the party. “We expect to establish a connection between the prehistoric owners of these skulls and the present pigmy tribes.” The Kalahari Desert is a vast tract of South Africa extending 600 mile* from the Orange River northwards. It has an average breadth of about 300 miles. The so-called “desert” is an elevated basin, from 3000 to 4000 feet high and bordered mostly by sandy waterless country. The inhabitants, called Bakalhari, keep cattle and grow corn. They Jive by these and by hunting. Wandering Bushmen are also found in the area The Bushmen are among the most primitive types known. Their skilful rock-engraving and cave painting bear a genetic resemblance to thdSe of Palaeolithic Europe. In some tribes, art took the form of stone sculpture. The Bushmen are distinguished from other negro types by their yellow skin.