Long Ago Yukon’s 2020-2021 Speaker Series will welcome its fifth speaker – Dr. Marina Elliott – at 1 p.m. Saturday via a live link on the Long Ago Yukon’s Facebook page.

The title of her talk will be “Homo naledi, understanding our newest cousin”.

Discovered deep in the Rising Star Cave in South Africa in September 2013, Homo naledi is one of the newest members of the human family.

In just seven years, it has become one of the largest assemblages of fossil hominins in the world. It’s notable for the unprecedented quality and completeness of the remains.

In addition, the nature of the deposit suggests that Homo naledi may have been engaging in complex behaviours previously assumed to have been practised only by modern humans.

Elliott was one of six “underground astronaunts” who excavated the find.

From 2014 to 2019, she led the excavations at Rising Star and continued to conduct research on Homo naledi.

On Saturday, Elliott will briefly recap the discovery and describe what research to date has revealed about the biology and behaviour of what’s regarded as a fascinating new species.

Elliott originally from Calgary, is a biological anthropologist, interested in the Human Journey – how, why and when humans became who we are today.

Elliott’s PhD is in biological anthropology and archaeology. Her field research has led her to excavated ancient human remains in western Canada, the U.S., Spain, Africa and Siberia.

She has also assisted with modern forensic investigations in Canada, the U.S. and Switzerland and was a visiting scientist intern at the Office of the New York Medical Examiner in New York.

Returning to Canada in 2020, Elliott is now a researcher at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, continuing to investigate our collective past.

She is a Fellow of the Explorers Club (FI ’15) and was named a National Geographic Explorer in 2016.

Long Ago Yukon is a voluntary group that endeavours to engage Yukoners through a variety of anthropological, archaeological and paleontological educational activities and community events.

It supports the protection and preservation of the archaeological and paleontological heritage of our territory.

Its Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/LongAgoYukon/