Comparison of Sts 5 ('Mrs Ples') and Stw 53 ('Early Homo') from Sterkfontein, South Africa

Sts 5, nicknamed 'Mrs Pies', discovered by Robert Broom and John Robinson at Sterkfontein (Member 4), is the most complete cranium attributed to Australopithecus africanus. Another hominid from Sterkfontein, Stw 53, discovered by Alun Hughes in the course of excavations directed by P.V. Tobias,(n1) has been attributed to early Homo. Sts 5 is considered to be circa 2.6 million years old, whereas Stw 53 is thought to be younger, perhaps in the order of 2.0 million years. We compared these two specimens and show that Stw 53 is morphometrically close to Australopithecus.