Post by Catsmate on Sept 11, 2015 11:28:38 GMT
Probably most people are aware of the fuss about the bones discovered recently in South Africa and their (as yet unconfirmed) assignment to a new branch of the hominid family tree, Homo naledi. The remains are those of fifteen people found in a single cave, the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system. There is much debate on why the remains were there; deliberate burial, mass death or other reasons. There is a lot of speculation on ritual behavior and abstract thought.
From examination of the remains Homo naledi were small in size, with body mass and stature comparable to to small-bodied humans. Their heads were unique (as far as is known) with similarities to other early hominids such as Homo erectus, Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis. Limbs and extremities seem quite similar to modern humans.
It's currently unknown exactly how old the bones are, dating is expected fairly soon. Estimates of around three million years have been made.
So a whole new species, ready to drop into a Who game.
Let the rampant speculation begin...
1. Maybe they didn't all die out.
Could lingering populations be the cause of the various stories of the "little people" that appear in mythology in places from Ireland to the Hawaiian Islands, Greece to North America.
2. Alien experiments.
Is H. naledi a natural product of terrestrial evolution or the result of genetic tampering by <insert usual suspects here>. Were Silurians attempting to create a more tractable mammalian slave race perhaps?
3. Historical research.
Time travel provides the perfect opportunity for "field research in real time". Is the Doctor/other Time Lord/someone with a time machine, susceptible to a little nagging from a human Companion; someone who's interested in the find and wants to see H. naledi in situ? Alternatively, does a time traveller owe a favour to a scientist in the field who calls it in for a little jaunt, perhaps intending to observe the hominids and locate possible future dig sites.
And who else might be doing some field research in the past?
4. Modern day research.
For a game set in the current period there are still possibilities; has the full story bene releases? Is there some oddity being concealed, like a injury to one of the skeletons from a high velocity projectile. Are are bones all that the researchers unearthed? Or were some out-of-place artefacts found in the caves with the bones; they'd have to be pretty tough (or inert) to survive that long but crystal/ceramic materials or self-repairing devices could last.
What happened to such artefacts? Discarded as irrelevant contamination, or quietly spirited away for examination or sale on the back market?
Or was one (or more) of the dig team infected by dormant nanotech which is even now changing her....
Elife paper: Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa
BBC article
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
From examination of the remains Homo naledi were small in size, with body mass and stature comparable to to small-bodied humans. Their heads were unique (as far as is known) with similarities to other early hominids such as Homo erectus, Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis. Limbs and extremities seem quite similar to modern humans.
It's currently unknown exactly how old the bones are, dating is expected fairly soon. Estimates of around three million years have been made.
So a whole new species, ready to drop into a Who game.
Let the rampant speculation begin...1. Maybe they didn't all die out.
Could lingering populations be the cause of the various stories of the "little people" that appear in mythology in places from Ireland to the Hawaiian Islands, Greece to North America.
2. Alien experiments.
Is H. naledi a natural product of terrestrial evolution or the result of genetic tampering by <insert usual suspects here>. Were Silurians attempting to create a more tractable mammalian slave race perhaps?
3. Historical research.
Time travel provides the perfect opportunity for "field research in real time". Is the Doctor/other Time Lord/someone with a time machine, susceptible to a little nagging from a human Companion; someone who's interested in the find and wants to see H. naledi in situ? Alternatively, does a time traveller owe a favour to a scientist in the field who calls it in for a little jaunt, perhaps intending to observe the hominids and locate possible future dig sites.
And who else might be doing some field research in the past?
4. Modern day research.
For a game set in the current period there are still possibilities; has the full story bene releases? Is there some oddity being concealed, like a injury to one of the skeletons from a high velocity projectile. Are are bones all that the researchers unearthed? Or were some out-of-place artefacts found in the caves with the bones; they'd have to be pretty tough (or inert) to survive that long but crystal/ceramic materials or self-repairing devices could last.
- Perhaps an object that belongs to one of the PCs. Paradox time.
What happened to such artefacts? Discarded as irrelevant contamination, or quietly spirited away for examination or sale on the back market?
Or was one (or more) of the dig team infected by dormant nanotech which is even now changing her....
Elife paper: Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa
BBC article
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?