Date/Time
Date(s) - 03/31/2026
11:00 am - 11:45 am
Location
Angelo's Hall
Categories
Dr. Debi Bolter of Sonora will give an update on paleoanthropological findings stretching back 2 million years in South Africa on Tuesday, March 31, at Angelo’s Hall in Columbia. The 11 am presentation by the Cal Alumni Association of Tuolumne County is open to any interested members of the community. Following the presentation a no-host lunch will be available in the attached Bella Union Columbia House restaurant.
in 2008 skulls and skeleton fragments of a new human relative, constituting a major discovery, were uncovered at Malapa in the country of South Africa. Five years later, fossil remains of 15 individuals from a second new species were found in the Rising Star Cave that dates back 300,000 years. Both located in the Cradle of Humankind, the two new species discovered are named Homo naledi and Australopithecus sediba.
Since the original find an international team of paleoanthropologists, including Dr. Bolter, have been working to uncover the mysteries of our extinct ancestors. Dr Bolter, who teaches anthropology at Modesto Junior College, spends several weeks each summer in South Africa researching the fossils and artifacts. She will brig casts of fossil skulls and bones to showcase during her talk.
Born and raised in Sonora, Dr. Bolter earned a bachelor of science degree in anthropology at the University of California at Santa Cruz after graduating from Sonora High School. She also holds master’s degrees in anthropology from the University of California Riverside and University of California at Santa Cruz and a doctorate from UC Santa Cruz.
Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to calalummotherlode@gmail.com or call Gordon Rogers at 925-876-6664 so adequate seating will be available. Attendees also are encouraged to stay for the lunch.
To provide background for the talk interested persons are able to view a PBS documentary on fossil discoveries at Rising Star Cave ad Malapa, South Africa. The documentary, titled Dawn of Humanity, is a 2015 episode of NOVA, running 2 hors and 52 minutes.
