Finding Sediba
By: Sasha Aronson


If you have followed the story of Sediba, the 1.97 million-year-old hominid skeletons that were recently found in South Africa, you know that Matthew Berger, then 9, made the initial and crucial discovery. About a month ago when we visited the Bergers, I interviewed Matthew, after spending the day with him and his very “Hogwarts,” English prep-school. Here is our Q and A:
As background, Matthew found a rock and noticed something unusual in it. “Dad,” he called out. “I’ve found a fossil!”
Q: How did you know it was a fossil?
A: From a young age my dad taught me what they looked like and their color. It was a yellow-white color in the rock, and then i knew it was a fossil, or limestone.
(The bone in the rock was a clavicle- a bone which is so think and fragile, it had never been recovered form an ancient skeleton, but which Dr. Berger happened to have written his doctoral dissertation about.)
Q: Did you know it was a clavicle at first?
A: No, because you usually find antelope fossils, but I wasn’t sure what it was.
Q: Was this your first fossil find?
A: No.
Q: Was it an advantage for you that your dad studies these things?
A: Definitely, because I was wouldn’t have known what a fossil looked like otherwise.
Q: Were you with anyone or anything when you found it?
A: I was with a guardian dog, Tau.
Q: Did you think/know if your dad would believe it was something important.
A: ***I inferred from his expression, “Oh this is just another antelope fossil, I’ll just please my son away.”
Q: Were you surprised that you found something so major?
A: Yes, I was surprised.
Q: Were there reports and headlines for you?
A: Yes, lots of reporters and I also got my name and picture on the front page of the New York Times. I was on TV, radio and magazines.
Q: Did you feel overwhelmed by the media?
A: When they announced the discovery I got very nervous.