The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has declared September African Origins Month. African Origins Month will focus on South Africa's remarkable palaeontological and archaeological heritage.

Call for Proposals 2009: Development of paleo-tourism material
For African Origins Month 2009, SAASTA wishes to appoint a team of people to develop communication material that would promote South Africa's sites of archaeological and palaeontological significance among tourists. The team will travel to key paleontological and archaeological sites (i.e. Cradle of Humankind, uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape) across South Africa to develop appropriate material that would be used to stimulate the tourism market (both national and international) to visit these sites. We envisage a team of five to do this task, made up of a science communicator, photographer and camera team. The team will be responsible for developing material that would both communicate the scientific information stemming from the research conducted at the various sites, and act as a marketing tool to invite persons to visit the sites. The deadline for submitting proposals is close of business, 26 August 2009.

Download the Call for Proposals

Call for Proposals 2008
For the fifth year running, the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST) has declared four thematic months for 2008, namely Antarctica Month (June), Marine Biosciences Month (August), African Origins Month (September) and Astronomy Month (October). The closing date for proposals for African Origins Month is 1 February 2008. All prospective applicants are invited to a briefing session on 23 November 2007, at which guidelines will be provided about the type of proposals required.

Download archaeology animation
In celebration of African Origins Month 2007, SAASTA produced a series of animations which were flighted on national television during September. The animation is now available for download.

African Origins Explorer
Explore african origins with us province by province and discover that South Africa has one of the richest fossil records in the world that also includes dinosaurs, mammal-like reptiles and even humans. Indeed the fossil evidence shows that our species originated in Africa and then populated the world from here.

N E W S T-Rex faster than top athletes T-Rex may have struggled to chase down speeding vehicles as the movie Jurassic Park would have us believe but the world's most fearsome carnivore was certainly no slouch, new research out suggests. Science Daily Africa tackles the subject of the origin of humans Knowledge about the theory of evolution is appreciated by very few people in Africa writes Gilbert Kairu. It is a specialised field of biological sciences which has attracted only a few scholars, especially from the African Diaspora. The Nation, Kenya

F A C T  S H E E T S Find out more about the following exciting topics: Dinosaurs of South Africa The Cradle of Humankind Tools and Technology African Connexions C A R T O O N In celebration of African Origins Month, SAASTA has produced a series of cartoons available for download. Animation [7Mb] Mrs Ples cartoon [3Mb] Blombos cartoon [2.5Mb]