endocast

Better yet, the fossil fitted neatly with another type of fossil, called an endocast, formed from sediments accumulated inside the skull.

In the paper, he also reasoned that “enhanced cerebral powers possessed by this group … made their existence possible in this untoward environment”, attributing intelligence based on his interpretation of human-like brain convolutions at the back of the specimen’s endocast.

The most controversial aspect of Dart’s paper, then and now, is his view that the back of the Taung Child’s endocast is human-like.

It provided voluminous extra details about the endocast, bones and teeth, and bolstered the argument that humans originated in Africa6.

The endocast reflects brain-surface details stamped on the braincase’s inner walls.