A millenium sundial proposal : promoting public awareness of Mrs Ples, Pangaea and our palaeontological heritage : museums, science and education

Museums in South Africa have collections that include important components of our country's heritage, representing part of world heritage. As one example we have "Mrs Ples" from the Sterkfontein caves, the most complete cranium of Australopithecus africanus, 2.5 million years old, representing a distant human ancestor. The fossil resides in the "Broom Room" vault at the Transvaal Museum, now part of the Northern Flagship Institute, and is studied by local and visiting scientists from many countries around the world. Opportunities for overseas scientists to study Mrs Ples, and opportunities for South Africans to travel to study other African hominid fossils in collections elsewhere on the continent, have been facilitated through changes that have been part of the process of transformation, allowing freedom of speech, and freedom to work together as part of an international scientific community.