How much science can there be in fiction and, at the same time, how much fiction (that is, creative imagination) can there be in science?
A new – rather controversial – study conducted by Australian scientists on mitochondrial DNA claims that the birthplace of modern humans might be in Botswana. This would confirm recent theories that the cradle of modern humanity lies in Southern Africa rather than in Eastern Africa.
This is also what paleoanthropologist Zoe du Plessis, the main character of my novel “The Afrikaner” (Guernica, Toronto, 2019), tries to prove with her fieldwork in the Desert of the Kalahari at the border between northern Namibia and southern Botswana.
References:
“The birthplace of modern humans might be in Botswana” (Australia Science)
“Ancestral home of modern humans is in Botswana, study finds” (The Guardian)
“Controversial new study pinpoints where all modern humans arose” (National Geographic)
“Humanity’s birthplace: why everyone alive today can call northern Botswana home” (Phys.org)
“The Afrikaner. A Novel” (Guernica Editions, Toronto, 2019)