Charles Kimberlin Brain (7 May 1931 – 6 June 2023), also known as C. K. "Bob" Brain, was a South African

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

who studied and taught African cave

taphonomy Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term ''taphonomy'' (from Greek language, Greek , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientis ...

for more than fifty years.

Biography

Brain was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

on 7 May 1931. He was the son of the

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, Charles Kimberlin Brain , the Director of Agriculture of Southern Rhodesia, and Zoe Findlay. From 1965 to 1991, Brain directed the

Transvaal Museum The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City ...

, which became one of the most scientifically productive institutions of its kind in Africa during his tenure. During his years at the museum, Brain actively pursued his own research, which was A-rated by the Foundation for Research Development (now the

National Research Foundation of South Africa South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions. History It was established on 1 April 1999 as an ...

) from the inception of its evaluation system in 1984 until his retirement. Brain planned and scripted the displays in the museum's "Life’s Genesis I" and "Life's Genesis 2" halls, which have been seen by several million visitors. Very early in Brain's career,

Robert Ardrey Robert Ardrey (October 16, 1908 – January 14, 1980) was an American playwright, screenwriter and science writing, science writer perhaps best known for ''The Territorial Imperative'' (1966). After a Broadway (theatre), Broadway and Cinema of th ...

wrote of him: Although Brain retired in 1996, he was active as

Curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

Emeritus at the Transvaal Museum, an Honorary Professor of Zoology at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

, an active

Research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

Associate at the

Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research The Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) is a paleontological, Paleoanthropology, paleoanthropological and archeological research institute operated through the Faculty of Science of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Afr ...

, and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust (PAST). He was an active researcher of fossils of the earliest animals and was co-ordinating a renewed excavation initiative at the

Swartkrans Swartkrans or Swartkranz is a fossil-bearing cave designated as a National heritage sites (South Africa), South African National Heritage Site, located about from Johannesburg. It is located in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is ...

Cave. He was a consulting editor for the ''Annals of the Eastern Cape Museums.'' In its 2006 Lifetime Achiever tribute to Brain, the

said: Brain was invited participant at over thirty international conferences and symposia worldwide. He and his wife had four children. He died on 8 June 2023, at the age of 92. A species of legless lizard, '' Typhlosaurus braini'', is named in his honour.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Brain", p. 37).

Education

Pretoria Boys High School Pretoria Boys High School (colloquially known as "Boys High") is a public, Tuition payments, tuition-charging, English language, English-medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Brooklyn, Pretoria, Brooklyn in Pretoria in the Gauten ...

* BSc. in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

—

, 1950. *

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

— University of the Witwatersrand, 1957. *

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

— University of the Witwatersrand, 1981.

Honours and awards

* Four Honorary Doctorates: : 1999:

: 1999:

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

: 1993:

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

: 1991:

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

* 2006:

(NRF) President's Lifetime Achiever award. * 1997: South Africa Medal of the

Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science The Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science (S2A3 or S2A3) is a learned society, originally known as the South African Association for the Advancement of Science (SAAAS). Established in 1902, its principal aim is to increase th ...

* 1992: Achievement Award of th
Claude Harris Leon Foundation
* 1991: John F. W. Herschel Medal of the Royal Society of South Africa * 1987: Senior Captain Scott Memorial Medal of the South African Biological Society

Scholarly scientific societies

In addition to other active memberships, Brain was a founding member of four societies: * Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa * South African Archaeological Society * South African Society for

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

Research * Zoological Society of Southern Africa ** 1974–75: President ** 1969–73: Vice President

Publications

* Nearly two hundred, including several books.

Books

* "Swartkrans: A Cave’s Chronicle of Early Man." (ed.) 2nd Edition. Transvaal Museum Monograph No. 8, 1–295, 2005. * "Fifty years of fun with fossils: some cave taphonomy-related ideas and concepts that emerged between 1953 and 2003." In ''African Taphonomy: A Tribute to the Career of C.K. "Bob" Brain.'' Edited by Travis Pickering, Katherine Schick, and Nicholas Toth, Center for Research into the Anthropological Foundations of Technology (CRAFT Center),

Stone Age Institute The Stone Age Institute is an independent research center dedicated to the archeology, archaeological and Paleontology, paleontological study of human origins and technological development beginning with the earliest stone tools. The institute w ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, 2004.
Raymond Dart and our African origins.
In ''A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries that Changed Science and the World'',

Laura Garwin Laura Justine Garwin (born 1957) is an American trumpeter and former science journalist. One of the first women to become a Rhodes Scholar, she is the former physical sciences editor of ''Nature (journal), Nature'', co-editor of the book ''A Cent ...

and Tim Lincoln, editors. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...

, 2003. Hardcover: . Paperback: . * '' The Hunters or the Hunted?: An Introduction to African Cave Taphonomy.'' C.K. Brain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. Paperback: ,
Press page.

Scientific journals

(This list is very incomplete.)
The Transvaal Ape-Man-Bearing Cave Deposits: An overview of the sites at Sterkfontein, Kromdraai, Swartkrans and Makapan.
''Transvaal Museum Memoir'' No. 11, 1958. (Dr. Brain's PhD thesis.) ** Reviewed by F. Clark Howell in ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

'', Volume 129, Issue 3354, p. 957. April 1959. ** Republished in book form by "Netherlands Repro" (?) * "The Narrative Concept in Museum Display." ''South African Museums Association Bulletin'' 1978. * "Visitor Reaction to the Life's Genesis Display." ''South African Museums Association Bulletin'' 1979.

References

A Tribute to the Career of C.K. "Bob" Brain.
African Taphonomy Conference,

, 28 April – 1 May 2004,

. ** Sponsored in part by th
Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research
founded and endowed in 1941 by

Axel Wenner-Gren Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren (5 June 1881 – 24 November 1961) was a Swedish entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest men in the world during the 1930s. Early life He was born on 5 June 1881 in Uddevalla, a town on the west coast of Sweden. He ...

as the Viking Fund. ** "…scientists from around the world convened in Bloomington, Indiana to celebrate the life and career of Bob Brain, Curator Emeritus of the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria, South Africa. Dr. Brain is an African prehistorian with over 50 years of experience in the natural sciences. He is best known for his research at famous ape-man cave sites in southern Africa."
"Killer Cats Hunted Human Ancestors:
Three South African scientists believe they have identified several predators that preyed upon human ancestors millions of years ago." Shaun Smillie, ''

National Geographic News The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

'', 20 May 2002

External links

Journal of Taphonomy.

The Zoological Society of Southern Africa
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Charles Kimberlin 1931 births 2023 deaths South African paleontologists Taphonomists Alumni of Pretoria Boys High School Academic staff of the University of the Witwatersrand University of the Witwatersrand alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of South Africa Rhodesian emigrants to South Africa Presidents of the South African Archaeological Society White South African people People from Harare