SK 847

SK 847
Catalog no.SK 847
SpeciesHomo habilis
Age1.8-1.5 mya
Place discoveredSwartkrans, Republic of South Africa
Date discoveredJuly 23, 1969
Discovered byRonald Clarke
Replica of SK 847 at Washington

SK 847 is the abbreviated designation for the fossilized fragments of a Homo habilis cranium, discovered in South Africa, which was dated to an age between 1.8 and 1.5 million years. This fossil shares morphological traits with the early African Homo erectus, sometimes known as Homo ergaster.

There has been much controversy over SK 847 - being actually a composite skull reassembled from 3 separate pieces. Academics have attributed this composite skull to at least 5 different hominin taxa at one time or another.