This paper was originally presented as the first in the Sol Plaatjie Lecture Series on Africa, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Education and the African Human Genome Initiative in November 2002. The author Himla Soodyall addresses the contribution towards the generation of knowledge concerning the evolutionary history of mankind made by genetic approaches to anthropological questions. She examines the use and relevance of genetic data as another ’tool’ in the reconstruction of our history. About the Author/sProfessor Himla Soodyall obtained a (Hons) degree at the University.
