The command centre

Above ground, and clustered near the cave entrance, the Command Centre, the Science Tent and the Cavers’ Tent all buzzed with activity. From the Command Centre, senior scientists and guests could monitor the excavations on split-screen computer monitors that received video feeds from cameras positioned throughout the cave. Another monitor displayed the most recent 3D scans of the excavation, allowing those above ground to consult with the excavators below on the best way to extract an awkwardly positioned or delicate fossil like a portion of a skull. But the communication went both ways, with a bank of telephones linked to receivers at the top and bottom of the Chute, as well as in the Dinaledi Chamber itself. At least one senior scientist was always on duty in the Command Centre, ready to respond if an excavator called up from their remote workplace.