Today In History: Mary Leakey Discovers Ancient Remains
Basically, I have been impelled by curiosity. -- Mary Leakey, Disclosing the Past, p. 211.
If you thought Neanderthals were old, dating back some 40,000 to 400,00 years ago to inhabit Europe and Central / Southwest Asia, what about Paranthropus boisei (the current scientific classification for Zinjanthropus boisei?
On July 17th, 1959 British paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey, together with her husband Louis Leakey, discovered in Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania, East Africa, the fossilized " Zinjanthropus" remains -- some 400 fragments -- of a human skull dating back to nearly 2 million years. When reconstructed, the skull, Australopithecus boisei, was dubbed "Nutcracker Man", owing to its massive jaws and large teeth. For most of their career, the Leakeys worked at the Olduvai site, uncovering ancient stone tools and furthering their research, not only into the history of man, but of many different animal species.
In 1978 the Leakeys and their team made another famous discovery, this time amongst volcanic ash: fossilized hominin footprints, dating some 3.6 million years, at Laetoli, Tanzania, twenty-eight miles south of Olduvai Gorge. These ground-breaking discoveries proved that humans lived in East Africa much earlier than believed, and also that we, unlike primates. began by walking upright on two feet, the hallmark sign of adaptive lineage. Bipedalism was significant because it preceded larger brains; freed hands allowed for evolutionary changes, including tool making, brain development, and more complex ways of living.
The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.
- Davy, J. (1966, Jan 23). The Search for the Origins of Man. The Observer Magazine (1964-), 14-21.
- Footprint Found after 500,000 Years. (1972, Jun 22). The Scotsman (1921-2002)
- The Leakeys' Telltale Skulls. (1974, Jul 15). Newsweek, 84, 72-72, 75, 77.
- Cohn, V. (1975, Oct 31). Human Remains Called Oldest. The Washington Post (1974-)
- Timberlake, L. (1977, Oct 13). Tempo People: Mary Leakey Still on Trail of Mankind in Tracking 3-Million-Year-Old Prints. Chicago Tribune (1963-1996)
- The Oldest Footprints of Man's Ancestors?: 'Very Important' Tourists Constant Conference Heated. (1977, Nov 16). The Christian Science Monitor (1908-)
- Robertson, N. (1980, Feb 08). A Life's Obsession with Man's Beginnings: Making Lecture Tour. New York Times (1923-)
- Smith, A. (1996, Dec 10). A Dawn for History in the Dust of the Gorge. The Guardian (1959-2009)
- The Grande Dame of Archeology. (1996, Dec 16). New York Times (1923-)
- Begley, S. (1996, Dec 23). Witness to the Creation: Mary Leakey, 1913—1996. Newsweek, 128, 74.
Tips:
- Almécija, S. Humans : Perspectives on Our Evolution from World Experts. Columbia University Press, 2023. e-book.
- Bainbridge, D. Paleontology : An Illustrated History. Princeton University Press, 2022. e-book.
- Fagan, B.M. Archaeologists : Explorers of the Human Past. 1st ed., Oxford University Press, 2003. e-book.
- Leakey, L. S. B. Adam’s Ancestors : An up-to-Date Outline of What Is Known about the Origin of Man. Longmans, Green, 1935. Closed Stacks Research ; 575.8 L47.
- Leakey, M. Disclosing the Past: An Autobiography. Doubleday, 1984. Barnard GN21.L372 A33 1984.
- Tattersall, I. The Fossil Trail : How We Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution. Oxford University Press, 1995. e-book.
Images:
- Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge, by Noel Feans, 2009, Wikimedia Commons.
- Poster Image: Plaque Marking the Discovery of Australopithecus in Tanzania, by George Lamson, 2012, Wikimedia Commons.
- Anthropology, Somatology, Neanderthal Skull. 1931, Rothman Lantern Slide Collection, Teachers College, Columbia University.
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