Latest news with #MaryLeakey
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Blue plaque for Dr Louis Leakey's Foxton home
A palaeoanthropologist is being honoured for his work tracing the evolution and origins of humans.A blue plaque will be installed at the former home of Louis Leakey in High Street, Foxton, Leakey established that the origins and evolution of mankind began in Africa, he advanced the study of primates and was instrumental in launching the careers of three pioneering female Blue Plaque Committee said the installation aimed to "preserve the stories that shaped our community". The scientist was born in 1903 in British East Africa, now known as Kenya. His parents were English missionaries, and he grew up among the Kikuyu people, became fluent in the language and was made an honorary member of their his formal education began in England with a scholarship to St John's College, studied archaeology and anthropology and became a research fellow before receiving his BA in 1926 and PhD in 1930, both from Cambridge Leakey returned to East Africa in the 1920s to lead a series of expeditions which laid the groundwork for unearthing the story of the evolution of hominids. His breakthrough came in the 1950s and 60s, through excavations at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. He worked with his second wife, Mary Leakey, and made discoveries such as the remains of Homo habilis while setting new standards in the Leakey believed humans had evolved together as a single, closely related group - which, alongside his discoveries - played a role in what became known as the Out of Africa theory, which was later confirmed Leakey also made a mark on the study of living was convinced understanding their behaviour could shed light on early human societies and encouraged young researchers to observe primates in their natural Leakey then went on to help launch the careers of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Leakey's books and lectures also helped popularise the idea of human demonstrated that Africa was the birthplace of mankind and challenged colonial narratives, a perspective that was scientifically and politically significant during the era of decolonisation. 'Inspire' A blue plaque will mark his accomplishments and work, some of which were written while he lived in Tom Bygott said it would be a "fitting tribute to a man... [who] transformed our understanding of early human evolution."Corinne Garvie, who represents South Cambridgeshire District Council on the Blue Plaque Committee, said: "Leakey's groundbreaking work in tracing human evolution and our origins as a species by studying the fossil record began right here, and it's vital we celebrate and remember the local roots of such global figures. "Blue plaques help us connect with our past, inspire future generations, and honour the incredible people who once called our villages home." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
1.5 million-year-old bone tools discovered in Tanzania rewrite the history of human evolution
The ancestors of humans started making tools about 3.3 million years ago. First they made them out of stone, then they switched to bone as a raw material. Until recently, the earliest clear evidence of bone tool making was from sites in Europe, dated to 400,000 years ago. But archaeologists have now found and dated bone tools in Tanzania that are a million years older. The tools are made from the bones of large animals like hippos and elephants, and have been deliberately shaped to make them useful for butchering large carcasses. The discovery of bone implements that are the oldest ever found, by far, casts light on human evolution. It shows that our hominin ancestors were able to think about and make this technology a lot earlier than anyone realised. I am a scientist who co-directs a multidisciplinary research project team at the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, focusing on hominin evolution. Our project's main goal has been to investigate the changes in hominin technology and behaviour that happened between 1.66 million and 1.4 million years ago. We're interested in this time period because it marks a pivotal change in human technology, from the rudimentary stone knives and cores of the Oldowan culture to the more advanced crafted stone handaxes of the Acheulean culture. We found the Olduvai bone tools in 2018 and recently described them in the journal Nature. They show that by 1.5 million years ago, our ancestors (Homo erectus) had already developed the cognitive abilities required to transfer skills from making stone tools to making bone tools. This leap in human history was a game-changer because it allowed early hominins to overcome survival challenges in landscapes where suitable stone materials were scarce. Olduvai Gorge is a Unesco World Heritage site. It became well known in 1959 through the pioneering work of palaeontologists Louis and Mary Leakey, whose discoveries of early human remains reshaped our understanding of human evolution. The site offers an unparalleled window into human history, spanning nearly 2 million years. Read more: Aside from fossilised bones, it has yielded the most detailed record of stone tool cultures in the world. It has documented the evolution from the simple chopping tools and stone knives of the Oldowan industry (about 2 million years ago) to the more advanced Acheulean tools (1.7 million years ago), such as handaxes, cleavers, picks and spheroids and then on – through arrowheads, points and blades (about 200,000 years ago) to the micro-blades of the Later Stone Age (about 17,000 years ago). All these tools provide a glimpse into the ingenuity and cultural advancements of our early ancestors. And now the picture has new detail. Our team uncovered 27 ancient bone tools during excavations at the T69 Complex, FLK West site at Olduvai. We know how old they are because we found them securely embedded underground where they had been left 1.5 million years ago, along with thousands of stone artefacts and fossilised bones. We dated them using geochronological techniques. Unlike stone, bone shafts crack and break in a way that allows the systematic production of elongated, well-shaped artifacts. Flaking them by hitting them with another object – a process called knapping – results in pointed tools that would be ideal for butchering, chopping and other tasks. The knapped tools we found were made from large shaft fragments that came from the limb bones of elephants and hippos, and were found at hippo butchery sites. Hominins likely brought elephant bones to the site on a regular basis, and obtained limb bones from butchered hippos at the site itself. The find shows that 1.5 million years ago, Homo erectus could apply knapping skills to bone. Homo erectus, regarded as the evolutionary successor to the smaller-brained Homo habilis, left a lasting imprint on history. Its fossils, found at Olduvai, offer a glimpse into a span of about a million years, stretching from 1.5 million to roughly 500,000 years ago. Now we know that these hominins not only understood the physical properties of bones but also knew about skeletal anatomy. They could identify and select bones suitable for flaking. And they knew which animals had skeletons large enough to craft reliable tools after the animals' death. Read more: We don't know exactly why they chose bones as a raw material. It may have been that suitable stone material was scarce, or they recognised that bones provided a better grip and were more durable. Why haven't such old bone tools been found before? The answer is likely that they are destroyed by weathering, abrasion from water transport, trampling and scavenger activity. Organic materials don't always get time to fossilise. Also, analysts were not used to looking for bone tools among fossils. This discovery will likely encourage researchers to pay closer attention to the subtle signs of bone knapping in fossil assemblages. This way we will learn more about the evolution of human technology and behaviour. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Jackson K Njau, Indiana University Read more: When did our ancestors start to eat meat regularly? Fossilised teeth get us closer to the answer New technology tells us which animal bones were used to make ancient tools The whole story of human evolution – from ancient apes via Lucy to us Jackson K Njau does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
