THE ORIGIN OF HUMANS

ETHIOPIA IS RECOGNIZED AS THE ORIGIN OF HUMANS.

The Lower Awash Valley in the central east of Ethiopia and the Lower Omo Valley, in southern Ethiopia, both of which are located in the Great Rift Valley, are the most important palaeontological sites on earth.

It is in Ethiopia that the earliest evidence of human tool making, dated to 2.6 million years old, was documented. Moreover, the evidence for the earliest Acheulean technology (1.7 million years old) and Middle Stone Age (170,000 years old) was discovered and documented in Ethiopia.

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Fossils belong to new great ape

Nine fossilised teeth found in Ethiopia are from a previously unknown species of great ape, Nature journal reports. The 10 million-year-old fossils belong to an animal that has been named Chororapithecus abyssinicus by an Ethiopian-Japanese team. This new species could be a direct ancestor of living African great apes, say the researchers. The finds from the Afar rift, in eastern Ethiopia, raise questions on current theories of human evolution. The researchers say the fossils from Ethiopia probably belonged to an ape from the gorilla family.

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'Lucy's baby' found in Ethiopia

'Lucy's baby' found in Ethiopia

Wednesday, 20 September 2006,

The 3.3-million-year-old fossilised remains of a human-like child have been unearthed in Ethiopia's Dikika region.

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AL 129-1

Catalog number: AL 129-1

Species: Australopithecus afarensis

Age: 3-3.2 mya

Place discovered: Hadar, Ethiopia

Date discovered: 1973

Discovered by: Donald Johanson

AL 129-1 is the fossilized knee joint of the species Australopithecus afarensis. It was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia by Donald Johanson in November 1973.

It is estimated to be 3-3.2 million years old.

Its characteristics include an elliptical Lateral condyle and an oblique femoral shaft like in humans, indicating bipedalism.

Discovery

French geologist Maurice Taieb discovered the Hadar Formation in 1972.

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