Laetoli in one of the most extraordinary paleontological sites in the world. In addition to thousands of fossil bones of vertebrates (including hominins) mainly from the Pliocene, Laetoli is famous for the outstanding evidence of fossil footprints, including the earliest bipedal human tracks worldwide. Find out more on Laetoli by traveling along the timeline!
An eruption of a volcano (on whose identity there is still disagreement among geologists) cloaks the landscape of Laetoli with ashes. We are at the end of the rainy season and the water makes the ashes muddy, allowing the conservation of the footprints of all the animals that move in the landscape. Among them, a group of Australopithecus afarensis leaves the oldest bipedal footprints in the world!
The first recorded journey through the Laetoli region is that of Oscar Baumann, who passed close to the Garusi Valley during a foot safari in northern Tanzania.
Louis and Mary Leakey visit Laetoli for the first time with some colleagues, including Sir Peter Kent, who writes the first account of the geology of the area using the name “Laetoli” (from the Maasai name for the red lily Scadoxus multiflorus). The group is led by a Maasai named Sanimu, who worked with the Leakeys in Olduvai and wanted to show them some similar fossils found. The Leakeys collect a number of fossils, including a hominin canine.
The German explorer Ludwig Kohl-Larsen camps in the Laetoli area and makes an extensive collection of fossils, including hominin remains.
Louis and Mary Leakey visit Laetoli again and find new fossils. Immediately after returning to Olduvai Gorge, they discover the skull of Paranthropus boisei OH5 (nicknamed “Zinj”).
After many years of work in Olduvai, Mary Leakey’s attention shifts back to Laetoli thanks to the recovery of some fossil teeth of bovids and equids. From this fortuitous discovery, new survey starts, which lead the collaborators M. Mwoka and M. Muluila to find several hominin specimens.
After realizing that the rocks of Laetoli were older than those of Olduvai (the first absolute dating returns results of about 2.4 million years), Mary Leakey decides to set up camp at Laetoli to explore the area in detail. The hope is to find more ancient lithic tools than those of Olduvai, but the adventure will lead to even more sensational discoveries!
Mary Leakey and co-authors publish a report on the remains of hominins discovered in Laetoli up to that time in the prestigious journal Nature. A couple of years later, Donald Johanson and co-authors will choose the LH4 mandible from Laetoli as the holotype of the new species Australopithecus afarensis!
The first mammal and bird footprints are discovered at Site A by paleontologist Andrew Hill, while playing with dried elephant dung with other guys. This is the beginning of the discovery of dozens of other sites with hundreds of footprints in Laetoli.
Another member of Mary Leakey’s team, geochemist Paul Abell, makes the most exciting of discoveries: the bipedal footprints of three hominin individuals at Site G. This brings Laetoli to the top of world paleoanthropological interest and reshapes the study of human origins!
Mary Leakey’s work in Laetoli ends, along with her amazing field career in Tanzania.
Tim White and Gen Suwa in an article on the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, identify Australopithecus afarensis as the best candidate for the maker of the Laetoli tracks.
1995 – The Getty Conservation Institute in collaboration with the Antiquities Division of the former Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Culture (now under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism), launches a project for the conservation of Site G hominin footprints.
The “Eyasi Plateau-Laetoli Expeditions”, directed by Terry Harrison and still in progress, begin. The project aims at collecting more detailed contextual information on the paleontology, geology, dating, and paleoecology of the area.
During systematic survey (Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment) aimed at evaluating the impact of a proposed new field museum at Laetoli, Fidelis T. Masao and his team discover new hominin footprints about 150 m to the south of Site G.
The THOR team studies the new footprints in the area called Site S and refers them to two Australopithecus afarensis individuals different from those of Site G.
The outstanding results of the study of Site S are published by the THOR team in the journal eLife and have a global media coverage!
