Archaeological sites and important archaeological findings

around the Konso village. Hominid remains attributed to Australopithecus boisis and Homo erectus are recovered from this site. (Yonas, 2005)

The Dikika and Busidima paleoanthropological site

It is located on both sides of the Awash River south of the Hadar and the Gona sites and the north of the Middle Awash Research area. The site was first reported along with the Hadar and the Middle Awash sites in early 1970’s. The site has produced many important hominid remains attributed to Australopithecus afaransis.

The Gaili paleoanthropological site

The Gaili paleoanthropological site is located to the east of the Gadamytu town along the Addis Ababa – Gawane road. Hominid fossils discovered from this site include Australopithecus afaransis and Australopithecus anamesis. (Yonas, 2005)

The Kessem – Kebena paleoanthropological site

The Kessem – Kebena paleoanthropological site was discovered in 1988. The site is located between the kessem and the kebena Rivers to the west and north of the Yalow village. (Yonas, 2005)

The Gadamota Archaeological site

The Gadamota Archaeological site is located about 165 Kms south of Addis Ababa near Zuway town. (Teklie, class room lecture)

Ethiopia’s Paleoanthroplogical Evidence

It is important to realize that in eastern Africa, especially in Ethiopia the majority of the fossil discoveries have been made within recent years. Study of many is as yet at a preliminary stage, and there is often considerable controversy about their attribution to named species and, on occasion, their dating. Likewise, new finds are steadily being announced; these may require the modification or abandonment of existing theories. The following paleoanthropological evidences are discovered in the abovementioned paleoanthropological sites of Ethiopia.

Ardipithecus ramidus

It is older than Lucy by more than one million years ago! The oldest hominid fossils found so far, Ardipithecus ramidus, have been dated at 5.8 million years old. The fossils of these individuals, who lived in Ethiopia, show that the skull was balanced at the top of the skeleton for walking erect. Meanwhile, other animal fossils found nearby indicate that A. ramidus definitely lived in the forest. If careful studies of the A. ramidus bones show that it really did walk upright, the savanna hypothesis will be disproved.

It is well-known from Aramis in the middle Awash study area and Gona, Afar rift, Ethiopia. The meaning of Ardipithecus ramidus is “root of the ground ape,” after the Afar words ‘Ardi’ (ground) and ‘ramid’ (roots). The earliest known hominid was a small creature, which stood upright, with thin enameled teeth and a skull closer to those of apes, suggesting close links with ancestral chimpanzees. Ardipithecus ramidus is known from relatively high altitude, closed-canopy woodlands of Ethiopia. Ardipithecus ramidus apparently lived in more wooded terrain than many of its successors and must lie close to the first hominids to diverge from the African apes. (Caption, National Museum)

A site beside the Aramis tributary of the Middle Awash River in Ethiopia has yielded a partial hominid skeleton plus fragments of several other individuals, all now attributed to Ardipithecus ramidus and dated to about 4.4 million years ago (White et al. 1994).

Ardipithecus Kadaba

Paleoanthropologists working in the Middle Awash Valley of the Afar region, Ethiopia, have recovered more fossils of an early hominid known as Ardipithecus Kadaba. The species name comes from the afar word “Kadaba” which means “big father” or “basal family member”. (Caption on national museum display) The fossils date to between 5.54 and 5.77 million years ago. The primitive teeth show that Ardipithecus Kadaba was the earliest specious of its genus, and may represent the first species on the human branch of the family tree just after the evolutionary split between lines leading to modern chimpanzees and humans. (Caption national museum)

Ardipithecus Kadaba was first named in 2001 as a chronologically older species of Ardipithecus ramidus. The younger sub species had already been named by the Middle Awash team in 1994 and dated to 4.4 million years old. According to Haile Selasie now elevate the subspecies kadabba is now the earliest, most primitive species of Ardipithecus.

Ardipithecus Kadaba predates the younger “Lucy” skeleton by about 2.5 million years. The more evolved 4.4 million years, named Australopihecus anamensis, appear to be the direct ancestors of Australopithecus afaransis, the “Lucy” species.

Australopithecus anamensis

It is known in Ethiopia from Aramis and Assa Issie, middle Awash study area, Afar rift. Australopithecus anamensis was first announced and named in 1995 with Kenya fossils and are considered the earliest species of Australopithecus. The Aramis and Assa Issie fossils were found in 1994 and between 2000 and 2005, respectively. These fossils confirm that the earliest known species of Australopithecus lived in Ethiopia in the same general area as did Ardipithecus ramidus, but at slightly younger age. (National Museum, display) Australopithecus anamensis (anam in is “lake” in turkana) is a name given to complete upper and lower hominid jaws, some teeth, and limb fragments of almost eighty individuals. A.anamensis is intermediate in time between Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus afarensis, and is morphologically distinct from both in several ways. The new genus and species Ardipithecus ramidus was named for fossils from horizons at Aramis in Ethiopia that have been securely dated by single-crystal 40Ar/39Ar laser fusion dating to just less than 4.4 mya.

Australopithecus afarensis

Australopithecus afarensis is much more comprehensively represented by fossils dating between 3.6 and 3.0 million years ago. Here, it is appropriate to note that A. afarensis was a relatively lightly built or gracile species showing several features, principally in the teeth and face, which distinguish it from later australopithecines (Johanson and White 1979). Australopithecus afarensis is an early species of Australopithecus from which the later species evolved. Many of the best and the most abundant fossils of this species have been discovered at Hadar, Afar rift. Two major fossil evidences that are discovered here as follows.

Lucy

Australopithecus afarensis is best known from the Hadar region of Ethiopia. The first and best known Australopithecus afarensis discovered on November 30, 1974 in the world was the fossil known as Lucy, found in the Hadar Valley and described by Donald Johansen, Tim White and Yves Coppens. Fragments of 13 hominins were discovered at Hadar including children. Later on the night of November 30th there was much celebration and excitement over the discovery of what appeared to be a fairly complete hominid skeleton. There was drinking, dancing and singing; the Beatles’ song “Lucy in sky with diamonds” was playing over and over. As a result, the name is stuck from the song. It displays considerable difference in size. Some individuals stood 1.5 m (5 feet) tall and probably weighted approximately 68 KG. (kirs, 2007) Selam. Selam is the name of a juvenile Australopithecus afarensis found in an area called Dikidik Ethiopia’s Afar triangle. The first reports were in Nature on September 21, 2006 by a team led by Zeresenay Alemseged of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. Selam means peace in several Ethiopian languages. She represents the earliest and most complete skeleton of a child human ancestor ever discovered in the history of paleoanthropology. She was about three years old when she died and belongs to the ancient species Australopithecus afarensis. She lived and died 3.3 million years ago; i.e. 150, 000 years before “Lucy”. Selam, sometimes known as the Dikika baby, is the most complete fossil of a juvenile Australopithecus found to date. The find included most of the skull, shoulders, part of the vertebral column, parts of both knees and legs, parts of the right arm, and several ribs.

Selam is a girl estimated at about 3 years old based on comparisons with modern chimpanzee growth rates. She was found in 2001 in the Rift Valley south of the Awash River, and recovered from the bed of an ancient shallow, slow moving channel that filled about 3.4 million years ago. Researchers believe the