New hominid and stone tool discoveries from Gona, Afar Ethiopia.

March 18, 2001

Important new hominid and stone tool discoveries were made by  the Gona Palaeoanthropological Research Project  (GPRP) during  a recent fieldwork  undertaken between February-March, 2001.  Gona is located in the west-central part of the Afar  Administrative Region. The Gona team, which involves American and Spanish scientists is directed by Dr. Sileshi Semaw, an Ethiopian working on a postdoctoral research fellowship at CRAFT (Center for Research into the Anthropological Foundation of Technology), Indiana University, U.S.A.

Earlier research at Gona  has resulted in the discovery of the oldest ever documented stone artifacts in the world. The stone tools discovered by Dr. Semaw and colleagues were dated between 2.5 –2.6 million years by a technique known as Single Crystal Laser Fusion Argon/ Argon dating.

Results of field research at Gona in 2000 and 2001 were successful. Important new discoveries made during the 2000 field work included a nearly complete skull of early Homo estimated between 2.0-1.5 million years. Several surface associated Oldowan and Early Acheulian artifacts were found near the hominid site. One hand bone and one foot bone, both attributed to Ardipithecus ramidus were found from the Western Margin during the field seasons of 2000 and 2001 respectively.  All the major Western Margin sites were located in small tributaries feeding into the Busidima River.

New major discoveries were made during the recent (February-March, 2001) fieldwork. These include a nearly complete mandible (jaw) of a hominid from the Western Margin. The mandible has a complete set of teeth and, two additional maxillary teeth all of which belong to the same individual.  The hominid was recovered from sediments estimated to c. 4.0 million years.  In addition to these fossils, a partial skull of a juvenile hominid was discovered this year from Busidima.  The skull was associated with crudely made Early Acheulian handaxes.

Archaeological survey in the last two years has led to the discovery of new artifact bearing sites. One of the new sites excavated at Dana Aoule yielded stone artifacts and fossilized animal bones which may be slightly older than the earliest stone tools previously known from Gona. The archaeological sites from this time interval are important because of the presence of contemporaneous fossilized animal bones within adjacent deposits. Thus far, there are no well-documented cases of associated artifacts and fauna in the 2.5-2.6 million year deposits. Excavations carried out in the last three field seasons have shown the presence of multiple archaeological levels at Dana Aoule  through out the deposits dated between 2.6- c. 1.0 million years

Early and Middle Acheulian artifacts estimated between 1.5-1.0 million years are found widely distributed on both sides of the Busidima drainage. Further major Early Acheulian site was discovered this year within the Ounda Gona catchment. The new site was excavated and yielded a large number of crudely made Early Acheulian handaxes.

The Gona paleontological and archaeological sites have proven that  the area is an open air laboratory for studying the biological/physical evolution of our hominid ancestors for the last 5 million years, and for investigating the beginning of the  stone tool manufacture and use behavior of ancestral tool makers. Further research at Gona is crucial to unravel the mystery of our beginnings.