FROM THE FIELD
Exploring the East African Rift
Photo Essay: Seeking Humanity's Roots
CommentsEast Africa’s rift valley is considered by many to be the cradle of humanity. In the Turkana region of northwest Kenya, researchers Christopher Lepre and Tanzhuo Liu of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory are cooperating with colleagues to study questions of human evolution, from the creation of the earliest stone tools to climate swings that have affected developing civilizations. Startling new discoveries are coming from this region at a rapid pace. Here are images from a recent field expedition. READ THE FULL SCIENTIFIC STORY or WATCH A VIDEO
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Further south, at a site called Olorgesalie, professional fossil hunter Bonface Kimeu visits some of thousands of stone axes left by proto-humans who lived here 500,000 to 1 million years ago. Bonface's father, Kamoya Kimeu, has found many of the world's most important fossils; these include a 1.6 million-year-old Homo erectus skeleton dubbed Turkana Boy, still the most complete early human remains ever found.
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