HIGH RISK RESEARCH: Paleoanthropological Survey and Exploration of North and Central Afar Rift, Ethiopia

Cleveland Museum Of Natural History, Cleveland OH

Investigators

Abstract

The Afar region of Ethiopia is widely known for the information it has yielded that bears on the early history of humans. Many of the fossil remains of our earliest relatives, some dating back dating back to six million years ago, were found in the region. While a number of areas of the Afar Rift have been investigated for evidence of our evolutionary past, uncovering further sites is an exciting proposition. The Ethiopian government's Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage has provided Yohannes Haile-Selassie and colleagues with a one year survey and exploration permit to locate new paleoanthropological sites with high potential for further research in the future. Under this permit the researchers will be able to explore previously unsurveyed regions in order to locate new Plio-Pleistocene and late Miocene sites in the North and Central Afar Rift. While this time period is the chief interest of the investigators, more recent sites that are discovered will be made available to the broader scientific community. Satellite imagery and aerial reconnaissance using remote sensing will be employed, as well as foot and vehicle surveys, to assist in locating promising sites. In addition to the intellectual excitement and public appeal of uncovering our species' ancestry, this High Risk Research in Anthropology award will enable a truly international collaboration with Ethiopian scientists based in both the United States and Ethiopia.