Collaborative Research: Field Research at the Hominin-bearing Pliocene-age Galili Formation

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The period from 4.5 to 3.5 million years ago is an important part of our evolutionary history, during which a number of hominin species appeared and diversified. In this project, the investigators will collect paleontological, archeological, and geological data from the Galili Formation in the Afar region of Ethiopia, which is known from initial surveys to include fossils for a range of species, including some hominin specimens. Additional findings at this location will contribute to the study of important issues in hominin evolution and adaptation, such as behavioral changes, expanded habitats, stone tool use, and regular meat eating. This project will provide training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students and field personnel, and build paleontological and archeological research collections from a scientifically interesting period and region. Fossils and archeological materials, with information on their context, will be permanently curated at the Ethiopian National Museum, and data from geochronological and isotopic analyses will be added to relevant publicly-accessible databases. In this two-year field investigation of the Early Pliocene-Early Pleistocene Galili Formation, the investigators will expand on a previously NSF-funded survey of the project area; collect, prepare, and curate taxonomically, biochronologically, biogeographically, and paleoenvironmentally sensitive fossils; identify, sample, and process geological samples for dating; and develop a high-resolution geologic map and stratigraphy of the area. These project activities will improve the chronological control of the deposits, better document the time-successive diversity in fauna and environments, reconstruct basin geometry and evolution, and allow biological and geological comparisons with other Awash basin areas. Findings from this project will contribute to topics such as the transition to bipedality, the origins of stone tool manufacture and meat-eating, and the origins of the genus Homo. The Galili deposits are sampling a unique part of the ancient landscape, and comparisons with other similarly aged fossils from the Afar region, such as those from Woranso-Mille, Dikika, Hadar, and Middle Awash, will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the entire ancient Awash Basin to better understand that circumstances of early hominin evolution.