There were a lot of ancient human ancestors. But, despite the fact that their remains have survived almost all over the Earth, very few fossils can be found intact. Sometimes they need to be combined with dozens of other fragments.
That is why the stunning find in 1984 attracted the attention of many scientists, and even now interest in it continues.
Find at Lake Turkana
In the deserts of northern Kenya, on Lake Turkana, the skeleton of a boy was discovered. He died at the age of eight, and his body sank into the lake, where it remained for 1.5 million years. His remains are the most intact fossils of ancient people ever discovered.
However, the Turkana Boy is just one of many early human fossils found near the lake. Together they illustrate the evolution of man over four million years. Even this one place gives a lot of information about how our ancestors lived and where they came from.
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Important region
Today, Lake Turkana is located in the middle of a hostile desert. But it was not always so. About two million years ago, the lake was much larger, and its surroundings were buried in greenery. Since then, frequent climate changes have caused the lake to become shallow and sometimes dry up altogether.
If there was enough moisture, it was an ideal place for people to live, and after their death, the remains were safely preserved. This is because Lake Turkana is located in a volcanic region, where tectonic activity can shift the earth's crust and create new layers. All these circumstances lead to the fact that the bones are preserved in the sand. Periods of heavy rainfall erode these layers and the fossils become clearer.
Richard Leakey Expedition
The history of this important find began in 1968, when archaeologists began excavations on the shore of the lake. A group of archaeologists from Turkana University began work on the eastern side of the lake known as Koobi Fora. It was a huge area, but preliminary examination indicated that there may be many fossils.
Study leader Richard Leakey suggested that you need to start work on one side and move to the other. The first few years did not bring any significant results. It wasn't until 1972 that Leakey's team discovered a skull and several bones of a human limb that were 1.9 million years old.
This discovery reinforced the belief among scientists that there were several lineages of early humans. At that time it was already known that three species of early people lived in Africa at about the same time. The found remains were added to this diversity.
Types of early people
In other words, there were several kinds of early humans, not just one as it is today. Later, Leakey's findings suggested that these three species lived on Earth between 1.78 and 1.98 million years ago. But after the discovery of the Turkan boy, it was possible to talk about the most important species - a working man (the African version of the Homo erectus).
The Turkan boy is a very important find that opens up new questions about how humanity has evolved. On the one hand, it is believed that the working person was our direct ancestor. They were the first hominids to migrate from Africa and spread throughout Europe and Asia.
Turkan boy
In some respects, they were strikingly similar to modern humans. Their brains were much larger than that of a skilled person, and their height was much higher. Moreover, the Turkan boy argued that his species moved in a very similar way to how modern man does. The center of gravity was located above the pelvis, as in modern people. The man had arched legs and a relatively long stride. He was also able to carry things in his hands while moving.
The Turkan boy ran very well and had no problem carrying things. If these people were able to run, then they could have chased someone. The question arises: who did they pursue and what did they carry in their hands? Other studies have provided some clues.
It is possible that the relatives of the Turkan boy already had such hunting tools as spears. The anatomy of their hands suggests that they could well have made them. Also, a 2013 study suggests that they were already developing their shooting ability.
In contrast, our close relatives, monkeys, have little ability to throw anything. And our ape-like ancestors, who spent most of their lives in trees, also did not develop their ability to throw anything. This suggests that a working person had more opportunities for hunting and expanding his territory.
This was very helpful as the climate was very varied during the time of the Turkana boy. The forests in which his ancestors flourished began to change to grasslands, and humans had little space to hide from the large predators. This presented the hominids with a choice: retreat and hide in the trees that were still left, or attack themselves. They seem to have chosen the latter.
Socialization
They may have found safety in large groups. If people live, work and hunt together, they are not as vulnerable as loners. Thus, the working person has become more social. There is ample evidence that hominids shared information and worked in groups.
Stone tools such as the Ashil axes date from this time. They have been found not only in Africa but also in other parts of the world. This suggests that ancient people could not only make them, but also share knowledge about it with others. The earliest found Ashil axes date back 1.76 million years. They were found near Lake Turkana in 2011 and were most likely made by Homo erectus.
The advent of the Ashil technology led to the fact that it persisted for a million years. There's a good reason for this: axes were a multifunctional Stone Age tool that can be compared to the modern Swiss army knife. Given how long they have been in use, it should have been very easy to teach others how to make them. Nevertheless, they are more difficult to make than the stone tool used by a skilled person.
Looking at all of the findings from Lake Turkana, it becomes abundantly clear that they have played a key role in our understanding of human evolution. However, this does not mean that this region was very important to the early people themselves. It's just that this place has ideal conditions for preserving human remains. However, evolution took place in other parts of Africa as well. Perhaps many of our ancestors lived in forests where the soil is too acidic for the fossils to survive. In any case, the lack of evidence is not proof of their absence.
This does not detract from the importance of the Lake Turkana region. We are very fortunate that this region became a "geological trap" and gave us a glimpse into the lives of early humans who lived on Earth before us.