Cradle of Humanity
Kenya literally stands at the beginning of human history. In the Great Rift Valley, some of the oldest and most important hominid fossils in the world have been found:
- Turkana Boy (1984, Lake Turkana): An almost complete skeleton of a Homo erectus boy, 1.5 million years old — one of the most significant finds in paleoanthropology. Found by the team led by Richard Leakey
- Koobi Fora (eastern shore of Lake Turkana): Over 200 hominid fossils, including several Homo habilis and Homo erectus finds
- Olorgesailie (Rift Valley): 1.2 million-year-old stone tools — one of the oldest "hand axe factories" in the world
The Leakey family — Louis, Mary, and son Richard — revolutionized our understanding of human evolution with their excavations in Kenya and Tanzania. Richard Leakey later became Kenya's most famous conservationist and head of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
