View source for Ledi-Geraru


{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Ledi-Geraru
| settlement_type         = Paleoanthropological site
| image_skyline           =  Danakil-Végétation.jpg
| image_alt               =
| image_caption           =  Ledi-Geraru
|coordinates             = {{coord|11.25|N|40.70|E|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes   =
| subdivision_type        = Country
| subdivision_name        = Ethiopia
| subdivision_type1       = Region
| subdivision_name1       = Afar
}}
'''Ledi-Geraru''' is a paleoanthropological research area in [[Mille (woreda)|Mille district]], [[Afar Region]], northeastern [[Ethiopia]], along the Ledi and Geraru rivers (two left tributaries of the [[Awash River|Awash]], south of the [[Mille River|Mille river]]). It stretches for about 50&nbsp;km, located just to the northeast of the [[Hadar, Ethiopia|Hadar]] paleoanthropological area.
Early research was conducted in 1972–1974 The Ledi-Geraru Research Project was launched in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ledi-Geraru Research Project|url=https://shesc.asu.edu/research/projects/ledi-geraru-research-project|website=ASU|access-date=5 August 2015}}</ref>
The site is known for its early stone tools, dated about 2.6 million years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/homo-genus-earliest-stone-tool-artifacts-ethiopia-contested |title=Hominids may have been cutting-edge tool makers 2.6 million years ago; Contested finds point to a sharp shift in toolmaking by early members of the Homo genus |author=Bruce Bower |date=June 3, 2019 |website=ScienceNews.org |access-date=June 5, 2019}}</ref> A hominin mandible was found in 2013, known as [[LD 350-1]] and dated 2.8 million years old, which may qualify as a very early specimen of the genus [[Homo (genus)|''Homo'']].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jeanna Bryner|title=Earliest Known Human Fossils Discovered|url=http://www.livescience.com/50030-oldest-human-fossil-photos.html|website=Livescience.com|access-date=5 August 2015}}</ref>
==LD 350-1==
{{main article|LD 350-1}}
'''LD 350-1''' is a fossil [[hominin]] [[mandible]] fragment discovered in 2013 at the Ledi-Geraru site. It was found by Chalachew Seyoum, an Ethiopian graduate student in the [[Institute of Human Origins]] at [[Arizona State University]].
The fossil was stratigraphically dated to 2.80 to 2.75 million years old.<ref>Villmoare et al. (2015):
"The Gurumaha Tuff is radiometrically dated to {{val|2.842|0.007|u=Ma}}, a date that is consistent with
the normal magnetic polarity of the Gurumaha section, presumably
the Gauss Chron. An upper bounding age for LD 350-1 is provided by an adjacent,
downfaulted younger block that contains the {{val|2.665|0.016|u=Ma}}
Lee Adoyta Tuff.  [...] the age of LD 350-1 can be further constrained
by stratigraphic scaling. [...] Based on the current chronostratigraphic
framework for Ledi-Geraru, we consider the age of LD 350-1 to be 2.80-2.75 Ma".
See also: {{cite journal |last1=DiMaggio |first1=Erin N. |last2=Campisano |first2=Christopher J. |last3=Rowan |first3=John |last4=Dupont-Nivet |first4=Guillaume |last5=Deino |first5=Alan L. |last6=Bibi |first6=Faysal |last7=Lewis |first7=Margaret E. |last8=Souron |first8=Antoine |last9=Garello |first9=Dominique |last10=Werdelin |first10=Lars |last11=Reed |first11=Kaye E. |author-link11=Kaye Reed |last12=Arrowsmith |first12=J Ramón |date=20 Mar 2015 |title=Late Pliocene fossiliferous sedimentary record and the environmental context of early Homo from Afar, Ethiopia |journal=Science |volume=347 |issue=6228 |pages=1355–1359 |bibcode=2015Sci...347.1355D |doi=10.1126/science.aaa1415 |pmid=25739409 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
It has been described as combining "primitive traits seen in early ''[[Australopithecus]]'' with derived morphology observed in later ''[[Homo]]''.<ref name="Villmoare2015">
{{Cite journal |last=Villmoare |first=Brian |last2=Kimbel |first2=William H. |last3=Seyoum |first3=Chalachew |last4=Campisano |first4=Christopher J. |last5=DiMaggio |first5=Erin N. |last6=Rowan |first6=John |last7=Braun |first7=David R. |last8=Arrowsmith |first8=J. Ramón |last9=Reed |first9=Kaye E. |author-link9=Kaye Reed |date=2015-03-20 |title=Early ''Homo'' at 2.8 Ma from Ledi-Geraru, Afar, Ethiopia |journal=Science |volume=347 |issue=6228 |pages=1352–1355 |bibcode=2015Sci...347.1352V |doi=10.1126/science.aaa1343 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=25739410 |doi-access=free}}.
See also: {{cite journal |author1=Erin N. DiMaggio EN |author2=Campisano CJ |author3=Rowan J |author4=Dupont-Nivet G |author5=Deino AL |display-authors=etal |year=2015 |title=Late Pliocene fossiliferous sedimentary record and the environmental context of early ''Homo'' from Afar, Ethiopia |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=347 |issue=6228 |pages=1355–1359 |bibcode=2015Sci...347.1355D |doi=10.1126/science.aaa1415 |pmid=25739409 |doi-access=free}}.</ref>
The fossil is the left [[Body of mandible|mandibular body]], but does not include the ascending ramus. It has attached the three [[molars]], both [[premolars]], and the left [[canine tooth|canine]], some of which have complete crowns.<ref name=Villmoare2015/>
==See also==
* [[Afar Triangle]]
* [[List of human evolution fossils]]
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Dimaggio | first1 = E. N. | display-authors = etal | year = 2015| title = Tephrostratigraphy and depositional environment of young (<2.94 Ma) Hadar Formation deposits at Ledi-Geraru, Afar, Ethiopia | journal = Journal of African Earth Sciences | volume =  112| pages =  234–250| doi = 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.09.018 | doi-access = free }}
[[Category:History of the Afar Region]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Ethiopia]]