Many of the most exciting discoveries about the origins of humankind have been madeby members of one family of British anthropologists—the Leakeys. Working in the 1960sat Olduvai Gorge in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Mary Leakey and her husband Louis S.B. Leakey (1903–1972) found fossils of both highly developed apes and early forms ofhumans. ◆ As you read, think about how archaeologists and anthropologists put togetherevidence that tells us about prehistoric life. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer thequestions that follow.

Growing up in England, young Mary DouglasNicol preferred drawing pictures to concentrat-

ing in school. Her father was a well-known painterand regularly took his family through Europe onpainting trips. From him, Mary also became inter-ested in archaeology, especially the cave drawingsand Stone Age sites in southern France.

Though she had little formal education, shewent to scientific lectures and volunteered towork at “digs,” or excavations, in Britain.Soon she had met a number ofimportant people in the field ofarchaeology. Because she was verytalented in drawing stone tools andother objects from a dig—a valuable skill—she began to draw illustrations for books aboutarchaeology.

Her illustration work led MaryNicol to meet anthropologist Louis S.B. Leakey, who was already famous forhis study of early humans in Africa.

The Leakeys were married in 1936 andworked together at several places that had beenStone Age campsites, especially in Kenya andTanzania (then Tanganyika). Leakey had pioneeredresearch on Stone Age life and technology. With

evidence such as stone tools and fragments of bone,especially skulls and teeth, he found how earlyhumans and hominids (not-quite-humans) livedand what they could do.

One of the richest sites, where they oftenreturned, was Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. It was there,in 1959, that Mary Leakey found a large portion of

hominid skull, which they called Zinjanthropus(nicknamed “Zinj”). This find was a major

turning point in her life. Tests dated theskull at 1.75 million years old—much

earlier than people thought thatearly humans had lived. As MaryLeakey put it, “Zinj made goodtelevision.” The discovery madethe Leakeys world famous.

The Leakeys made severalother important discoveries about

early humans, showing differentbranches of evolution and pushing

back the dates of hominids to morethan 3 million years ago. After Louis’s

death in 1972, Mary Leakey continued todirect work at Olduvai and other sites as well aslecturing and writing. One of their three sons,Richard Leakey, also an anthropologist, has foundother important early human fossils in Kenya.

1. What skill led Mary Leakey into the field ofarchaeology?

2. Where did the Leakeys do most of their scien-tific work?

3. What was important about the skull MaryLeakey found in 1959?

4. Drawing Conclusions Think about what you could learn by studying the skulls andteeth of animals and early humans. What differences might you find? What could youlearn from them?

Questions to Think About

Mary Leakey (1913– )

UPI/BETTMANN

Biography ActivityChapter 1 Part 1.1MODERN ERA

EDITION

Survey and Volume 1 Editions Chapter 18 • Biography Activity Modern Era Edition Part 1.1

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