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Approximate age:2,480,000 years old=average of minimum (2.3 Ma) and maximum (2.66 Ma)

Date based on: K-Ar See map of sites with similar ages

Dating reference: Harrison, T., & Kweka, A. (2011) Paleontological localities on the Eyasi Plateau, including Laetoli. Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context, 17-45.
Hay, R. L. (1987). Geology of the Laetoli area. In: Laetoli: A Pliocene Site in Northern Tanzania. (ed. MD Leakey & JM Harris), Clarendon Press, Oxford, 23-47.
Drake, R., & Curtis, G. H. (1987). K-Ar geochronology of the Laetoli fossil localities. In: Laetoli: A Pliocene Site in Northern Tanzania. (ed. MD Leakey & JM Harris), Clarendon Press, Oxford, 48-52.

Hominids: Australopithecus aethiopicus      

Archaeology:      

Important specimens: Juvenile aethiopicus; Oldowan archaeology (surface)

Notes: Kaiser, T., Bromage, T. G., & Schrenk, F. (1995). Hominid Corridor Research Project update: New Pliocene fossil localities at Lake Manyara and putative oldest Early Stone Age occurrences at Laetoli (Upper Ndolanya Beds), northern Tanzania. Journal of Human Evolution, 28(1), 117-120.
but see Harrison 2011"It is interesting, in this regard, that the Upper Ndolanya Beds at 2.66 Ma only record the presence of Paranthropus aethiopicus, with no evidence of early Homo or archaeological traces. Lithic artifacts have been reported as surface finds from the Upper Ndolanya Beds at Loc. 18 (Kaiser et al. 1995), but no similar finds have been located in situ despite extensive investigations in these horizons by successive teams working at Laetoli, and I am inclined to discount these artifacts as being intrusive from the overlying Ngaloba Beds. "

Location: Laetoli, Tanzania
Map location/coordinates reference: Coordinates based on coordinates printed for Kakesio #6 in doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.07.001; Fossil struthionid eggshells from Laetoli, Tanzania: Taxonomic and biostratigraphic significance; This paper is dedicated to our late friend and colleague, Christine Kiyembe, for her contributions to Tanzanian vertebrate paleontology; Terry Harrisona, Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author and Charles P. Msuyab

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