Louis Leakey

Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (August 7, 1903–October 1, 1972) was a British archaeologist whose work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in Africa.

Early life

Born in Kabete Kenya, he grew up, played, and learned to hunt with Africans. He also learned to walk with the distinctive gait of the Kikuyu and speak their language as fluently as English. At 13, after discovering stone tools, he began to develop his lifelong passion for prehistory. He studied at Cambridge University, graduating in 1926. He discovered several human and proto-human skeletons or partial skeletons at Olduvai Gorge and Rusinga Island, firmly outlining man's early ancestral tree. Among his many extraordinary finds was the 1959 unearthing of 'Zinjanthropus', a robust hominid that hinted at the great complexity of mankind's evolutionary roots.

Related Topics:
Kabete - Kenya - Cambridge University - 1926 - Human - Proto-human - Olduvai Gorge - Rusinga Island - 1959 - Zinjanthropus

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