Mary Leakey
Mary Leakey
Born	February 06, 1913 London
Died	December 09, 1996 Nairobi
Nationality	United Kingdom
Fields	Anthropologist, Archeologist
Known for	Fossil, Laetoli

Replica of an Australopithecus boisei skull discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959

Mary Leakey (February 6, 1913 – December 9, 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first skull of a fossil ape on Rusinga Island and also a noted robust Australopithecine called Zinjanthropus at Olduvai. For much of her career she worked together with her husband, Louis Leakey, in Olduvai Gorge, uncovering the tools and fossils of ancient hominines. She developed a system for classifying the stone tools found at Olduvai. She also discovered the Laetoli footprints. In 1960 she became director of excavation at Olduvai and subsequently took it over, building her own staff. After the death of her husband she became a leading palaeoanthropologist, helping to establish the Leakey tradition by training her son, Richard, in the field. If you hold the copyright to an image (e. ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Location of Nairobi Coordinates: , Country Province HQ City Hall Founded 1899 Constituencies of Nairobi List Makadara Kamukunji Starehe Langata Dagoretti Westlands Kasarani Embakasi Government  - Mayor Geoffrey Majiwa Area  - City 684 km² (264. ... See Anthropology. ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... For other uses, see Fossil (disambiguation). ... Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominid footprints, preserved in volcanic ash (Site G). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Paranthropus boisei. ... is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... See Anthropology. ... For other uses, see Fossil (disambiguation). ... This article is about the biological superfamily. ... Buvuma Island (locally Uvuma) is the map name of what is actually a chain of more than fifty smaller islands, a few kilometres off the northern shore of Lake Victoria, Uganda in the Napoleon Gulf. ... Species †Paranthropus aethiopicus †Paranthropus boisei †Paranthropus robustus The robust australopithecines, members of the extinct hominin genus Paranthropus, were bipedal hominins that probably descended from the gracile australopithecine hominins (Australopithecus). ... Louis Leakey examining skulls from Olduvai Gorge Map of Kenya. ... Oldupai Gorge from space Topography of Oldupai Gorge The Oldupai Gorge is a 30 mile long, steep-sided ravine, part of the Great Rift Valley which stretches along eastern Africa. ... This article is about the instrument. ... Genera Gorilla Pan (chimpanzees) Homo (humans) Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Homininae is a subfamily of Hominidae, including Homo sapiens and some extinct relatives, as well as the gorillas and the chimpanzees. ... For the science of classifying living things, see alpha taxonomy. ... Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominid footprints, preserved in volcanic ash (Site G). ... Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (born 19 December 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya), is a Kenyan paleontologist and conservationist. ...

Biography

Childhood

Mary Leakey was born Mary Douglas Nicol on February 6, 1913 in London, England to Erskine Nicol and Cecilia Frere Nicol. Since Erskine worked as a painter, specializing in watercolor landscapes, the Nicol family would move from place to place, visiting numerous locations in France, Italy, and Egypt where Erskine painted scenes to be sold in England. Erskine Nichol developed an amateur enthusiasm for Egyptology during his travels. Mary Leakey was a direct descendant of antiquarian, John Frere, and cousin to archaeologist, Sheppard Frere, on her mother's side. The Frere family had been active abolitionists in the British colonial empire during the nineteenth century and established several communities for freed slaves. Three of these communities remained in existence as of Mrs. Leakey's 1984 autobiography: Freretown, Kenya, Freretown, South Africa, and Freretown, India. She also was a distant relative of baronet Henry Bartle Frere.^[1] is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The Great Sphinx of Giza against Khafres Pyramid at the Giza pyramid complex. ... John Frere (1740-1807) was an English antiquary and a pioneering discoverer of Old Stone Age or Palaeolithic tools in association with large extinct animals at Hoxne, Suffolk in 1797. ... Dr Sheppard Frere is a British historian and archaeologist studying the Roman Empire. ... This article is about the abolition of slavery. ... For the brush-footed butterfly species, see Euthalia nais. ... Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet (March 29, 1815 - May 29, 1884) was a British administrator. ...

The Nicols spent much of their time in southern France. Mary became fluent in French. She identified more with the adventurous spirit of her father, going for long walks and explorations with him and having long talks. She disliked her governess and had less sympathy for her mother.

In 1925 when she was 12, the Nicols were staying at Les Eyzies when Elie Peyrony was excavating one of the caves there. Peyrony did not understand the significance of much of what he found and was not excavating scientifically during that early stage of archaeology. Mary received permission to go through his dump. It was there that her interest in prehistory was sparked. She started a collection of points, scrapers, and blades from the dump and developed her first system of classification.^[2] Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil is a commune of the Dordogne département, in southwestern France. ... Stonehenge, England, erected by Neolithic peoples ca. ...

That winter, the family moved to Cabrerets, a village of Dordogne, France. There she met Abbé Lemozi, the village priest, who befriended her and became her mentor for a time. The two toured Pech Merle cave to view the prehistoric paintings of bisons and horses.^[3] Cabrerets is a commune in the French département of Lot. ... Dordogne (Occitan: Dordonha) is a department in central France named after the Dordogne River. ... Pech Merle, a hillside opening in the Lot département of Midi-Pyrénées region in France, about 35 minutes drive east of Cahors, is the site of one of the prehistoric cave painting remaining in France, which is open to the general public. ...

Education

In the spring of 1926, in Mary's 13th year, her father died of cancer. The services were read by Lemozi. Erskine's brother, Percy, came to take them back to London. Cecilia sold Erskine's paintings and moved to a boardinghouse in Kensington. She placed Mary in a local Catholic convent to be educated, following the example of her own life. Later, she boasted of never passing an examination there.^[4] Mary could not even excel at French, although she spoke it fluently, because her teacher frowned upon her provincial accent. She was expelled for refusing to recite poetry, and then expelled from a second convent school for causing an explosion in a chemistry laboratory.^[5] Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Kensington (disambiguation). ...

After the second expulsion her mother hired two tutors, who were no more successful than the nuns, and mother and daughter visited Stonehenge. Mary's only particular interests were drawing and archaeology. Formal university admission was impossible with Mary's academic record. Her mother contacted a professor at Oxford University about possible admission. After being informed that it was not even worth her time applying, Mary had no further contact with the university until it awarded her an honorary doctoral degree in 1951. So the small family moved to Kensington where she could attend lectures unregistered in archaeology and related subjects at University College London and the London Museum where she studied under Mortimer Wheeler.^[6] For other uses, see Stonehenge (disambiguation). ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... For other uses, see Kensington (disambiguation). ... Affiliations University of London Russell Group LERU EUA ACU Golden Triangle G5 Website http://www. ... The London Museum was inaugurated on March 21, 1912 by King George V with Queen Mary and Princess Mary and Prince George at Kensington Palace. ... Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler Kt, CH, CIE, MC (10 September 1890–22 July 1976), was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century. ...

She and applied to a number of excavations to be held in the summer. Wheeler was the first to accept her for a dig at St. Albans at the Roman site of Verulamium. Mary's second dig was at Hembury, a Neolithic site, under Dorothy Liddell, who coached her for four years. Her illustrations of tools for Dorothy drew the attention of Gertrude Caton-Thompson, and in late 1932 she entered the field as an illustrator for Caton-Thompson's book, The Desert Fayoum.^[7] St Albans, St. ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... Remains of the city walls Verulamium was the third largest city in Roman Britain. ... Hembury is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure near Honiton in Devon. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ... Illustration by Jessie Willcox Smith. ... Gertrude Caton-Thompson (February 1, 1888 - April 18, 1985) was an influential English archaeologist at a time when participation by women in the discipline was uncommon. ...

Matriarch

Louis Leakey

Through Gertrude, Mary met Louis Leakey, who was in need of an illustrator for his book, Adam's Ancestors. While she was doing that work they became romantically attached. They shared common interests and values: a love of freedom and dislike for rules, an egalitarian frame of mind extending even to animals, a desire for adventure, and a passion for archaeology. Louis was still married when he started living with Mary, causing a scandal that ruined his career at Cambridge University. They were married when Louis' wife Frida divorced him in 1936. Image File history File links Louis_Leakey. ... Image File history File links Louis_Leakey. ... Louis Leakey examining skulls from Olduvai Gorge Map of Kenya. ... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

From then until about 1962 Louis and Mary faced trying circumstances together. Early in their relationship he nursed her through double pneumonia. They had three sons: Jonathan in 1940, Richard in 1944, and Philip in 1949. The boys received much of their early childhood care at various anthropological sites. Whenever possible the Leakeys excavated and explored as a family. The boys grew up with the same love of freedom their parents had. Mary would not even allow guests to shoo away the pet hyraxes that helped themselves to food and drink at the dinner table. She smoked incessantly, first cigarettes and then cigars, and dressed as though on excavation. Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (born 19 December 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya), is a Kenyan paleontologist and conservationist. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Philip Leakey (born June 21, 1949) is a former member of the Kenyan Parliament. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax (from Greek shrewmouse; Afrikaans: klipdassie) is any of four species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ...

Louis was not always faithful to Mary, as he had not been to Frida. In 1960 they agreed that Mary should become director of excavations at Olduvai. From then on she operated more or less independently, taking over the dig. After Vanne Goodall and Louis formed a romantic attachment in 1962, the intimate side of the marriage was effectively over. Louis also became involved with Dian Fossey. Meanwhile, Mary's life consisted mainly of her children, her dogs, and her archaeology. Louis died on October 1, 1972 of a heart attack, and Mary, already on her own for some years, went on. Dian Fossey (January 16, 1932 – December 26, 1985) was an American zoologist who completed an extended study of eight gorilla groups. ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

For more details on this topic, see Louis Leakey.

Louis Leakey examining skulls from Olduvai Gorge Map of Kenya. ...

Floruit

Mary carried on after Louis, becoming a powerful and respected figure. By then Richard had decided to become a palaeoanthropologist. She helped his career significantly. The other two boys had opted to follow other interests.

Death

Mary died on December 9, 1996 at the age of 83, a renowned palaeoanthropologist, who had not only conducted significant research of her own, but had been invaluable to the research careers of her husband Louis and their son Richard. is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...

Excavations

Olduvai Gorge

Mary served her apprenticeship in archaeology under Dorothy Liddell at Hembury in Devon, England, 1930-1934, for whom she also did illustrations. Hembury is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure near Honiton in Devon. ... For other uses, see Devon (disambiguation). ...

The years 1935 to 1959, spent at Olduvai Gorge in the Serengeti plains of Northern Tanzania, yielded many stone tools from primitive stone-chopping instruments to multi-purpose hand axes. These finds came from Stone Age cultures dated as far back as 100,000 to two million years ago. 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Oldupai Gorge from space Topography of Oldupai Gorge The Oldupai Gorge is a 30 mile long, steep-sided ravine, part of the Great Rift Valley which stretches along eastern Africa. ... A zebra and wildebeests during migration The Serengeti ecosystem is located in north-western Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya between latitudes 1 and 3 S and longitudes 34 and 36 E. It spans some 30,000 km. ... Stone Age fishing hook. ...

The Leakeys unearthed a Proconsul africanus skull on Rusinga Island, in October of 1948. This skull was the first skull of a fossil ape ever to be found and, to this day, only three specimens of these apes are known. Binomial name Proconsul africanus Hopwood, 1933b Proconsul africanus is the first species of the Miocene-era fossil genus of primate to be discovered (see under Proconsul) and was named by Arthur Hopwood, an associate of Louis Leakey, in 1933. ... Rusinga Island lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Their next discovery, in 1959, was a 1.75 million-year-old Australopithecus boisei skull. They also found a less robust Homo habilis skull and bones of a hand. After reconstructing the hand, it was proven the hand was capable of precise manipulation. Many more remains were found at this site. In 1965 the husband and wife team uncovered a Homo erectus skull, dated at one million years old. Binomial name †Paranthropus boisei (Mary Leakey, 1959) Paranthropus boisei (originally called Zinjanthropus boisei and then Australopithecus boisei until recently) was an early hominid and described as the largest of the Paranthropus species. ... Binomial name Leakey et al, 1964 Homo habilis (pronounced ) (handy man, skillful person) is a species of the genus Homo, which lived from approximately 2. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Binomial name (Dubois, 1892) Synonyms † Pithecanthropus erectus † Sinanthropus pekinensis † Javanthropus soloensis † Meganthropus paleojavanicus Homo erectus (Latin: upright man) is an extinct species of the genus Homo. ...

After Mary's husband died, she continued her work at Olduvai and Laetoli. It was here, at the Laetoli site, that she discovered Homo fossils that were more than 3.75 million-years-old. She also discovered fifteen new species and one new genus. Oldupai Gorge from space Topography of Oldupai Gorge The Oldupai Gorge is a 30 mile long, steep-sided ravine, part of the Great Rift Valley which stretches along eastern Africa. ... Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominid footprints, preserved in volcanic ash (Site G). ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ...

From 1976 to 1981 Mary and her staff worked to uncover the Laetoli hominid footprint trail which was left in volcanic ashes some 3.6 million years ago. The years that followed this discovery were filled with research at Olduvai and Laetoli, the follow-up work to discoveries and preparing publications. Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... AUGUST 25 1981 US Marine Sean Vance is Born on the 25th of August {ear nav|1981}} Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominid footprints, preserved in volcanic ash (Site G). ... Ash plume from Mt Cleveland, a stratovolcano Diamond Head, a well-known backdrop to Waikiki in Hawaii, is an ash cone that solidified into tuff Volcanic ash consists of very fine rock and mineral particles less than 2 mm in diameter that are ejected from a volcanic vent. ...

Books

• Excavations at Njoro River Cave, 1950, with Louis.
• Olduvai Gorge: Excavations in Beds I and II, 1960-1963, 1971.
• Olduvai Gorge: My Search for Early Man, 1979
• Africa's Vanishing Art: The Rock Paintings of Tanzania, 1983

Notes

1. ^ Mary Leakey, Disclosing the Past: An Autobiography, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1984, pp. 14-17.
2. ^ Virginia Morell, Ancestral Passions, Copyright 1996, Chapter 4, "Louis and Mary."
3. ^ Disclosing the Past, pp. 27-28.
4. ^ Mary Leakey, archaeologist and anthropologist, obituary from The Times, December 10, 1996, displayed at the Primate Info Net, University of Wisconsin.
5. ^ Disclosing the past, p. 33.
6. ^ Disclosing the Past, pp. 34-26, 36-37.
7. ^ Disclosing the Past, pp. 37-39.

The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom (and the Kingdom of Great Britain before the United Kingdom existed) since 1788 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. ...

See also

• Leakey family
• List of fossil sites (with link directory)
• List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)

Further information: Leakey's Angels (Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas)

Leakey may refer to: Members of the Kenyan-British family of prominent anthropologists: Louis Leakey, anthropologist and archaeologist Mary Leakey, anthropologist and archaeologist Richard Leakey, paleontologist, archaeologist and conservationist Rea Leakey, British tank commander, during World War II Leakey, a city in Real County, Texas Nigel Leakey, a Kenyan sergeant... List of fossil sites: // ^ http://www. ... The following charts give a brief overview of several notable fossil finds relating to human evolution. ... Louis Leakey examining skulls from Olduvai Gorge Map of Kenya. ... Doctor Colin Louis Avern Leakey MA (Cantab. ... Meave (Epps) Leakey (born 1942 in London, England) is together with her husband Richard Leakey one of the most renowned British paleontologists. ... Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (born 19 December 1944 in Nairobi, Kenya), is a Kenyan paleontologist and conservationist. ... Philip Leakey (born June 21, 1949) is a former member of the Kenyan Parliament. ... Louise Leakey (1972-) is a paleontologist from Kenya. ... Leakeys Angels is a relatively recent name given to three women sent by archaeologist Louis Leakey to study primates in their natural environment. ... Dame Jane Goodall, DBE, PhD, (born 3 April 1934 as Valerie Jane Morris Goodall) is an English UN Messenger of Peace, primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist. ... Dian Fossey (January 16, 1932 – December 26, 1985) was an American zoologist who completed an extended study of eight gorilla groups. ... Dr Biruté Marija Filomena Galdikas, OC Ph. ...

External links

• Anthropology Biography Web: Mary Leakey
• Leakey Foundation