Louis Leakey
Louis Leakey
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey, also known as L. S. B. Leakey, was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai Gorge with his wife, fellow paleontologist Mary Leakey. Having established a program of palaeoanthropological inquiry in eastern Africa, he also motivated many future generations to continue this scholarly work. Several members of Leakey's family became prominent scholars themselves...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth7 August 1903
CityKabete, Kenya
I withdrew my support for the validity of the evidence for early Pleistocene Stone Age tools in Europe on the grounds of not proven.
The trip I made to Angola to study the prehistoric contents of the gravel beds as a means of deciding the age of the deposits and their economic potential was the first time prehistory had ever been used for such a purpose.
Our water hole at the camp was little more than a liquid, muddy swamp, in which a rhino wallowed daily and added urine to the puddle.
Tracing the paintings was often complicated because of high winds and by the difficulties of getting within reach of the paintings.
We explored about 180 miles of exposures, ranging from a depth of about 300 feet to 50 feet, before we undertook any major digging.
We decided to leave a part of each and every excavated area exactly as we had found it, protecting the specimens from rain and excessive sun.
The majority of people in Angola were not provided with any kind of schooling and were completely illiterate, very badly paid, and treated almost as slaves.
I kept an open mind on the question of whether a hominid had been present in Europe in the early Pleistocene.
I felt that in time simple stone tools would be found in early Pleistocene in England.
At Olduvai, for 20 years, Mary and I had investigated and made a general survey of the overall geology.
I have examined the stomach contents of seven aardvarks.
Although we followed that hyena for the best part of half an hour, we never caught up with it.
I put a bullet into the back of the crocodile's neck just behind the head, thus killing it. If a crocodile is hit in any other part of its anatomy it disappears into the water and is irrecoverable.
During our first night in the new camp a number of lions came round to investigate. The lions contented themselves by roaring at us.