Originally published in 1969, the aim of this book is to tell the story of the major discoveries which have been made and the attitude of the world at large to these discoveries during the ten decades since Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. For anyone interested in man's past and in understanding the significance of each new discovery relating to human evolution, this reissue will be of great value.

Originally published in 1969, the aim of this book is to tell the story of the major discoveries which have been made and the attitude of the world at large to these discoveries during the ten decades since Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. For anyone interested in man's past and in understanding the significance of each new discovery relating to human evolution, this reissue will be of great value.

This is a new release of the original 1960 edition.

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Olduvai is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world; indeed, the only Middle Pleistocene site of comparable importance is Choukoutien and Olduvai can show deposits far older. The site has produced a mass of material of the highest archaeological and palaeontology importance and in this first of five volumes Dr Leakey and his collaborators make their preliminary reports. The story of the excavations initiated by Dr Leakey in 1951 is well known. Their purpose was to locate and uncover a series of living-floors of early Hand-axe man and, if possible, of the preceding Olduwan culture. The discoveries were of striking and far-reaching importance. They included, besides a mass of tools and artefacts, small animal and human remains and the famous skull of Zinjanthropus boisei, the earliest tool-making man. Against this background Leakey and his collaborators discuss the geological evidence, its relation to the fauna and other fossil evidence, the problems of climatic sequence and the use of potassium-argon dating. The purpose of this volume is to provide a context in which the fossil human remains and the Stone Age cultural sequence at Olduvai can be studied.

Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (1903-72) was a British archaeologist, naturalist and palaeoanthropologist who made a significant contribution to the study of human evolutionary development. First published in 1931, this work presents the results of two periods of excavation by the East African Archaeological Expedition during 1926-7 and 1928-9. As noted in the preface, the findings of these excavations enabled the Expedition 'to work out a number of clear subdivisions in Pleistocene and recent times, based upon climatic changes, and to establish in most cases the relation of the cultures found to these time divisions.' The text contains numerous illustrative figures, including original drawings and photographs. Numerous appendices are also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in archaeology, anthropology and East Africa.