Ricerc@Sapienza

Fieldwork conducted in the exceptional geo-chronological context of the Buia sedimentary basin in the Eritrean Danakil Depression and centred on the final phases of the Lower Pleistocene, has enabled us to shed light on one of the most controversial issues of palaeo-anthropology: the transition from the first archaic forms of Homo to those from which anatomically modern H. sapiens descends directly. The project, started in 1995 and coordinated as of 2010 by the Sapienza University, is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach and has seen the involvement of researchers from a variety of Italian, Eritrean and international institutions. It has, throughout the years, brought to the discovery of many human fossil remains dated to ca. 1 Ma from the sites of Uadi Aalad and Mulhuli Amo as well as of what appears to be the first H. erectus footprints ever discovered.
Research over the past years has not only brought to the identification of over 200 sites both rich in fossils and material culture but it has likewise brought to the collection, among other things, of a variety of human fossil remains that attest the presence of at least five individuals at Mulhuli Amo. The spatial distribution of these finds confirms the richness of this fossil-bearing site whilst indicating that the high-potential area that needs to be investigated is wide spread and not limited to the flank where investigations have focused to this day. The footprints discovered in November 2015 open new frontiers to the already vibrant context of human evolution, the evolutionary trends in H. erectus/ergaster, and the multidisciplinary investigations of this specific portion of the African Rift.
Indeed, research conducted and the constant discovery of - at times even unexpected ¿ finds confirms, yet again, the utmost necessity of further investigations in this extraordinary portion of the Danakil depression in light of the incredible richness presented and its central role in human evolution.