Pre-historic times
In the Ethiopian parts of the Afar region, the two oldest finds of pre-historic man so far were discovered. In 1974, the first famous find – an Australopithecus afarensis – was made. It is also known by the name of “Lucy” and she lived 3.5 million years ago. In 1994, another fossil of pre-historic man was found, the Ardipithecus ramidus. This time, it was a man who had lived 4.5 million years ago.
The older fossil was found in Aramis and the younger in Hadar. Both localities are situated along the Awash River, which runs through the Afar region in the Horn of Africa.
The most recent find was made in the spring of 2003 on the same spot and it was named Idaltu, which means “the elder” in the Afar language. This is the oldest find ever of the species of Homo sapiens. The fact that the find is 160 000 years old indicates that, in fact, the cradle of humankind lies in the Afar country. The Afar people are considered to be one of the oldest people in the Horn of Africa.