Mary Leakey (6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) is widely known for discovering the first fossil skull of a proconsul ( an early ape which is supposed to be the ancestors of humans, lived about 35 millions years ago). She also invented the system of classifying the stone tools found at Olduvai.
Mary Leakey along with her husband, uncovered the tools and the fossils of these ancient animals. It was in 1933, and she was only twenty when she was working as a archaeological illustrator in London when she met Louis Leakey and married her later.
Louis and Mary Leakey found fossils in Tanzania and Kenya that indicated mans evolution began in east Africa 2 million years ago. This was far earlier than what was believed.
However, she made a point clear that it is impossible to pinpoint exactly the time when man became fully human. She had three sons and her partner who assisted her in search for the origin of man all round the east Africa.
She had no formal education in Archeology or Paleontology. After Louis died in 1972, she become a scholar of her own. It was then when she made the most important discovery. It was frozen for millions of years in the volcanic mud. It showed that early man walked upright much earlier than what was previously thought.
Everyone should give a respect to this great lady detective, who spent her life trying to reveal the secrets of human evolution.
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