The Quest for Fossils

Ethiopia: Origin of Human Kind

 Paleoanthropological research began in Ethiopia at the beginning of the 1900’s. However, it was not until the 1960’s that the fossil remains of early hominids started to be unveiled from deposits in the lower Omo Basin. Fossil hominid discoveries in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s made the country equally recognized as Kenya and Tanzania where numerous early hominid remains have been previously found.

Research conducted at paleoanthropological sites such as Omo, Melka Kunture, Hadar, Middle Awash and Konso-Gardulla yielded many fossils and artifacts, which played vital role in paleoanthropological studies in the last three decades.

The discoveries have so far yielded substantial information on the evolutionary history of mankind all the way from about 6 million years ago to the present indicating that the country is indeed the cradle of mankind and the right place to carry out research on human origins and evolution.

To show Ethiopia’s role and contribution in paleoanthropological research in the world, the National Museum of Ethiopia organized a temporary exhibition where some early discoveries, hominid fossils and artifacts found in different parts of the country are displayed for the very first time. Capital interviewed  W/t Mamitu Yilma, Manager of the National Museum of Ethiopia, about the research and status of the museum. Excerpts:

Capital:  You recently launched an exhibition on Paleoanthropological research. Why was it organized?

 Mamitu: The exhibition aims at showing the role and status of Ethiopia in contributing to paleanthroplogical research to the world.

          It is the first of its kind to be organized by the national Museum. The exhibition plays a significant role in increasing the awareness of the public and visitors regarding evolutionary changes that human beings have passed through.

          I would like to mention that some of the early hominid fossils and stone tools are displayed for the first time since their discovery. This makes the exhibition unique and interesting to the scientific community and the general public at large. All of the artifacts displayed and hominid fossils are taken from the Museum’s collection.

 Capital: What does paleoantropological research entail and who is responsible to undertake it here?

 Mamitu: Paleoantropological research is the quest for human remains telling of the human past, and its evolutionary progress. It is greatly characterized by fieldwork. 

          The research is being conducted here by Ethiopian and expatriate professionals in the field, with permit from the ARCCH /Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage/.

 Capital: Findings of the research are kept in your museum. How do you describe the Museum today since its establishment?

 Mamitu: The National Museum of Ethiopia is the oldest, largest and richest in its collections throughout the country housing more than 100,000 artifacts among which archaeological findings take the lion’s share. The museum was founded as part of the National Library in 1944. Later, the museum was shifted to the present Ethiopian National Bank Employee’s Club to finally settle in its present holding.

          It has two buildings habitually called the old and the new. The old building was constructed in 1935 during the Italians occupation for the residence of the Italian mayor, Granziani, of Addis Ababa. After the Italian vacated the building, it was given to the Ministry of Foreigne Affairs. The building had various functions before the ministry of foreign Affairs vacated it in 1967 and converted it to a national museum. It is spacious and very attractive with some interesting historic qualities, which add to its significances as a museum. 

         The new Museum building was designed and constructed by the USAID fund under the responsibility of the Ministry of Construction between the years 1978 to 1981. While constructing the building UNESCO consultants contributed much in advising on the arrangement of the exhibition galleries. In 1992 the museum has transferred its collections from the old building to the new one and reorganized the paleoanthropological section by adding some newly discovered ancient human fossils and animal remains collected from Hadar and Omo.

 Capital: Can you describe briefly the new museum?

 Mamitu: Well, it has four different exhibition sections including paleontology and prehistoric, historical archaeology, art and ethnography section. These sections have huge collection of cultural and historical heritages depicting various aspects of ancient and present people’s life.

         It also has several archeology findings and arts. To live up to its expectation and responsibility, the museum has collected several heritages from all corners of the country that are displayed through permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Capital: What would you say are  Ethiopia’s contributions to the world in the field of paleoantropological research?

Mamitu: As the country possesses human fossil remains ranging from 6 million to the present it has contributed greatly to the world’s paleoanthropological research. Among the world’s known 13 important fossil specimens Ethiopia has 9, which makes her unique in the world. This has enabled Ethiopia to play a leading role in the study of human origin. It is only in Ethiopia that relatively complete information with regard to human origin could befound.                                                                                                                                                         

Capital: What has been achieved so far from the research?

Mamitu: For one thing it has earned the country the focus of the world in paleoanthroplogical study making it an important center for research by experts engaged in scientific research. It has also an importance of recognizing the country as the origin of humans through discoveries of earlier presence. Besides more than hundred thousand fossil remains have been unearthed which are useful for the study of human origin. 

Capital: Are there many Ethiopians working in this field?

Mamitu: There are a group of Ethiopians working, though the number of foreigners is higher. But still this encourages the Ethiopians to work harder.

Capital: What are the major changes in the museum so far?

Mamitu: There are of course some changes made in the museum since its establishment. For instance, earlier in its establishment there were very limited materials in the country. Even if the artifacts are found in our country they used to ship them abroad to conduct a study and then ship them back once the study is completed. But after a while, a laboratory was established here and there was no need to ship the artifacts abroad for study anymore.

         This is one tremendous change. Another change we see is that, as I said earlier, most of the work was done by foreigners, but now there are more and more Ethiopians working with the foreigners in the museum. This is interesting. The number of visitors has also increased. These days, students from grade 2 to PhD level visit the museum for educational purpose. They use the museum as an informal education center.

Capital: Since there are a lot of people visiting the museum, how do you manage to control the materials on display?

Mamitu: On average around 50,000 people visit the museum every year. The museum is secured with the latest technology of security-monitoring system. In every floor we have hidden cameras, and the original fossils that are kept in a box are supplemented by an alarm system that go off when touched. There is also a fire alarm system in case fire erupts. Moreover, the compound is entirely surrounded and protected by police.

Capital: What are the national museum’s future plans?

Mamitu: We plan to exert maximum effort into increasing collection of heritages and update all the display sections in a better way to attract more visitors. We also plan to establish sister museums in collaboration with other foreign museums.