By Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Jr.
Part Seven: African Origins of Early Humanity
One of the oldest fossil finds of early man was found in Africa in 1960 by archeologist L. S. B. Leakey. He named his find Zinjanthropus, meaning Eastern man. It was found in Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania which is an archaeologists paradise. Many ancient fossils and stone tools have been found there over the years. There are five distinct layers of strata of the earth visible in the cliffs. The oldest was formed more than two million years ago. One day while climbing up the slopes Mrs. Leakey discovered two teeth embedded in the rock side of the gorge. After nineteen days of digging the Leakeys uncovered an almost complete skull and stone tools.
The Radiation Carbon14 method of determining the age of fossil finds only allows the scientist to test an object that does not go back more than 50,000 years. Because, Zinjanthropus was much older than 50,000 years another newer method to determine the age of a fossil find was used. This method was called Potassium Argon and allows the scientist to test an object that goes back 2,000,000 years. Scientists at the University of California tested Zinjanthropus and believe that this early man was 1,750,000 years old.
Over the past twenty-five years various early fossil finds have been found in Africa and have been scientifically dated to be millions of years old. One of the finds recently discovered and found to be several million years old has been named "Lucy" and is the subject of a best-selling book. These discoveries and others have firmly established Africa as the Cradle of Humanity.