September–October 2012 (exact dates TBA)
Applications open in spring 2012
The Institute of Human Origins in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, in conjunction with the Center for Global Education Services at Arizona State University, offers a field school in paleoanthropology at Hadar, Ethiopia. This region of the Afar Triangle is one of the richest in the world for middle Pliocene hominin fossils.
The Hadar site contains approximately a million years of human evolution within its deposits. Australopithecus afarensis material has been recovered from more than 3.4 to 3.0 million years ago. The A. afarensis sites include the Lucy Locality (AL-288), the First Family Locality (AL-333) and the two adult skull localities (AL-444 and AL-822). Early Homo material from ~ 2.33 million years ago includes the locality of AL-666. In addition, stone tools have been recovered from sediments older than 2.33 million years.
The program includes instruction in early hominin evolution, paleoecology, faunal analysis, geology, archaeology, site mapping, fossil survey and various types of excavation.
We welcome advanced undergraduates and graduates from ASU and around the world to join us for a challenging research experience!
Activities scheduled for 2009 include (subject to change): 
· view original fossils Australopithecus afarensis and Homo material at the National Museum of Ethiopia
· collection and excavation instruction
· archaeological excavation of Oldowan sites
· hominid and other mammalian fossil identification
· geological context and environmental reconstruction of fossil sites
· African ecology and paleoecology
· GPS mapping
· visit to the open-air market in Bati.
The 2009 Hadar Field School photos on this page are courtesy of Benjamin Reed Photography.
