Ethiopia - Fejej

Exploration theme: Prehistoric Man in Ethiopia - His evolution, his habitat, his culture and his environment

Headed by: Professor Henry de LUMLEY, Director of the Human Palaeontology Institute.

French-Ethiopian cooperation:

The excavations and studies in the Fejej region were led by Henry de LUMLEY, Professor Emeritus at the National Museum of Natural History, Director of the Institute of Human Palaeontology and Project Manager, and Yonas BEYENE, Head of the Archaeological and Anthropological Department of the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) of the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

These institutions also have close relations with various bodies such as the Prehistory Department of Lazaret in Nice, the European Centre for Prehistoric Research in Tautavel, the Regional Museum of Prehistory in Menton and the National Museum of Addis Ababa, all of which are involved in the excavation and study of the prehistoric sites of the Fejej region.

A number of researchers from other African countries (Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal) have also taken part in this research programme.

Scientific work:

The dozens of archaeological sites, the hundreds of hominid remains and the thousands of faunistic remains found in the Omo-Turkana Basin (Omo valley, Koobi Fora and West-Turkana regions) provided us with an idea of the potential that still remained to be discovered in the unexplored areas of Fejej, situated close to these localities, in a very arid and particularly inhospitable area.

In 1992, an excavation of the Fejej FJ-1 site therefore began, and provided an archaeological level rich in fauna and industry, perfectly intact and particularly well conserved, dating from 1.96 million years.

The multidisciplinary study of this site provided exceptional information for reconstructing the habitat, behaviour and way of life, as well as the palaeoenvironments of Homo habilis.

When the excavations were completed in 2002 and an important monographic study on the Fejej FJ-1 site in 2004 was published, various prospecting campaigns were undertaken to discover archaeological localities that were older than Fejej FJ-1.

The region of Fejej is a resourceful area for reconstructing the history of this pivotal period of Humanity and to learn about the ways of life and environments of the very first men.

Since 2002, site missions at numerous localities have thus delivered the remains of ancient hominids, attributed to Australopithecus aff. anamensis, together with fauna that has enabled us to put the age at between 4.2 and 5 million years. This has placed the work conducted in the region of Fejej at the vanguard of international research on the origin of Humanity.

Fejej sites: location of the region

The Fejej region (Southern Region, South Omo Province, Awreja de Dimeka, Woreda de Kuraz) is situated in the south-south-west of Ethiopia in the Omo-Turkana Basin, 10 km to the north of its border with Kenya and 500 km to the south of Addis Ababa. The actual study zone extends from Lake Turkana (formerly Lake Rodolphe) and the Omo Delta in the west to Lake Chew Bahir (formerly Lake Stephanie) in the east.

From a geological point of view, the Fejej region is located in the Omo-Turkana Rift, a depressed area between the main Ethiopian rift and the Kenyan rift. In the large, essentially fluviolacustrine, sedentary deposits, sinking to a depth of 800 m, the Omo-Turkana Basin has recorded the evolution of hominids and their environment over the last 5 million years.