Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called 
Science News Daily has the story:
Archaeologist Neale Draper said the tools included at least one "beautifully made" piece of flint from which sharp knifelike shards were knocked off, hundreds of tiny knives and pieces of grindstones. He hopes that testing of the knives will reveal residue that could indicate what the people ate."Very old sites are rare, and this is one of the oldest" in this region, Draper said by telephone from Adelaide in central Australia.
"We're filling in a picture of who the first Australians were and what they were doing where they were really, really early," Draper said.
Draper said the team has sent other materials for carbon sampling - including a piece of charcoal - that were found in the dirt layers below the tools.
"These could be another 5,000 to 10,000 years old, and that would be really exciting," Draper said.
A dozen similar rock shelters in the area will also be excavated, he said.
Iain Davidson, an archaeology professor at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia, said the find was significant because it confirmed that the first people had moved into the more arid parts of Australia earlier than previously known and had adapted and stayed.
"This appears to significantly extend the date of occupation" of the remote Pilbara region, said Davidson, who was not involved in the dig. "They learned to survive there relatively quickly."
Humanities & Social Science
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