Hominid Trackway at Laetoli (1992-1998)
 

A close view of 3.6-million-year-old hominid footprints at Laetoli in Tanzania. Photo: Tom Moon.

Southern portion of the Laetoli hominid trackway, looking north, prior to the removal of the acacia tree roots in 1995. Photo: Neville Agnew.

A detailed view of print G1-19 in the northern trackway showing penetration of footprint by root. Photo: John C. Lewis.

Eduardo Sanchez of the Getty Museum removes an acacia tree stump in the middle of the trackway. Photo: John C. Lewis.

The southern portion of the trackway at the end of the 1995 conservation campaign, prior to reburial. Photo: Tom Moon.

Francesca Piqué of the GCI readheres fragments of tuff (hardened volcanic ash) to trackway. Photo: Angelyn Bass.

Laetoli trackway looking north. Eduardo Sanchez of the Getty Museum and Jesuit Temba of the Tanzanian Department of Antiquities examine a partly cleaned footprint. Photo: Angelyn Bass.

Jerry Podany of the Getty Museum removes a consolidant that had been applied to one of the footprints when it was first excavated in the late 1970s. Photo: Angelyn Bass.

Heinz Rüther and Ulrike Brussler of the University of Cape Town survey the site using a total station. The survey data was used, along with photogrammetry, to create a three-dimensional model of portions of the trackway. Photo: Frank Long.

A cross section of the Laetoli trackway reburial stratigraphy, including layers of geotextiles, with lava boulders at the top. Photo: Neville Agnew.

Members of local Masai tribe and the project team gather prior to a ceremony of August 1996 that included a tribal blessing of the Laetoli trackway. Photo: John C. Lewis.

View of some of the new exhibition panels in the Laetoli Room of the Olduvai Museum. Photo: Daniel Koch.

An exhibition cast of the Laetoli trackway with a mural re-creating the making of the footprints. The cast is the centerpiece of the Laetoli Room. Photo: Daniel Koch.

A large panel at the entrance to the Olduvai Room. The panel tells the story of Louis and Mary Leakey's work in Tanzania over a 60-year period. Photo: Daniel Koch.