Hominid Trackway at Laetoli

The joint effort by the Getty Conservation Institute and the government of Tanzania to preserve the hominid footprint trail at Laetoli took place in four phases from 1992 to 1998. The goals established were: to implement a conservation program for the hominid trackway at Site G, which included reburial of the trackway for the long term; to develop a monitoring and maintenance program for the long-term preservation of the site; and to create a museum exhibition in Tanzania for public education and awareness about the importance of the site.

Combined excavations from 1977 to 1979 yielded a hominid trackway measuring 27 meters long. After being photographed, molded and cast, then documented, the trackway was reburied for its protection in 1979, after which the site gradually began to revegetate. Newly grown acacia trees, which had reached heights of over 2 meters by 1985, raised concerns about damage to the footprints. In 1992, as part of a conservation effort, the Tanzanian government opened a trench on the southern portion of the trackway that revealed a fragile and weathered tuff surface, penetrated and disrupted by acacia tree roots. A series of conservation and site-stabilization efforts were then carried out over the next several years.

Getty project staff and consultants: Neville Agnew (project manager) and Martha Demas (project manager), Francesca Alhaique, Angelyn Bass, Ulrike Bruessler, Chester Cain, Po-Ming Lin, Frank Long, Fiona Marshall, Tom Moon, Francesca Piqué, Jerry Podany, Leslie Rainer, Heinz Ruther, Eduardo Sanchez, Ron Street

Videography: Pedro Celedon

Photography: John Lewis