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Tanzania

Kilwa Kisiwani. Source: renatehenkel / Adobe Stock.

Kilwa Kisiwani: The Ruins of a Medieval East African Empire (Video)

Nestled on an island off the Tanzanian coast lies the captivating ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani, a once-prosperous city that thrived as a vital global trade hub during the Kilwa Sultanate , until European...
A 1572 depiction of the city of Kilwa on Kilwa Island from Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg's atlas Civitates orbis terrarum. Source: Public domain

The Kilwa Sultanate: The Island State That Dominated Medieval East Africa

The Kilwa Sultanate was a powerful and prosperous city-state that once dominated the Swahili coast of East Africa. For centuries, this kingdom thrived as a hub of international trade, connecting the...
Blaine Maley, from the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, works alongside Prabhat, Fannin, and Montgomery Fellow Charles Musiba at site A in Laetoli where the archaic footprints were found. 	Source: Shirley Rubin / Trustees of Dartmouth College

Ancient ‘Bear’ Footprints in Laetoli Tanzania Belonged to Human Ancestor

While exploring the Laetoli fossil site in the foothills of northern Tanzania in 1978, a team of anthropologists led by the renowned Mary Leakey discovered the oldest footprints of a human ancestor...
A trio of anthropomorphic figures from the Tanzanian cave art at the Amakhee 4 site.

Ancient Tanzanian Paintings of Bizarre Humanoids Perplex Experts

Rare, multidimensional art has been discovered in a Tanzanian cave shelter. However, the ritual scenes depicted in the ancient art don’t tally up the traditions of the modern Sandawe people...
Oldest Tool Use Thrown Back To Two million Years In Oldupai Gorge Find

Oldest Tool Use Thrown Back To Two million Years In Oldupai Gorge Find

An interdisciplinary team of researchers have unearthed the oldest stone tools at the oldest archaeological site in the famous Oldupai Gorge, popularly known as the Cradle of Humankind. Their...
The location of early settlements to hot springs has led researchers to wonder if early humans used them as a cooking resource long before they discovered fire. A research team has analyzed samples from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and believes to have found the answer. Source: Tom Björklund / MIT

Did Early Humans Cook Their Food in Thermal Springs?

A study of some of the oldest remains associated with early humans from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania has produced some intriguing results. A microbial study of sediments from 1.7-1.8 million years...
Both sides of the recent Ethiopian bone hand axe find.

1.4-Million-Year-Old Bone Hand Axe Revises Toolmaking Timeline

In Ethiopia , a team of experts have uncovered a bone hand axe made, a staggering 1.4 million years ago, by an ancestor of modern humans. It was probably made by the archaic human species Homo...
The Engare Sero footprint site, which preserves at least 408 prehistoric footprints dated to between 19,100 and 5,760 years ago. An eruption of Ol Doinyo Lengai, the volcano in the background, produced the ash in which the human footprints were preserved.   Source: Cynthia Liutkus-Pierce / Nature

400 Prehistoric Footprints Reveal Clues to Our Ancestors

Scientists reveal a volume of new data about the group of hunter-gatherers who left their prehistoric footprints in mud. In the shadow of the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania , the Engare Sero...
Portrait of a Maasai warrior in Africa, Diani beach    Source: shangarey / Adobe Stock

The Maasai Legend Behind Ancient Hominin Footprints in Tanzania

In 1976 paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey and other scientists reported that they’d found ancient hominin footprints at a site in Laetoli, northeastern Tanzania. The footprints were frozen in volcanic...
3.6-Million-Year-Old Footprints Imply That an Ancient Hominin Was a Tall, Dominant, and Polygamous Male

3.6-Million-Year-Old Footprints Imply That an Ancient Hominin Was a Tall, Dominant, and Polygamous Male

Footprints belonging to a group of early hominins who lived 3.6 million years ago were recently uncovered in Tanzania. The footprints indicate Australopithecus afarensis probably had a gorilla-like...
2,000-Year-Old Lost City of Rhapta May Have Been Found in Tanzania

2,000-Year-Old Lost City of Rhapta May Have Been Found in Tanzania

Centuries of speculations related to the lost city of Rhapta may have been ended with a discovery made during a helicopter flight over Tanzania's Mafia Island. A set of partially submerged ancient...