1. Human life originated in Africa. These Australopithecus anamensis fossils of ca. 4 Myr BP are from Lake Turkana, northern Kenya (National Museum of Kenya).

2. Lake Turkana, in northern Kenya, is now a desert, but in 4 Myr BP, it was covered by ancient Lake Lonyumum, and in the lush forests surrounding the rivers feeding the lake lived some of mankind's important hominid ancestors, including Australopithecus anamensis.

3. From the Gona River artifact assemblage, Afar, Ethopia. This core is part of a collection of flakes, flake fragments, and cores which are dated to 2.60-2.52 myr BP. The world's oldest known tools (Rutgers University).

4. 2.33 Myr BP upper jaw of genus Homo (species uncertain) and choppers from Hadar, Ethiopia. This is the oldest Homo fossil known, and the earliest tools associated with hominid remains.