Laetoli in northern Tanzania is one of the most important paleontological and paleoanthropological sites in Africa. It is renowned for the recovery of early hominin fossils belonging to A. afarensis and for the discovery of remarkably well-preserved trails of footprints of hominins. Given the significance of Laetoli for understanding and interpreting the evolutionary history of early hominins the author initiated long-term geological and paleontological investigations at Laetoli and at other fossil localities on the Eyasi Plateau. The overall objectives of the project were to recover additional fossil hominin specimens and to obtain more detailed contextual information on the paleontology, geology, dating, and paleoecology
