Dikika Explained

The Dikika is an area of the Afar Region of Ethiopia. A hominin fossil named Selam, a specimen of the Australopithecus afarensis species, was found in this area. Papers also propose the earliest evidence of stone tool use at this site in the form of cut marks on animal bone.^[1] However there has been argument about this proposal.^{[2] [3] [4]} Dikika is located in Mille woreda.^[5]

Dikika is also given to name a basal member of the Hadar formation, a series of sedimentary rocks deposited approximately 3.4 million years ago, which have been exposed by the erosive action of the Awash River. Although sometimes called "Lucy's Child" Dikika was in fact older than Lucy or Dinkʼinesh at 3.4 million years.

Further reading

• J.E. Kalb, E.B. Oswald, A. Mebrate, S. Tebedge and C. Jolly, Stratigraphy of the Awash Group, Middle Awash Valley, Afar, Ethiopia, Newsletters on Stratigraphy 11 (1982), pp. 95–127.

11.0833°N 40.5833°W

Notes and References

1. McPherron . Shannon P. . Alemseged . Zeresenay . Marean . Curtis W. . Wynn . Jonathan G. . Reed . Denné . Geraads . Denis . Bobe . René . Béarat . Hamdallah A. . 2010-08-12 . Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia . Nature . en . 466 . 7308 . 857–860 . 10.1038/nature09248 . 1476-4687.
2. Domínguez-Rodrigo . Manuel . Pickering . Travis Rayne . Bunn . Henry T. . 2010-12-07 . Configurational approach to identifying the earliest hominin butchers . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 107 . 49 . 20929–20934 . 10.1073/pnas.1013711107 . 0027-8424 . 3000273 . 21078985.
3. Thompson . Jessica C. . McPherron . Shannon P. . Bobe . René . Reed . Denné . Barr . W. Andrew . Wynn . Jonathan G. . Marean . Curtis W. . Geraads . Denis . Alemseged . Zeresenay . 2015-09-01 . Taphonomy of fossils from the hominin-bearing deposits at Dikika, Ethiopia . Journal of Human Evolution . 86 . 112–135 . 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.06.013 . 0047-2484.
4. Sahle . Yonatan . El Zaatari . Sireen . White . Tim D. . 2017-12-12 . Hominid butchers and biting crocodiles in the African Plio–Pleistocene . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 114 . 50 . 13164–13169 . 10.1073/pnas.1716317114 . 0027-8424 . 5740633 . 29109249.
5. Based on the map of the findsite printed in Alemseged, Z. et al. A new hominin from the Basal Member of the Hadar Formation, Dikika, and its geological context. J. Hum. Evol. 49 (2005), 499–514.