On the 100th birthday of British archaeologist Mary Leakey, Google has depicted her in commemoration with a Google doodle. Leaky who died in December 1996 was an acclaimed archaeologist and anthropologist.
Leakey was born on February 6, 1913 and was best known for hier discovery of the first fissilised Pronconsul skull which was the skull of an extinct ape that is believed to be an ancestor to humans. The Guardian reported that much of Leaky's work was located in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania.
Leakey's Google Doodle features her surrounded by her tools on a dig with her two dalmatians that she often brought a long on excavations.
Leakey never had any formal education and The Guardian reports that she did not pass any exams and did not like formal education. She did however take lessons in archaeology and art as an unregistered student at the University College London.
When she was only 12-years-old she accompanied French archaeologist Elie Peyrony on a dig where she started to collect blades, scarpers and points.
Leakey spent much of her early childhood traveling around Europe. "During her travels she was exposed to prehistoric sites, such as the caves at Pech Merl in Dordogne, which influenced her to plan a career in geology and archeology; not a typical path for a woman at the time," leakeyfoundation.org's website states.
when she got married to fellow archaeologist Louis Leakey who she met in 1933. Louis invited her to come to Africa with him to draw stones that he had found and three years later after Leakey divorced his first wife, they were married. They have three sons together, Jonathon, Richard and Philip.
Among her other achievements she is credited with the discovery of "Zinjanthropus boisei (now known as Australopithecus boisei) in 1959, Homo habilis in 1960, and an amazingly well-preserved 89-foot long trail of early human footprints found at Laetoli (1979)," ssaid Leaky.com's website. "These footprints have been dated to about 3.6 million years old and their discovery proved conclusively that our ancestors were at that time practicing bipedal locomotion."
When Leakey retired she moved to Nairobi from Olduvai Gorge and lived there for 20 years in retirement. Leakey died at the age of 83.
"Her son, Richard, continued the work and has been a champion for Africa's people and animals for decades. His wife, Meave, has made significant discoveries as well, and has continued to be a leader in paleoanthropology. Though Mary Leakey herself died in 1996, her granddaughter Louise continues the family legacy," reported National Geographic.
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