Omo Kibish Formation

Omo Kibish Formation rocks near the town of Kibish, where the human fossils were discovered

The Omo Kibish Formation or simply Kibish Formation is a geological formation in the Lower Omo Valley of southwestern Ethiopia. It is named after the nearby Omo River and is subdivided into four members known as Members I-IV. The members are numbered in the order in which they were deposited and date between 196 ka ~ 13-4 ka.[1] Omo Kibish and the neighboring formations (Shungura and Usno) have produced a rich paleoanthropological record with many hominin (e.g. Paranthropus boisei) and stone tool (e.g. Oldowan tools) finds.[2] The Kibish formation, in particular, is most notable for Richard Leakey's work there in 1967 during which he and his team found one of the oldest remains of anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Known as Omo Kibish 1 (Omo I), the fossil was dated to 196 ± 5 ka old and is among two other Omo remains (Omo II and Omo III) that were found in Member I.[3] The Omo fossils were more recently (in 2022) re-dated to approximately 233 ± 22 ka old.[4] In the early 2000s a research boom enriched the knowledge base about the Kibish Formation. Study of the faunal remains (large mammal and fish faunas) and stone tools provided insight into the archeological associations of Homo sapiens and thereby their behaviors and the complex environmental contexts in which they lived and evolved.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ Robinson, Joshua R.; Rowan, John; Faith, J. Tyler; Fleagle, John G. (2016-05-15). "Paleoenvironmental change in the late Middle Pleistocene–Holocene Kibish Formation, southern Ethiopia: Evidence from ungulate isotopic ecology". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 450: 50–59. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.02.049. ISSN 0031-0182.
  2. ^ Gabbert, Echi C. (2020-03-01). "Timothy Clack and Marcus Brittain (eds): The River. Peoples and Histories of the Omo-Turkana Area". Nomadic Peoples. 24 (1): 167–170. doi:10.3197/np.2020.240108. ISSN 0822-7942. S2CID 226102439.
  3. ^ Fleagle, John G.; Assefa, Zelalem; Brown, Francis H.; Shea, John J. (September 2008). "Paleoanthropology of the Kibish Formation, southern Ethiopia: Introduction". Journal of Human Evolution. 55 (3): 360–365. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.007. PMID 18617219.
  4. ^ Vidal, Celine M.; Lane, Christine S.; Asfawrossen, Asrat; et al. (Jan 2022). "Age of the oldest known Homo sapiens from eastern Africa". Nature. 601 (7894): 579–583. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04275-8. PMC 8791829. PMID 35022610.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Trapani, Josh (September 2008). "Quaternary fossil fish from the Kibish Formation, Omo Valley, Ethiopia". Journal of Human Evolution. 55 (3): 521–530. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.017. PMID 18691738.