Mary Leakey

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Lore & Background

Mary Leakey was born on 6 February 1913 in London, England to Erskine Edward Nicol and Cecilia Marion (Frere) Nicol. The family moved to numerous locations in the United States, Italy and Egypt, where Erskine painted watercolours. Mary developed an enthusiasm for Egyptology during these travels. On her mother's side, she was a great-great-great-granddaughter of antiquarian John Frere. In 1925, when Mary was 12, the Nicols stayed at Les Eyzies, France, while archaeologist Élie Peyrony was excavating a cave. Mary received permission to go through the remnants of his dig, sparking her interests in prehistory and archaeology. She started a collection of points, scrapers and blades from the dump and developed her first system of classification. After her father died of cancer in spring 1926, Mary and her mother returned to London. Mary was placed in a local Catholic convent but was expelled for refusing to recite poetry, then expelled from a second convent school for causing an explosion in a chemistry laboratory. She attended lectures in archaeology at University College and the London Museum, studying under Mortimer Wheeler. Her first dig was at St Albans at the Roman site of Verulamium under Wheeler. Her next dig was at Hembury, a Neolithic site, under Dorothy Liddell, who trained her for four years until 1934.

Reader's Guide

Mary Leakey's significance rests on her direct discoveries. In October 1948, she discovered a Proconsul africanus skull on Rusinga Island. On 17 July 1959 at Olduvai Gorge, while Louis was ill in camp, Mary noticed a piece of bone that 'seemed to be part of a skull' with a 'hominid' look. After dusting the topsoil away, she found 'two large teeth set in the curve of a jaw' and drove back exclaiming 'I've got him!' The partial cranium was unearthed within weeks; Louis named it Zinjanthropus boisei, later revised to Paranthropus boisei. Mary also developed a system for classifying the stone tools found at Olduvai. At Laetoli she discovered hominin fossils more than 3.75 million years old. From 1976 to 1981, Leakey and her staff uncovered the Laetoli hominin footprint trail, tracked through volcanic ash some 3.6 million years ago. After her husband's death on 1 October 1972, Leakey became director of excavations at Olduvai. She trained her son Richard in paleoanthropology, maintaining the Leakey family tradition. In the 1960s the Leakeys started working with Kamoya Kimeu, with Mary particularly valuing his expertise; the family trained him in paleontology, evolutionary theory and excavating techniques. Throughout her career, Leakey discovered fifteen new species of animals and one new genus.

Did You Know?

• Mary Leakey discovered the largest elephant tooth known to Britain at that time during a 1934 dig at Swanscombe.
• She was expelled from a second convent school for causing an explosion in a chemistry laboratory.
• Mary Leakey was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Oxford University in 1981, despite being told not to apply there as a young woman.
• She discovered fifteen new species of animal and brought about the naming of a new genus.
• The Leakeys trained Kamoya Kimeu in paleontology, evolutionary theory and excavating techniques; he became a highly respected Kenyan paleontologist and curator.