The course of the Awash River is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of interconnected lakes that begin with Lake Gargori and end with Lake Abbe on the border with Djibouti. The Awash valley contains one of the most important groupings of palaeontological sites on the African continent. The remains found at the site, the oldest of which date back at least 4 million years, provide evidence of human evolution which has modified our conception of the history of humankind.
The Lower Awash Valley paleo-anthropological site is located 300 km northeast of Addis Ababa, in the west of the Afar Depression, and covers an area of around 150 km2. Excavations by an international team of palaeontologists and pre-historians began in 1973, and continued annually until 1976, and ended in 1980. In that time, they found a large quantity of fossilised hominid and animal bones in a remarkable state of preservation, the most ancient of which were at least four million years old.
In 1974, the valley produced the most complete set of remains of a hominid skeleton, Australopithecus afarensis, nicknamed Lucy, dating back 3.2 million years. Afarensis has since been proved to be the ancestral origin for both the Genus Australopithecus and Homo-sapiens. A recovered female skeleton nicknamed Ardi is 4.4 million years old, some 1.2 million years older than Lucy.
About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series Palaces, issued on February 18, 2016.
• Menelik Palace (0.10 ETB)
• Emperor Menelik II Entoto Palace (0.40 ETB) - It's on the postcard 3431
• Genete Leul Palace (2.00 ETB)
• National Palace (4.00 ETB)
The second stamp is part of a series of 5, issued on April 26, 2018, to mark The 75th Anniversary of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. The third stamp is one of the four of the series The 125th Anniversary (2012) of Addis Abeba, about which I wrote here.
The last stamp is part of the series Gates of Harar, issued on August 24, 2017.
• Gates of Harar - Buda (0.15 ETB)
• Gates of Harar - Fallana (0.35 ETB)
• Gates of Harar - Senga (1.00 ETB) - It's on the postcard 3431
• Gates of Harar - Showa (2.00 ETB) - It's on the postcard 3434
• Gates of Harar - Erer (3.00 ETB) - It's on the postcard 3434
References
Lower Valley of the Awash - UNESCO official website
Sender: Adam Wole (direct swap)
Sent from Addis Ababa (Addis Ababa / Ethiopia), on 25.01.2020
Photo: Jiri Horok / 2010
you elaborated it great my friend!
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