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The Bouri Formation is a sequence of sedimentary deposits that is the source of australopithecine and Homo (that is, hominin) fossils, artifacts, and bones of large mammals with cut marks from butchery with tools by early hominins. It is located in the Middle Awash Valley, in Ethiopia, East Africa, and is a part of the Afar Depression that has provided rich human fossil sites such as Gona and Hadar. The Bouri Formation stretches down much of the length and breath of the Bouri "peninsula", which projects across the dry bed of the Afar Depression. The Formation is sufficiently eroded to expose three geological members or layers: the Hatayae, the Dakanihylo, and the Herto. Human remains with signs of having been prepared for burial have been found in the Upper Herto layers. ==Geology== The Bouri "peninsula" is a geological fault-raised horst that diverts the Awash River, forming a partial dam and creating Lake Yardi; and it contains the Bouri Formation. The peninsula is about 4 km wide by 10 km long, and lies in a NNW-SSE direction in the Quaternary-period rift zone in the southern part of the Afar Depression (Afar Triangle). The Bouri Formation is a sediment area some 80 m thick that stretches down much of the length and breath of the peninsula. The formation consists of three geological units, called members, from which fossils and artifacts of different periods of human evolution have been excavated. They are: the lowest member, named Hatayae, or the Hata, dated to 2.5 millions of years ago (mya)—and in which fossils of ''Australopithecus garhi'' were found; the Dakanihylo, or Daka, member, one (1) mya—fossils of Homo erectus were found; and the Herto member, Lower layer at 260 kya, and Upper layers at 160 to 154 kya—fossils of Homo sapiens idaltu were found.〔Clark JD, Beyene Y, WoldeGabriel G, Hart WK, Renne PR, Gilbert H, Defleur A, Suwa G, Katoh S, Ludwig KR, Boisserie JR, Asfaw B, White TD. (2003). Stratigraphic, chronological and behavioural contexts of Pleistocene Homo sapiens from Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature. 423(6941):747-52. PMID 12802333〕〔de Heinzelin J, Clark JD, White T, Hart W, Renne P, WoldeGabriel G, Beyene Y, Vrba E. (1999). Environment and behavior of 2.5-million-year-old Bouri hominids. Science. 284(5414):625-9. PMID 10213682〕〔Asfaw B, White T, Lovejoy O, Latimer B, Simpson S, Suwa G. (1999). Australopithecus garhi: a new species of early hominid from Ethiopia. Science. 284(5414):629-35. PMID 10213683〕〔Asfaw B, Gilbert WH, Beyene Y, Hart WK, Renne PR, WoldeGabriel G, Vrba ES, White TD. (2002). Remains of Homo erectus from Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature. 416(6878):317-20. PMID 11907576〕 The area is important because active tectonics in the Afar Depression created varying habitats for early hominins across the most recent few million years known informally as the Plio-Pleistocene. These habitats, laid down in sedimentary rocks, have since been uplifted, which allowed their erosion over time and their accessibility today to paleoanthropologists.〔 Volcanic eruptions have left volcanic tuff layers that enable accurate dating of the sedimentary deposits via Argon–argon dating. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bouri Formation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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