THOR is a multidisciplinary project aimed at the study and promotion of paleoanthropological sites in Tanzania, particularly in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The rocks cropping out in the study areas of Laetoli and Olduvai Gorge offer outstanding geological, paleontological and archeological evidence for the understanding of the last 4 million years of human evolution in the context of East African environmental change.
Interdisciplinarity is the key to making accurate paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Our team includes experts in vertebrate paleontology, paleoanthropology, archeology, geology, topography, 3D modeling, cultural heritage conservation, ecology, museology and paleoart. Our current research is focused on the upper part of the Olduvai stratigraphic succession to reconstruct in detail the context of a major transition in human evolution, that is, the emergence of Homo sapiens.
THOR is a project in which three components are intertwined: research, training and dissemination. In all our field activities, Italian and Tanzanian undergraduates and postgraduates are always involved, and we regularly organize training courses for students, local staff and members of the Maasai Community. We strongly believe that science should not stagnate in academia, but be open to the world through forms of dissemination ranging from museums to multimedia tools.
Department of Physics and Geology
University of Perugia
Via A. Pascoli – 06123 Perugia, Italy