Decolonizing paleoanthropology with ASU expert Haile-Selassie

Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Director of ASU’s Institute of Human Origins and a leading Ethiopian fossil expert says it’s time to decolonize paleoanthropology.

The story of ancient human origins has been, according to Haile-Selassie, too western-centric in it’s focus. One example is that many of the fossils that made western scientists famous were actually discovered by local Africans, who were only acknowledged at the end of a scientific publication.

Increasing support for African-born paleontologists, he says, could lead to important discoveries in parts of Africa that, to date, have not yielded ancient hominin fossils: “There are so many areas in Africa that haven’t been explored,” Haile-Selassie said. “Now, people are thinking about exploring West Africa for human ancestors. They might end up finding fossils in there as well … And that’s why we need to have a firm foundation established, so the next generation [of African scientists] doesn’t have to deal with the lack of infrastructure that we [faced].”

Yohannes Haile-Selassie joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss an issue he felt has been ignored far too long in the paleoanthropology world and what can be done to address it.