Stepping Out: Laetoli Footprints

I want to share something really cool and interesting with you.  Some of you may already be aware of this, some not, but whether you have or haven't I think it is something so awesome that it warrants a brief blog about it.  

In 1976, a Yale University paleoanthropologist Andrew Hill was working with Mary Leakey's research group on the excavation of an early-hominid archaeological site in Laetoli, Tanzania, when he unexpectedly stumbled across one of the most spectacular prehistoric discoveries ever made: a line of hominid footprints left in mud 3.6 million years ago.  I know right!

Up until then, the earliest known human footprints were only tens of thousands of years old.  Remarkably, Hill's Laetoli footprint trail was nearly 30 metres long and preserved in volcanic ash that had turned into a cement-like solidity as good as a plaster cast.  It left us with an action replay of one of the first species of prehistoric hominids who walked upright on two legs.  

The ideal surface material was created by a coating of volcanic ash from the nearby Sadiman volcano that had settled on a sandy surface.  When rain then fell, the sooty volcanic sediment became soft , like wet cement, and all the birds and small animals that walked on it left small prints.  But they were joined by the track of two hominids, one large and the other smaller, trailed possibly by a third (child?), whose tracks share some of the larger individuals footprints.

A further eruption of dust from the volcano served to seal up the footprints for prosperity before the rains returned and washed them away.  The light rain then turned the ash into cement, which set solid.  There, they remained until they were exposed by millions of years of gentle erosion.

These prints have led to all sorts of deductions and speculations , however they differ significantly from chimpanzee footprints and are not very different from those of modern humans, with an aligned big toe, heel, and an arched foot.  Interestingly the smaller individual of the two ( because they left shallower prints) is lopsided, bearing more weight on one side - perhaps carrying a baby?  The sequence of depressions also reveal the pattern of walking, with an initial strike followed by a push off by the front toes, again like our own stride pattern.  

The length of the footprints along the two trails are 19cm and 20cm, umm, about a boys size 1 in UK sizing, indicating that the individuals were probably about 120cm (4 ft) and 152 (5 ft) tall.  For the first time we had what amounted to a photographic of pre-human intelligent activity that could be understood in terms of our present day movements, how awesome!

A summer stroll on the beach could create the same impressions on the sand, only a marvellous accident of nature could preserve them, and we do not really want that do we.  

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/1/l_071_03.html 


You can find more reading in:
N. Agnew and M. Demas, 'Preserving the Laetoli Footprints' , Scientific America (September 1998), pp. 45-55.  Mary D. Leaky and J. M. Harris (eds), Laetoli: A Pliocene Site in Northern Tanzania, Clarendon Press, Oxford  (1987).

Using Food to Bring A Community Together

The new Bathers Beach Sunset Food Markets, Fremantle, has a variety of international food.  Shopping at such a Market puts the 'customer' in a situation completely different from going to the supermarket. The customer is much more in touch with the land, learning to eat foods that normally they wouldn't, experiencing the foods from other cultures.  The variety of items one can find at these Market is astonishing.

However, when I viewed the pictures from our very awesome Mayor or Fremantle Dr Brad Pettitt and well respected Fremantle blogger Roel Loopers (see below), I instantly recognised that a large focus of the Market is the building of community, both in and out of the Market itself. One thing that draws people to a Market such as this is its friendly atmosphere. This is a place where you can build relationships with others, learn to know each other, begin to exchange stories and events of the week in addition to experiencing eating great international foods. Events such as the Bathers Beach Sunset Food Market, drew in large numbers of people and this gives a real sense of place to the community.

So why would a Market such as this create a sense of place.  Well, people's sense of community is that the members have a shared emotional connection.  This element seems to be the defining feature for people to experience a true sense of community.  There are many features that facilitate people having shared emotional connections.  One feature that connects to the physical features of a community is that people have an emotional connection with each other when they have a shared common interest, in this case, food.  Shared emotional connections are often experienced in public spaces, which can generate or restore a deep sense of community through providing people places to socialise and interact with each other.  People need places where they can socially interact with each other on a non-commercial level. 

Food plays an essential role in building community. One of the things that has changed so much in just my lifetime is our relationship to food and community. Many of us no longer have the experience of having meals together with our families or friends due to our busy lifestyles. It’s exciting to see that there’s a renaissance of people realising how important it is to use food as a way to connect with each other. People are doing this in all kinds of creative, inspired, and fun ways and these such Markets provide a valuable sense of community.  

The Market is held within the community so this means you will be seeing locals every time you go.  This regular meeting provides an opportunity to ‘catch up’ and 'slow down', to make a real connection, meaning, being part of the slow movement, providing the opportunity to sit and while the time away with other people.  Such Markets serve as an anchor attraction for a community, drawing foot traffic which, with the right location, spills into adjacent retail areas and can spark revitalisation.  

Markets are community anchors which provide a way to bring people together, anchoring a community around food and place.

One of the greatest things about this Market is its ability to generate happiness and good will at the heart of a community.  

Photo from our very own Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt - check out his blog at:

http://cofremantle.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/bathers-beach-sunset-market/

or see more photos from Roel Loopers blog at: http://freoview.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/fantastic-bathers-beach-sunset-market/

Expectations and our beliefs

Expectations or a preconceived idea of how we view the future whether it is moments from right now or years from now are always based on personal beliefs that we feel will provide us with a sense of power, control and wholeness within ourselves and the world. It can be expectations within a personal relationship or it can be with how things are unfolding across the planet, it’s relevant to any experience. Let’s take a look at how these beliefs are affecting us. What would happen if we were to let them go?

When we engage in expectation for anything, what tends to happen? Well firstly, it brings us out of the present moment. It clouds our viewpoint and doesn’t really allow us to appreciate what’s in front of us. It can create disappointment as well because we’re not at peace if things don’t go the way as planned. Even though we’re not at peace based on our beliefs, the situation is still always perfect as it allows us to move beyond the limitations of always feeling disappointed, fearful or just emotionally attached to whatever plays out.We’ve buried our feelings and beliefs and the way society is designed, there’s so much fear and judgement towards one another and our experiences that it’s become very difficult to even just talk to each other and to really work on and move beyond our challenges together. Ironically, love and communication seem like a taboo thing in society in many ways.

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in our needs and wants, our fears, our beliefs of how we need to identify within the world and control our lives. It’s easy because it’s being supported. We’re being bombarded, from all angles, with belief systems of how we should be, feel, think and act. It’s a great experience and challenge for all of us to observe and play with, but internal reflection is the only way to navigate your way out of it. Getting to know who you are through your life's experiences.

If we let it, society can take us away from who we really are, but the power of observation can assist us so well. This is where our true power lies. Our awareness. Our consciousness. By becoming aware of these thoughts and beginning to observe how we are limiting ourselves, we can move out of stuck states that we feel. We can move beyond any form of suffering and discomfort. It’s a bit comical to see how we’ve become so used to a specific way of life and how we’ve become comfortable being uncomfortable. But that is changing as well. It’s becoming a lot more difficult to run from, bury or ignore what we’re feeling inside. I think an important direction to take from here is to learn to really be comfortable with everything but not in the way that we’re covering up any uncomfortable feeling with distractions.  We have to truly accept everything for what it is. When we do this, it can lead to more opening within us where we get the opportunity to see, feel and connect with everything rather than judge it or fear and misunderstand it. There’s beauty in every situation and every thing on this Earth, but to really know, see and feel that, we need to know see and feel it within ourselves first. What we do internally is how we interact with the outside world. This is why individual change is so important. 

We’re all one and we’re all connected not just with each other but with everything. The animals, nature, the planet, even the rest of the universe. Everything affects everything. So what do we expect in our lives and how are we viewing it? There’s a power that we all hold far beyond our need to control, it’s a power that is limitless, but it’s just being covered up by our beliefs. Try observing and be excited to see what presents. You just might enjoy not being limited anymore!