top of page
White Structure

1973 - The Early Man Site,
California

As the ink on Tom Venner's Bachelor's degree was drying he took on the role of interpreter/guide at the Early Man Site. This excavation was carried out by California's San Bernardino Country, in conjunction with the National Geographic. The excavation was the only dig in the United States that the famous Archaeologist-Paleoanthropologist

Louis Leakey sponsored.

Dr. Louis Leakey

Louis Leakey, in the 1960's, possessed the title as the man who had identified the oldest human remains in the Old World (Africa). He also sought that title in the New World (American), and believed the Early Man site in California was that perfect location. He, along with the Director of Archaeology for San Bernardino County, Dr. Ruth Simpson, led the excavation's fieldwork. The site's excavation was impressive, covering an area of close to 10 m square.

matt-artz-Fu2v5drnMBA-unsplash copy.jpg
19243-leakeyatcalicohills.jpg

Early 1960's - Dr. Ruth Simpson and Louis Leakey at the Early Man Site.

hasan-almasi-nKNm_75lH4g-unsplash Copy.j
3526527432_65e681dbc9_o.jpg

The Early Man site was meticulously excavated to a depth of nearly 10m.

1973_Tom_Hole.jpg

​

 Venner investigates a test pit.

He  worked closely with

Ruth Simpson, analyzing the hundreds of possible artifacts unearthed at the site. 

​

bottom of page