The Birthday of Mary Leakey (1913) – Mathematics of Archaeology

Mary Leakey discovered early hominid fossils. The mathematics of archaeology: radiocarbon dating (exponential decay, half‑life 5,730 years), stratigraphy (geometry of layers), and geometric morphometrics (shape analysis of bones). She used triangulation to map excavation sites. The number 343 = 7³ – a perfect cube. Archaeology relies on statistics to distinguish tools from natural rocks. Mathematics helps us read the past from scattered remains.