The Stone Age Institute

The Stone Age Institute Hidden away in the woods on the outskirts of Bloomington, this famed institute, the brainchild of husband-and-wife scientists, is a focal point for archaeological research on human origins. At a noisy reception in the cavernous library of the Stone Age Institute, Nicholas Toth, co-founder of the institute, is explaining to a guest the tortuous logistics of extracting core samples from 250 meters below the surface of an ancient lake bed in Tanzania. A week later, scientists from 10 universities will gather in this same library for a conference on the find- ings from the unprecedented drilling project. Tonight’s reception, however, isn’t for the scientists. The guest of hon- or is Kenny Aronoff, one of rock music’s most successful drummers, an old friend and adviser to the Stone Age Institute. Toth hands his wine glass to Kathy Schick, his wife and partner in research and life, and straps on a Fender Telecaster guitar. Then the institute’s house band, with Aronoff sitting in, launches into a 1960’s rock standard. Jam sessions are regular occurrences at the Stone Age Institute. Schick is recording the event on video, and the guest is left to wonder: Can these people really be doing serious science when they’re obviously having so much fun? By Peter Dorfman • Photography by Tyagan Miller The Great Library on the main floor of The Stone Age Institute. 110 Bloom | April/May 2017 | magbloom.com magbloom.com | April/May 2017 | Bloom 111 The answer is yes. Toth and Schick are ten- changes in Earth’s climate during man’s universities,” Schick explains. She and Toth “Everything you see here is paid for,” Who are Kathy and Nick? (beginning opposite page, l-r) ured Indiana University professors. Their early prehistory. That core sampling from had experienced those vagaries firsthand. Toth says. “We’ve never had to take a loan Toth and Schick make friends easily, and Founders, co-directors, and spouses Nicholas Toth and brainchild, the Stone Age Institute, located the East African lake bed will give archaeol- After grad school, they were postdocs from for anything, never incurred any debt.” they move comfortably in elite donor Kathy Schick; exterior of the on 30 rural acres on the outskirts of Bloom- ogists the first continuous record of climate 1982 until 1986 at the Institute of Human circles. A tour of the institute and its accou- Stone Age Institute, featuring ington, is an internationally renowned focal changes over the last 2.5 million years in the Origins, also in Berkeley. They worked with its Where the money comes from trements could convince a visitor that its the stone tower; interior hallway leading to the library; point for archaeological research on human region where human beings first emerged. founder, Donald Johanson, whose team had Along with the science, the Stone Age founders came from money themselves. But ancient stone tools. origins. More specifically, the institute stud- The core sample will fuel geochemical discovered the famous early hominid fossil Institute is a case study in successful fun- they didn’t. Both Schick and Toth are from ies the origins of technology, beginning with analysis and yield data for scientists in mul- nicknamed “Lucy” in Ethiopia. Johanson had draising. In late 2015, the institute landed middle-class Ohio families. the development of stone tools. tiple disciplines for years to come. established a private nonprofit institution—an its largest funding to date—a $3.2 million “When I was 6 years old, my father died,” Scientists study human evolution from The Stone Age Institute is allied with early model for Toth and Schick. research grant from the John Templeton Toth recalls. “As my mother was sorting out physical evidence—fossil remnants of early IU, where Toth and Schick maintain faculty “UC Berkeley was an intellectual play- Foundation in Philadelphia. The three-year her business, we stayed with various uncles hominids (human-like, upright-walking positions. But it is an autonomous, nonprofit ground,” Schick recalls. “You could study grant funds research into the evolution of and aunts, and one of my uncles worked on human cognition in four countries. But the railroad. He was the family naturalist. what sustains the institute is continuing He had hiked a lot in Texas and he had a col- Toth and Schick have been able to capture the imaginations of some important donor funding, mostly through the patient lection of projectile points [such as a spear, people, who may never previously have given much thought to stone tools. cultivation of philanthropic contacts. dart, or arrow], which I thought were the “Virtually all of our donors are people coolest things I’d ever seen. He subscribed we’ve known between 10 and 30 years,” Toth to National Geographic, and I read an article creatures, only some of which are direct 501(c)(3) entity, built entirely with donor with some of the biggest names in the field. says. “We rarely raise money cold. It’s really on the Leakeys at Olduvai Gorge. I decided, ancestors of Homo sapiens) and the animals funding. It’s the ultimate realization of its But toward the end of our time there, a lot based on long-term relationships and trust. at 6 years old, that I was going to become an they hunted, as well as artifacts like stone founders’ vision—to establish “one of the of them were retiring or moving to other People see over the years what you’re trying archaeologist. I guess I never grew up.” and bone tools. But anthropology also is major places in the world to do Stone Age fields of science. That really led us to ask to do. And every donor is a different story.” First in his family to go to college, Toth concerned with the evolution of intellect archaeology,” Toth says. ourselves whether we could build a more Gordon Getty, son of oil magnate J. Paul did his early graduate work at Oxford and behavior. The institute’s scientists work stable platform.” Getty, is a key donor. “Gordon’s two major University in England. “My tutor there in closely with anthropologists and cognitive A stable base for research That platform resides in a museum- interests in life are human evolution and archaeology, Derek Roe, was working with psychologists who study modern cultures But it also reflects an insight Toth and Schick like edifice at the end of a winding, gated opera,” Toth explains. “We’ve had his mu- Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge, analyzing and the behavior of modern humans and came to in the 1980s as graduate students driveway. Visitors enter through an impos- sic performed at the music school, as well stone tools,” Toth says. “So I had connec- primates, from which the behaviors of our at the University of California at Berkeley: ing stone turret. Embedded in the entry- as at the institute. Gordon was the honor- tions with East Africa.” ancient ancestors can be inferred. While university research teams come and way floor is an exhibit showing what an ary chairman of the Leakey Foundation He met Schick in 1976 when he returned go, knowledge lasts. early hominid camp might look like when in San Francisco, which supports human from Oxford, on an archaeological dig in Ohio. Climate over 2.5 million years “We wanted a fertile, stable base for re- unearthed in the field. The award-winning evolutionary studies, so that was a natural Schick also had a middle-class upbring- Some of the institute’s most far-reaching search in this field that wouldn’t be subject to building, designed by Mary Krupinski and connection. He first visited us when we ing. “My father was an engraver,” she says. contributions to archaeology may come the whims and vagaries of different admin- Dawn Gray of Kirkwood Design Studio in were digging in Spain with our professor, “I was fascinated with the craft aspect of from its recent investigations into the istrations, different departments, different Bloomington, was completed in 2003. back in the 80s.” what he was doing, but he died when I was 112 Bloom | April/May 2017 | magbloom.com magbloom.com | April/May 2017 | Bloom 113 moving to new areas—that enabled brain the sharpest material in the world. Of course, evolution,” he explains. “Every species has they weren’t wearing a lot of clothing. They as large a brain as it can afford, based on its clearly were very good at this. We don’t know diet and metabolic system. If humans could how many bled to death in the process.” reduce their gut size by having a higher- It has long been known that other spe- quality diet, rich in protein from meats, we cies—crows, parrots, and various primates— focused on Africa. But in 1986, when the time don’t ever remember giving Nick and Kathy could devote more energy toward the brain. use found objects in simple ways to obtain came to look for tenure-track faculty positions, advice,” the drummer says, “but I’m ready, The brain represents 2 percent of your body food. But it’s a more recent discovery that it was IU that came through for both of them. bags packed, and I’ll be there like a Navy weight but about 20 percent of your caloric primates like chimpanzees can learn to By 1988, Toth and Schick had established SEAL, if they ever need any.” expenditure. It’s a very expensive organ, so make tools. In an attempt to posit how early their focus on the evolutionary significance Other advisers include Fritz Maytag, we needed a good reason to evolve it.” hominids could have acquired the capabil- of technology.

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