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Evidence of human technology at the site dates back to as early as 2.6 million years ago (mya).

Gona is an area in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia. It is primarily known as a paleoanthropological study area and is near the Middle Awash and Hadar areas. Evidence of human technology at the site dates back to as early as 2.6 million years ago (mya). The Adu-Asa Formation in Gona contains the earliest of these anthropodal fossils.

Geography
The Ethiopian Highland s are split by the Rift Valley into two zones, which include the Afar and Middle Awash to the northeast and the Omo region to the southwest. Gona and its archaeological sites are located in the area of the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia. This positions Gona between the Mille-Bati road to the north, the Awash River to the east, the As Bole drainage to the south, and the Western Ethiopian escarpment that rises to the west. Its core covers the drainage basin of the Kada Gona, a tributary of the Awash. Geologically, the area is known for basalt and trachyte rock, which is regionally used to make stone tools. Many of the area's archaeological sites are located near stream channels and riverbanks.

Hominid Fossils
Fossils from Gona are used by palaeoanthropologists studying human evolution in the Late Miocene–Early Pliocene, which is a time period sparsely preserved in the fossil record outside of key sites in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Chad. Over 1,500 fossils were found during excavations at 40 sites in Gona between 1999 and 2003 with fossils from at least nine hominids recovered at the As Duma deposits without signs of transport from other areas. Evidence from dentition including the morphology of molars, crowns, and roots alongside enamel thickness identify these hominids as Australopithecus ramidus.

Stone Tools
Evidence of human technology at the site dates back to as early as 2.6 million years ago (mya). Basalt and trachyte rock are commonly used as local source material for the stone tools found at Gona alongside smaller percentages of 'exotic' stones like chert. A majority of the tools found at Gona are from the Oldowan Industry, also known as Mode 1, and date to around 2.6-1.6 mya.