The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropological localities in the world; the many sites exposed by the gorge have proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human evolution . A steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches across East Africa , it is about 48 km long, and is located in the eastern Serengeti Plains within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the Olbalbal ward located in Ngorongoro District of Arusha Region , about 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Laetoli , another important archaeological locality of early human occupation. The British/Kenyan paleoanthropologist-archeologist team of Mary and Louis Leakey established excavation and research programs at Olduvai Gorge that achieved great advances in human knowledge. The site is registered as one of the National Historic Sites of Tanzania .
64-549: The gorge takes its name from the Maasai word oldupai which means "the place of the wild sisal" as the East African wild sisal ( Sansevieria ehrenbergii ) grows abundantly throughout the gorge area. Twenty-five kilometers downstream of Lake Ndutu and Lake Masek, the gorge is the result of up to 90 meters erosion cutting into the sediments of a Pleistocene lake bed . A side gorge, originating from Lemagrut Mountain, joins
128-556: A chert nodule quarry containing over 14,000 pieces, including gneiss and lava anvils and hammerstones . Hand axes were found at the EF-HR (Evelyn Fuchs-Hans Reck) and TK (Thiongo Korongo) sites. The BK (Bell's Korongo) site contained an Australopithecus boisei deciduous molar and canine . The distinctly red Bed III consists of 6–10 m of clays, sandstones and conglomerates signifying variable lake depths. Few fossils are present and only isolated stone tools, indicating
192-518: A bachelor’s degree in 1946 and a master’s in 1948. He obtained a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1952. In 1955, after serving two years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , Hay began his career in academia when he joined the faculty at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge as an assistant professor. In 1957 he accepted a position as associate professor in the Geology department at
256-644: A consonant, and [ ʃ ] elsewhere. There are nine vowel phoneme qualities in Maasai A feature that Maasai shares with the other Maa languages is advanced tongue root vowel harmony . In Maasai words, only certain combinations of vowels co-occur in the same word (i.e. vowel harmony), with the vowel / a / being "neutral" in this system. In Maasai, advanced tongue vowels only co-occur with other advanced tongue vowels (i.e. /i e o u/) and /a/, whereas non-advanced tongue vowels (i.e. /ɪ ɛ ʊ ɔ/) only co-occur with each other and with /a/. Note that tones play no role in
320-449: A first-person pronoun), and the subject is less topical, the object occurs right after the verb and before the subject. The Maasai language has only two fully grammatical prepositions but can use "relational nouns", along with a most general preposition, to designate specific locative ideas. Noun phrases begin with a demonstrative prefix or a gender-number prefix, followed by a quantifying noun or other head noun. Other modifiers follow
384-447: A foundation for assessing local, regional, and continental changes in stone tool-making during the early Pleistocene, and aids in assessing which hominins were responsible for the several changes in stone tool technology over time. It is not known for sure which hominin species was first to create Oldowan tools. The emergence of tool culture has also been associated with the pre- Homo species Australopithecus garhi , and its flourishing
448-507: A given class (e.g. ɔl -aláshɛ̀ “brother”; ɛn -kái “God”), some roots can also occur with both prefixes (e.g. ol -ŋatúny “lion” vs. e -ŋatúny “ lion-ness”). "Who has come?" would be asked if the gender of the visitor were known. The noun would be preceded by a gendered prefix. If the gender of the visitor were unknown, "It is who that has come?" would be the literal [English translation] question. Adjectives in Maa serve only to describe
512-652: A grammar of the Maasai language, along with texts in Maasai and English translation. The texts include stories, myths, proverbs, riddles, and songs (lyrics but no music), along with customs and beliefs explained in Maasai. Here are some of the proverbs: Here are some of the riddles: The Maasai have resisted the expansion of European languages as well as that of Swahili in East Africa . Maasai speakers engage in frequent trade using their language. However, close contact with other ethnic groups in East Africa and
576-574: A large pedestal with an informative plaque mounted on the side of the pedestal. The fossil skulls depicted are Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis , two contemporary species which were first discovered at Olduvai Gorge. The large-scale models created by Kijo are each 6 feet tall and weigh 5,000 pounds. The monument project was funded by the Stone Age Institute and the John Templeton Foundation , in partnership with
640-426: A larger brain capacity than that of Australopithecus boisei . These important differences indicated a different species, which eventually was named Homo habilis . Its larger brain capacity and decreased teeth size pointed to Homo as the probable toolmaker. The oldest tools at Olduvai, found at the lowest layer and classified as Oldowan, consist of pebbles chipped on one edge. Above this layer, and later in time, are
704-467: A look at rock samples which my colleague Garniss Curtis brought back for K-Ar dating. At that time I was interested in the zeolites of desert lakes, and these samples were loaded with zeolites. I was quick to accept an opportunity to go there in 1962. The main purpose was to work on the stratigraphy of Bed I and resolve some of the controversy over the age of Zinjanthropus, who had been given the almost unbelievable age of 1.75 million years. The stratigraphy of
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#1732780171751768-418: A personal pronoun because place can help identify male or female (i.e. an action occurring in the house will almost always be done by a female). Present tense in Maasai includes habitual actions, such as "I wake up" or "I cook breakfast". Past tense refers only to a past action, not to a specific time or place. In 1905, Alfred Claud Hollis published The Masai: Their Language and Folklore , which contains
832-470: A reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.' Maasai language Maasai (previously spelled Masai ) or Maa ( English: / ˈ m ɑː s aɪ / MAH -sy ; autonym : ɔl Maa ) is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the Maasai people , numbering about 1.5 million. It
896-457: A sparse early man presence. Bed IV is a distinctly different unit from Bed II in the eastern portion of the gorge. There, it is 5–8 m thick and composed of clays, and stream deposited sandstones and conglomerates. Four distinct tool-bearing levels are evident, including 500 handaxes and cleavers at the HK (Hopwood's Korongo) site, while phonolite handaxes and an elephant bone handaxe were found at
960-1219: Is associated with the early species Homo habilis and Homo ergaster . Beginning 1.7 million years ago, early Homo erectus apparently inherited Oldowan technology and refined it into the Acheulean industry. Oldowan tools occur in Beds I–IV at Olduvai Gorge. Bed I, dated 1.85 to 1.7 mya, contains Oldowan tools and fossils of Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis , as does Bed II, 1.7 to 1.2 mya. H. habilis gave way to Homo erectus at about 1.6 mya, but P. boisei persisted. Oldowan tools continue to Bed IV at 800,000 to 600,000 before present ( BP ). A significant change took place between Beds I and II at about 1.5 mya. Flake size increased, bifacial edges (as opposed to single-face edges) occurred more frequently and their length increased, and signs of battering on other artifacts increased. Some likely implications of these factors, among others, are that after this pivotal time hominins used tools more frequently, became better at making tools, and transported tools more often. Though substantial evidence of hunting and scavenging has been discovered at Olduvai Gorge, it
1024-423: Is believed by archaeologists that hominins inhabiting the area between 1.9 and 1.7 million years ago spent the majority of their time gathering wild plant foods, such as berries , tubers and roots . The earliest hominins most likely did not rely on meat for the bulk of their nutrition . Speculation about the amount of meat in their diets is inferred from comparative studies with a close relative of early hominins:
1088-470: Is closely related to the other Maa varieties : Samburu (or Sampur), the language of the Samburu people of central Kenya, Chamus , spoken south and southeast of Lake Baringo (sometimes regarded as a dialect of Samburu); and Parakuyu of Tanzania. The Maasai, Samburu, il-Chamus and Parakuyu peoples are historically related and all refer to their language as ɔl Maa . Properly speaking, "Maa" refers to
1152-498: Is still debated today, but archaeologist Pat Shipman provided evidence that scavenging was probably the more common practice; she published that the majority of carnivore teeth marks came before the cut marks. Another finding by Shipman at FLK-Zinj is that many of the wildebeest bones found there are over-represented by adult and male bones; and this may indicate that hominins were systematically hunting these animals as well as scavenging them. The question of whether hunting or scavenging
1216-637: Is thought to have occupied sites in the gorge 17,000 years ago. While travelling in German East Africa in 1911 to investigate sleeping sickness , German physician and archaeologist Wilhelm Kattwinkel visited Olduvai Gorge, where he observed many fossil bones of an extinct three-toed horse. Inspired by Kattwinkel's discovery, German geologist Hans Reck led a team to Olduvai in 1913. There, he found hominin remains which were later radiocarbon dated to 17,000 BP . Four more expeditions were planned, but World War I prevented their start. After
1280-403: Is usually verb–subject–object , but it can vary because tone is the most salient indicator of the distinction between subject and object roles. What determines the order in a clause is topicality since the order, in the simplest clauses, can be predicted according to the information structure pattern: [Verb – Most.Topical – Less.Topical]. Thus, if the object is highly topical in the discourse (e.g.
1344-542: The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the 'Palaeoanthropological Sites of Human Evolution of Laetoli – Olduvai Gorge' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as
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#17327801717511408-686: The Kirk Bryan Award in 1978 and the Rip Rapp Archaeological Geology Award in 2000 from GSA in recognition of his Geology of the Olduvai Gorge . In 2001, Hay also received the Leakey Prize, one of the most distinguished awards in the field of human origins. The following is an excerpt from Hay’s acceptance speech for the Leakey Prize in 2001: “My acquaintance with Olduvai began in 1961 with
1472-461: The University of Arizona and developed new interests in geology, participating in teaching seminars and continuing to mentor young scientists despite his retirement. Hay made many important and far-reaching contributions to the field of Geology including his work on the significance and interpretation of sedimentary zeolites , which he showed can reveal details about the environment in which
1536-636: The Developed Oldowan as the subsequent diverse tool-kit found in Beds II, III, and IV, with small tools made mostly from chert rather than quartzite. These tools are mostly spheroids and sub-spheroids, followed by choppers. Besides the chert quarry in Bed II, the Leakeys were able to identify the other source locations of the principal rocks used to make the stone tools. The most common material
1600-529: The FLK and FLK North-North sites mentioned above, plus DK and FLK North. The DK site (Donald McInnes' first initial plus k for korongo ) has what Leakey considers to be a stone circle, and also many tools and fossil bones ranging in age from 1.75 mya to 1.9 mya. Bed II consists of 21–35 m of clay and sandstone Olduvai Lake and stream deposits. Manuports are abundant at the MNK (Mark Nicol Korongo) site in addition to
1664-536: The HEB (Heberer's Gully) site. The WK (Wayland's Korongo) site contained a Homo erectus pelvis and femur. The Masek Beds are composed of two episodes of aeolian ash from Kerimasi. A number of quartzite handaxes were found in this layer at the FLK site. Dunes formed after the deposition of Oldonyo Lengai tuffs make up the upper portion of the Ndutu Beds, but yield few fossils. Oldonyo Lengai tuffs also make up
1728-489: The Maasai people would continue to be threatened and their cultural integrity threatened. The minority status that the language currently faces has already threatened traditional Maasai practices. Fewer and fewer groups of Maasai continue to be nomadic in the region, choosing to settle instead in close-knit communities to keep their language and other aspects of their culture alive. Richard L. Hay (geologist) Richard LeRoy Hay (April 29, 1926 – February 10, 2006)
1792-533: The Naisiusiu Beds. The few Australopithecus boisei remains, which include the skull, a thigh bone fragment, and several teeth, were found distributed throughout Beds I and II, which dates them in the range 1.1 to 2 mya. The more common remains of Homo habilis were found in Bed I and the lower portion of Bed II, which makes them contemporaries of Australopithecus boisei . Homo erectus remains were found in
1856-676: The Ndutu Bed and the Naisiuiu Bed. The stratigraphic sequence in the gorge is up to 90 m thick, with a welded tuff , the Naabi ignimbrite , forming the base. This is overlain by a series of lava flows from Olmoti and from another source to the south. The oldest fossils are found on this surface, dated at 1.89 mya , while stone tools have been dated at 1.7 mya through the first use of K-Ar dating by Garniss Curtis . In addition, fission track dating and paleomagnetism were used to date
1920-605: The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA). The Olduvai Gorge Museum , located 5 km beyond the monument, is situated on the rim of the gorge at the junction of the main gorge and the side gorge. As one of the largest onsite museums in Africa, the museum provides educational exhibits related to the gorge and its long history. In respect of the presence of 'palaeoanthropological sites indicating early hominin development and activities',
1984-743: The Olduvai Gorge (1976) was a seminal study of the environment of early humans in East Africa and continues to be a foundational tool for scientists studying early human origins in East Africa. Hay was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science , a Fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA), and a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences ; he was recognized by each for his outstanding contributions to geology. Hay received both
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2048-477: The University of California, Berkeley, where he was soon advanced to full professor. The Berkeley Geology and Geophysics Department at the time included the world’s greatest concentration of distinguished petrographers , Professors Howel Williams , Francis Turner , and Charles Gilbert. Hay arrived at Berkeley around the time that the three faculty members had just published Petrography , which continues to be
2112-485: The area in 1935, joining Louis and Percy Edward Kent . Subsequent visits were made by the Leakeys in 1941, 1953, 1955 and 1957. Louis and Mary Leakey are responsible for most of the excavations and discoveries of the hominin fossils in Olduvai Gorge. In July 1959, at the FLK site (the initials of the person who discovered it Frida Leakey , and K for korongo , the Swahili language word for gully ), Mary Leakey found
2176-422: The beginning of the period of hominids transitioning to homininina—that is, to human clade . Homo habilis , probably the first early human species, occupied Olduvai Gorge approximately 1.9 million years ago (mya); then came a contemporary australopithecine , Paranthropus boisei , 1.8 mya, followed by Homo erectus , 1.2 mya. Homo sapiens , which is estimated to have emerged roughly 300,000 years ago,
2240-399: The bones for marrow, using tools to strip the meat, or by carnivores having gnawed the bones. Since several kinds of marks are present together, some archaeologists including Lewis Binford think that hominins scavenged the meat or marrow left over from carnivore kills. Others like Henry Bunn believe the hominins hunted and killed these animals, and carnivores later chewed the bones. This issue
2304-584: The deposits, while amino acid dating and Carbon-14 dating were used to date the bones. Hominid fossils and stone tools are found continuously throughout the entire exposed sequence in the gorge. Faulting between 100 and 30 kya, formed the Olbalbal Depression northwest of Ngorongoro. The 20–46 m thick Lower Pleistocene Bed I sediments overlying the Naabi ignimbrite consist of layers of Olmoti tuff and lake sediment claystone . Four well-preserved living sites of note are located within Bed I,
2368-437: The geology of the stratigraphic sequence of Olduvai Gorge was made possible in large part by the efforts of geologist Richard Hay . Hay spent twelve years studying the geology at Olduvai, much of it working along with Mary Leakey, finally formulating a detailed picture of the geologic history of the area. Hay's seminal work The Geology of the Olduvai Gorge was published in 1976. Reck identified five main layers of deposition in
2432-506: The gorge, which were labelled Beds I through V, with Bed I being the oldest and lowest in the sequence. Hay and other geologists working at the gorge since Reck's time have utilized Reck's original Bed outline, adding clarity, detail, and corrections to achieve a more thorough understanding of gorge history. Reck's original Bed IV interval was later distinguished as consisting of Bed IV and the Masek Beds, while Bed V has been reclassified as
2496-532: The harmony system. Maasai is written using the Latin script with additional letters taken from the IPA , namely ⟨ɛ ɨ ŋ ɔ ʉ⟩, where the barred letters represent the near-close vowels. The orthography uses a few digraphs (e.g. ⟨rr⟩ for /r/, ⟨sh⟩ for /ʃ), and diacritics on vowels to represent tones. In this system, level tones are not represented, so that /ā ē ū/ etc. are represented as ⟨a e u⟩ and so forth. Word order
2560-471: The head noun, including possessive phrases. In Maasai, many morphemes are tone patterns. The tone pattern affects the case, voice and aspect of words, as in the example below: ɛ́yɛ́tá ɛ̀-ɛ́t-á 3P -remove.one.by.one- PFV . SG ɛmʊtí ɛn-mʊtí(LH) DEF . FEM . SG -pot( ACC ) (Surface Form) (Morphemes) ɛ́yɛ́tá ɛmʊtí ɛ̀-ɛ́t-á ɛn-mʊtí(LH) 3P-remove.one.by.one-PFV.SG DEF.FEM.SG-pot(ACC) "She removed (meat) from
2624-561: The idea of erecting a monument to commemorate this significant site while also serving as a signpost and attracting visitors to the Olduvai Gorge and museum; paleoanthropologists Nicholas Toth , Kathy Schick , and Jackson Njau planned and provided life-size fossil casts at the request of the Tanzanian government, which were used by the celebrated Tanzanian artist Festo Kijo to create the two large concrete skulls. The monument consists of two large-scale models of fossil skulls which sit atop
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2688-477: The information about early hominins comes from tools and debris piles of lithic flakes from such sites as FLK-Zinjanthropus in Olduvai Gorge. Early hominins selected specific types of rocks that would break in a predictable manner when "worked", and carried these rocks from deposits several kilometres away. Archaeologists such as Fiona Marshall fitted rock fragments back together like a puzzle. She states in her article "Life in Olduvai Gorge" that early hominins, "knew
2752-509: The language and the culture and "Maasai" refers to the people "who speak Maa". The Maasai variety of ɔl Maa as spoken in southern Kenya and Tanzania has 30 contrasting phonemes, including a series of implosive consonants . In Maasai, tone has a very productive role, conveying a wide range of grammatical and semantic functions. In the table of consonant phonemes below, phonemes are represented with IPA symbols. When IPA conventions differ from symbols normally used in practical writing,
2816-465: The latter are given in angle brackets. For some speakers, implosive consonants are not ingressive (e.g. IlKeekonyokie Maa), but for others, they are lightly implosive or have a glottalic feature (e.g. Parakuyo Maa). In Arusha Maa, /p/ is typically realized as a voiceless fricative [ ɸ ] , but in some words, it can be a voiced trill [ ʙ ] . The sounds and occur in complementary distribution , with [ tʃ ] occurring following
2880-404: The main gorge 8 km from the mouth. This side gorge follows the shoreline of a prehistoric lake , rich in fossils and early hominin sites. Periodic flows of volcanic ash from Olmoti and Kerimasi helped to ensure preservation of the fossils in the gorge. The locality is significant in showing the increasing developmental and social complexities in the earliest Hominina , largely revealed in
2944-539: The modern chimpanzee . The chimpanzee's diet in the wild consists of only about five percent as meat. And the diets of modern hunter-gatherers do not include a large amount of meat. That is, most of the calories in both groups' diets came from plant sources. Thus, it can be assumed that early hominins had similar diet proportions, (see the middle-range theory or bridging arguments—bridging arguments are used by archaeologists to explain past behaviors, and they include an underlying assumption of uniformitarianism .) Much of
3008-404: The noun, and they change tenses depending on the noun that they describe. Pronouns in Maa usually assign gender (male, female, or place); if gender is unknown, the meaning of the noun in context usually refers to a gender. For example, the context of a female might include working in the house, and a male gender would be implied if the action referred to work outside the home. Maasai uses place as
3072-500: The position of Professor of Geology at the University of California, Berkeley for 26 years (1957-1983) and at the University of Illinois for another 11. His life and scientific contributions were celebrated with a special session of the Geological Society of America at the national meeting in 2007. Hay was born in Goshen, Indiana , to parents Edward (a dentist) and Angela Hay. He attended Northwestern University where he received
3136-642: The pot." ɛyɛ́ta ɛ̀-ɛ́t-a 3P -remove.one.by.one- IPFV . MID ɛmʊ́ti ɛn-mʊ́ti(HL) DEF . FEM . SG -pot( NOM ) (Surface Form) (Morphemes) ɛyɛ́ta ɛmʊ́ti ɛ̀-ɛ́t-a ɛn-mʊ́ti(HL) 3P-remove.one.by.one-IPFV.MID DEF.FEM.SG-pot(NOM) "The pot is de-meated ." There are three noun classes in Maasai: feminine, masculine, and place. Noun classes are often indexed via prefixes on nouns ( ol-/ɔl- for masculine, e[n]/ɛ[n]- for feminine), although other word classes such as demonstratives may also index gender. Although words belong to
3200-450: The production and use of stone tools . Prior to tools, evidence of scavenging and hunting can be noted—highlighted by the presence of gnaw marks that predate cut marks—and of the ratio of meat versus plant material in the early hominin diet. The collecting of tools and animal remains in a centralised area is evidence of developing social interaction and communal activity. All these factors indicate an increase in cognitive capacities at
3264-527: The right angle to hit the cobble, or core, in order to successfully produce sharp-edged flakes ...". She noted that selected flakes then were used to cut meat from animal carcasses, and shaped cobbles (called choppers) were used to extract marrow and to chop tough plant material. Bone fragments of birds, fish, amphibians , and large mammals were found at the FLK-Zinj site, many of which were scarred with marks. These likely were made by hominins breaking open
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#17327801717513328-513: The rise of English as a lingua franca has led to a reduction in the speakers of Maasai. In Tanzania, former President Nyerere encouraged the adoption of Swahili as an official language to unite the many different ethnic groups in Tanzania, as well as English to compete on a global scale. Although the Maasai language, often referred to as Maa, has survived despite the mass influx of English and Swahili education systems, economic plans, and more,
3392-600: The sedimentary rocks formed. Hay’s work also provided the definitive geological framework for two famous hominid-bearing sites in East Africa , Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli , and discovered the mega-replacement of Cambrian - Ordovician strata throughout the U.S. mid-continent by low-temperature potassium feldspar . Hay’s work at Olduvai Gorge and the establishment of a detailed understanding of that complex stratigraphy took twelve years of field study. His geological knowledge and skill in sedimentary petrography were instrumental in this long-term endeavor, during which Hay
3456-498: The skull of Zinjanthropus or Australopithecus boisei . In addition to an abundance of faunal remains the Leakeys found stone tools Mary classified as Oldowan . In May 1960, at the FLK North-North site, the Leakeys' son Jonathan found the mandible that proved to be the type specimen for Homo habilis . While Hans Reck was the first geologist to attempt to understand the geology of the gorge, current understanding of
3520-400: The socioeconomic climate that the Maasai people face in East Africa keeps them, and their language, as an under-represented minority. The Maasai way of life is embedded in their language. Specifically, the economic systems of trade that the Maasai rely on to maintain their nomadic way of life, rely on the survival of the Maasai language, even in its minority status. With language endangerment,
3584-404: The species engaged in heavy chewing, indicating a diet of tough plant material, including tubers , nuts , and seeds —and possibly large quantities of grasses and sedges . Conversely, the Leakeys' 1960s finds presented different characteristics. The skull lacked a sagittal crest and the braincase was much more rounded, suggesting it was not australopithecine. The larger braincase suggested
3648-760: The true hand-axe industries, the Chellean and the Acheulean . Higher still (and later still) are located Levallois artifacts, and finally the Stillbay implements. Oldowan tools in general are called "pebble tools" because the blanks chosen by the stone knapper already resembled, in pebble form, the final product. Mary Leakey classified the Oldowan tools according to usage; she developed Oldowan A, B, and C categories, linking them to Modes 1, 2, and 3 assemblages classified according to mode of manufacture. Her work remains
3712-436: The unsurpassed book on the subject. Hay himself would become a top petrographer, a skill which would prove instrumental in much of his work. In 1983, Hay was offered the prestigious Ralph Grim Professorship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and he retired from Berkeley and moved to Illinois. He retired from the University of Illinois in 1997 and moved to Tucson, Arizona , where he established new colleagues at
3776-418: The upper portions of Bed II, making them contemporaries of Australopithecus boisei , but not of Homo habilis . Louis Leakey first described the Oldowan stone tool industry in 1951. The Leakeys determined that choppers were the most common stone tool found at the gorge, amounting to over half of the total number, and identified 11 Oldowan sites in the gorge, 9 in Bed I, and 2 in Bed II. They also identified
3840-699: The war, as Tanganyika came under British control, Louis Leakey visited Reck in Berlin and viewed the Olduvai fossils. Louis Leakey became convinced that Olduvai Gorge held stone tools, thinking the deposits were of similar age to the Kariandusi prehistoric site in Kenya. Reck and the paleontologist Donald McInnes accompanied Louis Leakey in his 1931 expedition, where Louis found a number of hand axes close to camp soon after their arrival. Mary Leakey first visited
3904-418: Was able to work out a complete geological history and paleogeography of the gorge area, analyzing sediments which were deposited over the last two million years. In his establishment of a chronology of the various sedimentary beds at Olduvai, it could be shown among other things, that there were multiple hominid taxa living contemporaneously at Olduvai. The resulting publication of his work at Olduvai, Geology of
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#17327801717513968-460: Was an American geologist whose most famous work was as the principal geologist working with Mary Leakey at Olduvai Gorge ., the site of many important hominid finds in the study of human evolution . His scientific impacts went much further, however, including fundamental contributions to our understanding of the interactions of water, minerals, and organisms near the Earth's surface. He held
4032-590: Was more important at Olduvai Gorge is still a controversial one. Direct evidence of hominins scavenging remains from a big cat in the form of antelope bones that were gnawed on by a felid and then processed by hominins has been found at David's Site from Olduvai Bed 1. In July 2019, the Olduvai Gorge Monument was erected at the turnoff to Olduvai Gorge from the road which connects Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park (a route traveled by safari-goers). Eng. Joshua Mwankunda conceived
4096-644: Was quartzite, which originated from the Naibor Soit Inselberg just north of the gorges. The phonolite originated from the Engelosen volcano 5 km to the north. The gneiss came from the Kelogi inselborg 9 km to the southwest. The first species found by the Leakeys, Zinjanthropus boisei or Australopithecus boisei (renamed and still debated as Paranthropus boisei ), featured a sagittal crest and large molars . These attributes suggested
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