Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania is among the significant Paleolithic archaeological sites in Africa. Specifically, the site is located in Eastern Serengeti Plain around the Ngorongoro conservation areas. The local community calls it Olduwai or Oldopai, which refers to the Sisal plant. Besides, the site is found within the great rift valley plains; hence it is a steep ravine of two branches estimated 295 meters deep and 48 kilometers in length. The deposits exposed on the sides of Olduvai cover a period ranging from 150000 to 2.1 million years ago (Fagan 2017). The site deposits contain numerous fossil remains of more than 50 members of the human lineage, offering a most consistent human evolution record. Additionally, it is regarded as among the most prolonged archeological papers of creating stone age tools globally.
Over fifty years ago, Mary and Louis Leakey captured the world’s attention due to their discovery of human evolution. The two scientists contributed heavily by discovering two notable species of homo sapiens, that is Homo habilis and Paranthropus. However, the area is covered with lacustrine and fluvial deposits in the basins (Pante et al. 2020). Most of the archeological remains are found within a small area of roughly 7km on the Side and Main Gorges junction. The geographical image places a shallow lake at the center of the regions where it gently slopes (Diez-Martín et al., 2022). According to researchers, the site containing many archaeological materials is within the river region. Hence some experts claim that the remains are mainly related to the river. Besides, the area consists of several significant sites, namely, Frida Leakey Korongo North-North (FKL NN), Frida Leakey Koronyoro site (FKI), site HWK on the East, site BK, and Douglas Korongo (DK) site. Therefore, this paper is going to explore the excavations from Olduvai George.
Discussion
Discovery
Olduvai Gorge was first located when a German physician and archaeologist, Wilhelm Kattwinkle, visited Africa in 1911 to conduct a study on sleeping sickness. While exploring Gorge, Wilhelm noticed several fossils of remains of a three-toed horse that had extinct (Proffitt et al. 2022). The discovery of Wilhelm further inspired other great geologists like Hans Reck. In 1913, Hans Wreck and other individuals found hominin remains dating over 17000 years. Additionally, Hans and Louis Leakey met after World War II to view the fossil extracted from Olduvai (Fagan 2017). Leakey was then convinced that Olduvai might contain other stones and tools that could help understand human evolution. Therefore, Louis and Mary Leakey are credited for their contribution to the discoveries and excavations done at Olduvai George.
Sites in Olduvai George
FLK NN comprises two primary cultures containing strata level one and level three. The fragments in the area consist of clavicle, cranium, foot, and hand and mandible bones found in the level 3 clay strata and were recognized as Homo Habilis. The presence of Homo habilis denoted that the site primarily belonged to the Early Oldowan Period, which resided there for an estimated 1.7 million years ago (Diez-Martín et al., 2022). On the contrary, Pante et al. (2020) state that this human lineage, homo habilis was significant to developing early stone age tools. An estimated 85% of the materials excavated from the FLK NN layer pioneered the development of stone age tools and their usage.
Besides, a heavy-duty scraper and a hammer crafted from lava cobble were identified on this site. The tools were straightforward with minimal creativity; hence the tools were regarded as early stone age tools. The use of cobblestone indicated a lack of selectivity on which materials to formulate stone tools (Smith 2019). If specific materials had been chosen to develop the tools, it would have meant that the site represented more than one species (Proffitt et al. 2022). Consequently, the absence of level 2 artifacts on the site suggested that the layer was deposited in an era without hominid occupation. Level 1 is also coeval with the Zinjathropus career with a few fossil tools and bones; hence it indicates zero existence of other hominids.
Another site in the area is the FLK 1. It is the second site on Olduvai Gorge’s archaeological site and consists of essential tools that were not crafted well. For example, scrapers and choppers. Almost 90% of the flakes in FLK 1 were synthesized from waste materials of other products. The fragments in this area were round in shape and typically used in cutting and crushing plants and meat (Diez-Martín et al., 2022). Furthermore, most of the tools in this site were synthesized from lava cobblestone and quartzite or quartz materials. This elaborates that the hominids residing in the area during this phase were more advanced than the FLK NN species.
Consequently, the famous Australopithecus Boisei or Zinjathropus was found in FKL 1, which was among the earliest Oldowan period. The Zinjanthropuis cranium remains places the site over 2 million-1.6 million years ago. Louis and Frida Leakey classified this hominid as early Oldowan since they utilized tools made of primitive technology (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2021). Besides, Frida and Leakey discovered that the artifacts were not bifaces, a vital feature of the Acheulian tools. Also, the uneven surfaces that were slightly weathered showed that the site must have been a hominid stream camp. Numerous amounts of the tools were broken or debitage due to hand shaping of the tools.
Furthermore, the Douglas Korongo (DK) site entails one of the oldest Paleolithic tools traced back to almost 1.75 million years ago. The site has several distinctions that make it unique from the already mentioned sites (Pante et al. 2020). The evidence portrayed a shift of hominids from the Oldowan phase to the use of advanced tools. It is because, unlike other hominids, they used bifacially flaked tools made up of quartz. Additionally, the hominids created various tools such as scrapers, choppers, and flake knives of different shapes sowing advanced industrialization (Diez-Martín et al., 2022). Despite that, the DK constructed thatch and windbreak shelters due to different tools. Due to reworking the landscape and subsequent streaming, the site is primarily regarded as a single depositional period (Smith 2019). Much of the materials were covered by heavy rains creating a swampy environment. This made the place an excellent platform for trapping wild animals for their meals.
Site HWK East.
The excavations found in suite HWK present evidence that the hominids hard effectively transitioned into the Advanced Oldowan industry. The site exclusively exhibits a straightforward tool-making approach through its extensive transition. The tools here ranged from a few simple tools to n numerous complex and diversified tools. It insinuates that the lower layers pioneered the beginning of proto-bifaces while higher ones propagated their end (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2021). According to researchers, the HWK site is a multi-component composed of five unique layers of sediments. Each layer contains unique features. For instance, the first layer contained rock material synthesized from compressed volcanic ashes and dust. The samples from this site and analyzed by potassium-Argon testing confirm that the tools were made approximately 1.7 to 8.5 years ago.
Level one consisted of a bit of diversity of tool types, 78.7% made up of choppers. This evidence shows that most of the tools were synthesized by cobblestones, supporting that most of the hominids that existed were not part of the Acheulian period (Proffitt et al. 2022). Moreover, researchers prove that only one of the 52 tools found on this later had a single A proto-biface, hence developing the advanced Oldowan industry. Besides, the number of proto biface tools increased in the second layer to 3 (Fagan 2017). The second layer majorly consisted of root casts and clay. However, most of the tools in this layer were made of cobblestone, showing an elaborate advancement of tools. Further, layers three, four, and five had similar characteristics; hence they were grouped as per their artificial similarity. The layer generally consisted of tuff and sands with 16 types of tools identified.
Site BK
This site represents a phase of the Acheulian tool industry. According to researchers 223, the tools in human evolution began from the simplest forms and later diversified into more advanced tools over the years. Compared to other sites, BK consisted of various tools synthesized from various materials. Here, the diversification of tools had already started, and the hominids were embracing a higher degree of raw materials selectivity (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2021). For instance, they used more cobblestone and quartz. Another observation is that a tremendous amount of flake detachments was located on the site, consisting of broken chips and flakes. The vast amount of waste materials on the site showed an increased number of stages used to synthesize the materials (Smith 2019). Also, it implies an increase in the complexity of the tools manufactured. Besides, the site contains a fair number of awls and biface tools, minimizing the chances of BK site tools belonging to the Oldowan period.
Site EF-HR
Also, EF-HR was deceived by Hans Reck and Evelyn Fuchs in 1931. The evidence from materials, artifacts, and debitage. The extractions prove that the human beings during that period were had advanced to Acheulean tools. High materials and tools variability best characterize the Acheulian period (Pante et al. 2020). The site consists of numerous bifaces with over 53.8% on the clay surface; The tools were typically made of lava and flakes. Other artifact tools located on the site include discoid, choppers, subspheroids, heavy-duty scrapers, and polyhedrons. This diversification of tools concludes Acheulean.
Importance of Olduvai Gorge
Olduvai George is an integral part of the world heritage site. The site has provided insights about human past developments and associated tools. It has provided necessary evidence of hominids, where they lived, and their way of life. Among the first hominids excavated on the sites were the Homo habilis in 1960 by Leakey when they found the skull of Zinnjanthropus (Fagan 2017). Several stones were also identified, classified as Oldowan and Acheulian tools.
Additionally, evidence of scavenging and hunting has been identified on the site. The collected evidence shows that hominins inhabited the areas over 1.7 million years ago and spent most of the time gathering wild foods like roots, berries, and tubers (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2021). The speculations show that most modern hominins were closely related to modern chimpanzees; hence they fed on plants and less meat. Additionally, bone fragments on the sites illustrated a higher possibility that the humans at that time were carnivorous and hunted down animals for food.
Geological work of Olduvai Gorge
The geological work of Olduvai is mainly attributed to the late Richard Hay. The Gorge basin was created over 2 million years ago via volcanic activity to the south and East. On the contrary, research claims that the modern George was developed 200000 years ago (Proffitt et al. 2022). The basin comprises metamorphic rocks that served as a raw material source during the Paleolithic periods. There are four central geological formations referred to as; Beds, I, II, III, IV.
The bed I primarily comprise lava deposited on the lake margins and direct deposits. The archaeological remains of Bed I are primarily found on the southern margin (Pante et al. 2020). The preservation of conditions on these sites was not favorable due to fluctuations of the lakes and ash falls that resulted in the burial of the hominins’ remains (Diez-Martín et al., 2022). However, a few Oldowan tools, teeth, and bones of different animals.
On the other hand, Bed II is traced to have existed over 1.5 million years ago. Bed II is approximately 20-30 meters thick and contains different rock formations portioned by the erosional break. The lower parts of the disconformity contained Oldowan industry tools. On the contrary, the Acheulian industry was situated above the disconformity. Additionally, on the lower one-third, the skull of the African Homo Erectus was collected and remains of homo habilis. Also, at the top of Bed II, remains of Paranthropus boisei were found.
Furthermore, Bedsides III and IV were formed at the alluvial plains. The two units are combined into a single unit and are also distinct. They represent the Acheaulin Industries and Advanced Oldowan industries. Most of the hominid remains located there were regarded as Homo erectus.
Bone tool assemblage of Olduvai Gorge excavations.
HWK EE 386 A
HWK EE 386 A is the oldest type of borne tool excavated in Olduvai Gorge. It was found on Bed II, III, and IV. HWK EE 386 A has carnivorous tooth furrows with two or scars on the medulla sides. On the contrary, JK 3109 is the only bone tool found in Bed III. The tools do not show any feature of human inflicted marks; hence, they are more likely to be used for resting (Diez-Martín et al., 2022). Besides, the bone contains some tooth marks on the tibia. Furthermore, WK East A 2749 bone fragment is a four-size mammal limb fragment with parts of flake removals.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Olduvai gorge is an important paleoanthropological site that contains some of the oldest human evolution evidence. The site is internationally recognized as Mary and Louis Leakey’s discovery site for magnificent antiquities that describes early human and the environment. On the site, paleoanthropologists have discovered numerous fossilized stone age tools and bones that trace back thousands and millions of years. Also, this promoted that theory that regarded Africa as the origin of human evolution.
Additionally, the work of Louis and Mary Leakey made Gorge more famous. The family uncovered numerous pieces of almost complete skulls, proving that early man existed. The archaeological site consists of Frida Leakay Korongo North-North (FKL NN), Frida Leakey Koronyoro site (FKI), site HWK on the East site BK, and Douglas Korongo (DK) site (Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. 2021). FLK NN comprises two primary cultures containing strata level one and level three. The fragments in the area consist of clavicle, cranium, foot, hand, and mandible bones found in the level 3 clay strata and were recognized as Homo Habilis.
On the contrary, site HWK East presents evidence that the hominids hard effectively transitioned into the Advanced Oldowan industry. The site exclusively exhibits straightforward tool-making approaches through its extensive transition. Consequently, BK and EF-HR sites have majorly consisted of Acheulian tools (Pante et al. 2020). The site has provided insights about human past developments and associated tools. It has provided necessary evidence of hominids, where they lived, and their way of life. Among the first hominids excavated on the sites were the Homo habilis in 1960 by Leakey when they found the skull of Zinnjanthropus. Several stones were also identified, classified as Oldowan and Acheulian tools.
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