From 100th century BCE
Northern Tanzania
Olduvai Gorge is a Tanzanian palaeoanthropological locality whose deposits preserve hominid remains and traces of activity. Excavations by the Leakey family produced nearly seventy specimens attributed to the Hominidae from 1955 onward. The base of the deposit is dated in the excerpt to approximately 1.8 million years ago, and the site is associated with Australopithecus robustus, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus.
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The Story
Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania became one of the central localities in the study of African hominization. The excerpt describes the researches of the Leakey family there, beginning in the mid-1950s, as producing nearly seventy specimens attributable to the Hominidae. These discoveries contributed evidence for several hominid forms and for activities associated with their occupation of the landscape.
The deposit is described as extending for roughly a hundred yards, with its basal level dated to approximately 1.8 million years ago. Remains of Australopithecus robustus are reported from the site at this age, while Homo habilis was described there in 1964. Later discussion also attributes Homo erectus material to Olduvai, including Hominid 13, considered an unequivocal skull cap of that form.
Olduvai therefore serves in the excerpt not merely as a single fossil findspot but as a stratified setting in which different hominid remains can be compared. Its importance derives from the combination of chronology, anatomy, and evidence of activity, allowing the fossil record to be connected with changing forms of locomotion, cranial development, and tool-associated behavior.
From 100th century BCE
Northern Tanzania
Olduvai Gorge is a Tanzanian palaeoanthropological locality whose deposits preserve hominid remains and traces of activity. Excavations by the Leakey family produced nearly seventy specimens attributed to the Hominidae from 1955 onward. The base of the deposit is dated in the excerpt to approximately 1.8 million years ago, and the site is associated with Australopithecus robustus, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus.
Continue exploring
The Story
Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania became one of the central localities in the study of African hominization. The excerpt describes the researches of the Leakey family there, beginning in the mid-1950s, as producing nearly seventy specimens attributable to the Hominidae. These discoveries contributed evidence for several hominid forms and for activities associated with their occupation of the landscape.
The deposit is described as extending for roughly a hundred yards, with its basal level dated to approximately 1.8 million years ago. Remains of Australopithecus robustus are reported from the site at this age, while Homo habilis was described there in 1964. Later discussion also attributes Homo erectus material to Olduvai, including Hominid 13, considered an unequivocal skull cap of that form.
Olduvai therefore serves in the excerpt not merely as a single fossil findspot but as a stratified setting in which different hominid remains can be compared. Its importance derives from the combination of chronology, anatomy, and evidence of activity, allowing the fossil record to be connected with changing forms of locomotion, cranial development, and tool-associated behavior.
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