Olduvai Gorge — Cradle of Humankind
Oldupai Gorge · Oldoway
Early Pleistocene to Holocene (2.1 Ma–15 ka Beds I–V)·Paranthropus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus → Maasai·🇹🇿 Arusha / Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
About
About Olduvai Gorge — Cradle of Humankind
Olduvai Gorge is the 50 km Great Rift tributary gorge (48 m deep) exposing 2.1 Ma to 15 ka stratified sequence where Louis & Mary Leakey found Zinjanthropus (Paranthropus boisei 1.75 Ma), Homo habilis (1.9 Ma) and Oldowan tools. Five beds I–V with DK, FLK, BK sites document evolution of tool technology and hunting. New Olduvai Gorge Museum (2018) on rim displays casts. River gorge meets at 2°59′46″S 35°21′08″E 1411 m. UNESCO 1979 Ngorongoro.
Why it mattersType site for Oldowan industry and early Homo; longest continuous hominin stratigraphy bridging 2 Ma.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Bed I bone beds cluster — hominin or carnivore hunting?
Theories
- 01Olduvai lake margin was hominin central place (Potts)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Not built — natural rift gorge
- Period
- Early Pleistocene to Holocene (2.1 Ma–15 ka Beds I–V)
- Culture
- Paranthropus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus → Maasai
- Builders
- Natural erosional gorge; hominin occupation layers
- Purpose
- Natural camp and butchery locales at lake margin of paleo-Olduvai
- Rediscovered
- 1911 Kattwinkel; 1959 Leakey Zinjanthropus
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
2.1 Ma
Bed I lavas and hominin occupation start
1959
Zinjanthropus OH 5 discovery
2018
New museum opens
On the ground
Structures & features
2.9933° S · 35.3508° E · 1411 m · 3 mapped features
FLK Zinjanthropus Site (Bed I)
palaeo siteLevel 1.75 Ma with OH 5 Paranthropus and bone bed, type Oldowan choppers
2.9930° S · 35.3520° EDK — 1.9 Ma Homo habilis Horizon
palaeo siteDK 1.85 Ma stone circle hut and OH 24 habilis remains
2.9950° S · 35.3510° EOlduvai Gorge Museum (2018)
museumRim museum with gorge overlook trail and casts of Leakey finds
2.9961° S · 35.3523° E