Olduvai Gorge

Olduvai Gorge remains one of the most recognized archaeological sites in the world. It has provided, and continues to provide, vital information to researchers seeking answers about the origins of humanity and its evolution through time.

Wilhelm Kattwinkel, a German entomologist, stumbled across Olduvai Gorge in 1911 in northern Tanzania. The location is a canyon approximately 40 kilometers long with walls standing nearly 100 meters high that showcase nearly 2 million years of history. Extensive investigations at Olduvai Gorge began shortly afterward, yielding an array of lithic tools and fossilized animal remains amongst which were the remains of early hominids, including those of Australopithecine (boisei) and Homo habilis specimens. The variety of nonhominid remains discovered at Olduvai Gorge, found both separate from and amongst those of hominids, includes giraffe, antelope, and elephant. Collectively, the remains and associated tools continue to provide researchers with crucial data regarding the activities of early hominids and the overall development of humanity through time. For the latter issue, Olduvai Gorge helped put Africa in the forefront of human origins research, leading to other significant finds within the region. This includes Mary D. Leakey's 1979 discovery of Australopithecus afarensis footprints in Laetoli, Tanzania, which provided evidence of bipedalism approximately 3.6 million years before the present (BP).

A host of researchers investigated Olduvai Gorge's assemblages after Kattwinkel's discovery in 1911. However, it is the Leakey family of researchers in particular who are most noted for their excavation of and reporting on Olduvai Gorge. The Leakeys, particularly Louis, Mary, and Richard, are a multigenerational family of scholars who continue to spearhead human origin investigations as they did throughout the 20th century. Although their fieldwork has been curtailed in recent years, the Leakey family's collective impact on our understanding of the development of the human species through time is still strong. As for their collection and analysis of fossil and lithic material recovered from Olduvai Gorge, it was the parents, Louis and Mary, who initiated their activities throughout the early and middle portions of the 20th century. with the help of their children, the Leakeys uncovered evidence of early hominids evolving within Africa, including Australopithecines and Homo habilis, and of changes in lithic technology over time. Ultimately, the Leakey family's impact on the study of human origins and time itself is unparalleled. Through their examination of Olduvai Gorge and its various sites, the Leakeys helped determine multiple stages of hominid evolution and expand our contemplation of human evolution to accept the long duration of time through which humanity changed from early hominids to humankind's present form.

The finding of Olduvai Gorge was in and of itself an important discovery for archaeologists, paleontologists, and other researchers interested in the evolution of species and the changes of technologies developed by hominids. Specifically, [Page 946]however, there are a few discoveries in particular that set Olduvai Gorge apart from other archaeological sites pertaining to prehistoric populations. The first such find was uncovered in 1959.

Olduvai Gorge is an archaeological site located in the eastern Serengeti Plains, northern Tanzania. Some of the oldest remains of early hominids have been found in this ancient

...