Olduvai Gorge

Over the last thirty years or so, it has become increasingly apparent that Africa is probably the “Cradle of Mankind”. From Africa they spread out to populate the rest of Earth. Remains of the earliest humans were found in Oldupai Gorge.

The product of volcano deposits, plate tectonics, weathering and erosion over millions of years had carved the ecosystem of this steep ravine. But what brings it to limelight is the fact that being a Pale anthropological site, it has believed to witnesses the earliest human era. Hence some believe it to be Garden of Eden. No wonder, the fossils of early hominid remains, mammoth remains and fauna fossils preserved in Olduvai Gorge Museum enflames the desire to delve into the history and witness these findings is so tempting. Besides being a scientific interest, the site is a sight for sore eyes.

Olduvai Gorge is located in the eastern Serengeti plains of Arusha region and makes an excellent excavation site. The word ‘Olduvai’ is adopted from ‘Oldupai’ a Massai word for a sisal plant found here. A river cuts through several layers to form four individual beds, with the oldest estimated at about 2 million years old.

At Laetoli, west of Ngorongoro Crater, hominid footprints are preserved in volcanic rock 3.6 million years old and represent some of the earliest signs of mankind in the world. Three separate tracks of a small-brained upright walking early hominid. Australopithecus afarensis, a creature about 1.2 to 1.4 meters high, were found. Imprints of these are displayed in the Oldupai museum.

More advanced descendants of Laetoli’s hominids were found further north, buried in the layers of the 100 meters deep Oldupai Gorge. Excavations, mainly by the archaeologist Louis and Mary Leakey, yielded four different kinds of hominid, showing a gradual increases in brain size and in the complexity of their stone tools. The first skull of Zinjanthropus, commonly known as ‘Nutcracker Man’ who lived about 1.75 millions years ago, was found here. The most important find include Home habilis, Zinjathropus and the Laetoli footprints.