Olduvai Gorge
The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as The Cradle of Mankind. It is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about 30 miles long. The gorge is named after the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, commonly called Oldupaai.
It is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early human development. Excavation work there was pioneered by Louis Leakey in the 1950s and is continued today by his family. Some believe that millions of years ago, the site was that of a large lake, the shores of which were covered with successive deposits of volcanic ash. Around 500,000 years ago seismic activity diverted a nearby stream which began to cut down into the sediments, revealing seven main layers in the walls of the gorge.
The stratigraphy is extremely deep and layers of volcanic ashes and stones allow radiometric dating of the embedded artifacts, mostly through potassium-argon dating. The first artifacts in Olduvai (pebble tools and choppers) date to ca. 2 million years ago but fossil remains of human ancestors have been found from as long as 2.5 million years ago.
The earliest archaeological deposit, known as Bed I, has produced evidence of campsites and living floors along with flint tools made on flakes. Bones from this layer are not of modern humans but primitive hominid forms of Australopithecus boisei and the first discovered specimens of Homo habilis.
The Olduvai Gorge bears the distinction of having the oldest known evidence of mammoth consumption, attributed to Homo erectus around 1.8 million years ago.
Above this, in Bed II, pebble tools begin to be replaced by more sophisticated handaxes of the Abbevillian industry and made by Homo erectus. This layer dates to around 1.5 million years ago.
Beds III and IV have produced Acheulean tools and fossil bones with Neandertal characteristics which were used until around 600,000 years ago.
Beds above these contained tools from a Kenya-Capsian industry made by modern humans and are termed the Masek Beds (600,000 to 400,000 years ago), the Ndutu Beds (400,000 to 32,000 years ago), and the Naisiusiu Beds (22,000 to 15,000 years ago).
Also located on the rim of the Gorge is the Olduvai Gorge Museum. This Museum presents exhibitions pertaining to the Gorge's history.
Olduvai is the location of the first monolith in Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey series of books.
Olduvai is also the theme of the Olduvai theory, which states that industrial civilization will have a lifetime of less than or equal to 100 years.
The Olduvai Gorge Museum is located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Northern Tanzania on the edge the of Olduvai Gorge. The Museum was Founded by Mary Leakey and is now under the jurisdiction of the Tanzanian Government's Department of Cultural Antiquities. It is a Museum dedicated to the appreciation and understanding of the Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli fossil sites.
History
The Olduvai Gorge Museum was founded by Mary Leakey in the late 1970's. The museum was originally designed to house paleoanthropological artifacts from the surrounding area. The Olduvai Gorge Museum was later after her death put under control of the Tanzanian Government's Department of Cultural Antiquities. During the Mid 1990's The J. Paul Getty Museum's Department of Conservation renovated and added to the museum. This included a new wing with exhibitions that were designed by the J. Paul Getty Museum.
location
The Olduvai Gorge Museum is located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Northern Tanzania on the edge the of Olduvai Gorge; directly where the Gorge split into two. It is approximately 5-km from the main road to the Serengeti plains north west of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Exhibitions
The exhibits at the Olduvai Gorge Museum are centered around the paleoanthropological research and artifacts that have come from the surrounding area. There is one hall dedicated to the Leakey family and there pursuit of working at Olduvai Gorge. This hall has historical artifacts from the Olduvai Gorge area as well as charts and maps explaining the process of fossil excavation. Many of the artifacts are original but some are casts (specifically the hominid skulls). The adjacent hall is dedicated solely to the Laetoli fossilized footprints. A cast that was made of part of the footprint trail in 1996 by the J. Paul Getty Museum is on display. Accompanying this are several charts and photographs describing and illustrating the process of the Laetoli Footprints creation. There is also a large illustration depicting three Australopithecus afarensis walking through the area 3.6 million years ago. In addition to these indoor museum exhibits there are also two outdoor lecture areas. These are utilized for an orientation presentation given by museum staff. These lectures are given before entering the main museum halls.
Staff
The Olduvai Gorge Museum staff consists of roughly 12 people. The museum has two curators Mr. Godfrey Olle Moita Maasai (on site) and Donatius Kamamba (off site Tanzanian Department of Cultural Antiquities). The staff mainly consists of people from the local Maasai tribe. The staff is housed in what was once the Leakey's camp. Some members of the staff have been there since the museum opened and plan to continue working at the museum for as long as possible. They consider themselves the caretakers of Olduvai Gorge.
Visitors
There are roughly 150 visitors a day during the peak season in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. During the rainy season (March-August) the attendance can fall to 0 visitors a day. Visitors typically come from the closest city (Arusha) by safari vehicle. They commonly come for lunch and then depart to continue their safari in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. According to the staff at the Olduvai Gorge Museum visitors have come from all continents and represent most countries.
Further reading
B.Sc Pickering Ph.D, Ngorongoro’s Geological History (edited by NCAA, 1993).
Maasai People, The History and some Traditions of the Maasai (National Museum of Tanzania, Village Museum, Peramiho Printing press 2004).
L.S.B. Leakey, Adams Ancestors, The Evolution of Man and His Culture (Harper & Row Publishers 1960).
L.S.B. Leakey, By the Evidence, Memoirs 1932-1951 (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 1974).
Richard E. Leakey & Roger Lewin, ORIGINS (E.P. Dutton 1977) ISBN 0-525-17194-0.
External links
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