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In the middle of the eastern Serengeti Plains, lies the Great Rift Valley, which stretches across East Africa. In it, exists one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world.
Olduvai Gorge.
Or…is it Oldupai?
Well, both. People now know it as Olduvai, however, the name Olduvai is a misspelling of Oldupai, the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria Ehrenbergii, which can be found growing in the gorge.
Whichever way anyone decides to refer to it, the ravine is the location in Tanzania that hold the earliest evidence of the existence of human ancestors. Hundreds of fossilized bones and stone tools, dating back millions of years, have been unearthed in the area, leading paleoanthropologists to conclude that humans evolved in Africa.
In 1911, German Wilhelm Kattwinkey observed many fossil bones of an extinct three-toed horse in Olduvai Gorge and later German geologist Hans Reck found hominin remains. Reck’s research, however, was halted by World War I. After a visit to Reck’s site in 1929, Louis Leakey became convinced that the gorge held critical information on human origins. Deciding to mount an expedition, he was joined by his wife, Mary. In 1959, the paleoanthropologist-archeologist team, discovered a skull fragment belonging to an early hominin. The skull dated to about 1.75 million years ago and indicated that hominins evolved in Africa. Later, specimens of Homo Habilis, a more human like species, were also found in the gorge.
In addition to the human remains, the Leakeys unearthed more than 2,000 stone tools and lithic flakes. Their research provides the most continuous known record of human evolution during the past 2 million years, as well as the longest known archaeological record of the development of stone-tool manufacturing.
In 1986, however, Olduvai Gorge, since designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, was the scene of one of the biggest and most significant findings in the scientific world, not credited to the Leakeys. A team of Tanzanian and American archeologists excavated 302 bones and teeth belonging to a female, determined to be about 1.8 million years old.
Oldevai Gorge, often called the “Cradle of Mankind” (not to be confused with the “Cradle of Humankind” in South Africa) is now a site frequented by tourists, mostly enroute to safari destinations.
The site offers a small, yet interesting museum containing a large amount of information about the pre-history of Homo Sapiens and the amazing discoveries made by Mary and Louis Leakey and others. Though the information and displays are a bit dated, a new museum is currently under construction, and is probably a reason for the higher entrance fee. Our entrance fee was taken care of by our tour, but it was noted on another travel site that it was recently raised from $10 to $35 USD.
There is a modest gift shop, adjacent to the museum, which offers more reasonable prices than the nearby Maasai village and many of the same kinds of carvings and jewelry. There is also a monument to Dr. Sekino Yoshiharo, a Japanese scientist who traveled across the world from 1993 until 2002, spending a night at Olduvai Gorge on February 8, near the end of his journey.
At the rear of the property, you can stand on the edge of the ravine and look out over the area which has offered so much to understanding the history of mankind. A covered area overlooking the ravine provides a shady area for guests to rest or enjoy lunch while listening to one of the curator’s explain the historic nature of the gorge. An engaging 8 minutes…you will learn that Lucy was not found here (as many people think), but Ethiopia and you will learn about the Leakeys. But, the main thing you will walk away with is…being asked to spread the word that it is indeed Oldupai Gorge!
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Olduvai (Oldupai) Gorge
- http://www.olduvai-gorge.org/
- Entrance fee (to be verified): $35 USD per person or vehicle
- Museum displays in both English and Swahili
- Restrooms available on site.