Kaitlyn Tull

Archaeology 2030 (T, Th 1-2:20)

Alan Griffiths

11/12/18

Archaeology Research Project Continued: Deeper Analysis of the Fossil Beds That Make Up

Olduvai Gorge

For the first part of my research paper, I introduced Mary Leakey and her husband and

their contributions and findings at Olduvai Gorge. The two of them combined were able to

unearth many specimens of bone fragments, which gave the scientific community more

knowledge about the early hominids that once roamed the planet. As part of the previous paper, I

had come up with a hypothesis that Olduvai Gorge was a burial ground of sorts, and initially I

was going to describe how and why I had come to that conclusion. However, as I was going back

through my previous research with the first part of this paper, I became more interested in the

stratigraphic layers superimposed into the Gorge, and not just the ones where bone fragments

and tools had been located. So this next part is going to be about the other layers that make up

Olduvai Gorge, and if there have been any kind of archaeological or geological discoveries.

Olduvai Gorge is located in Tanzania and is most aptly known as the “Cradle of

Mankind” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015, online). It has and will most likely

continue to be one of the world’s greatest contributions to the past hominids that once roamed

this earth. “The fossilized footprints, showing pre-human hominids walking in a upright position,

found by Mary Leakey at nearby Laetoli, is considered one of the greatest paleoanthropological

discoveries of the twentieth century” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015, online).
Numerous bone fragments as well as some prehistoric tools have been found here, and “based on

finding at Olduvai Gorge, and other finding in Tanzania, scientists concluded that modern

humans made their first appearance in East Africa” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia

2015, online). These archaeological finds were instrumental in helping the scientific community

deepen their knowledge of our prehistoric counterparts.

A large part of Olduvai Gorge is exposed to the environment, and this gives us a clear

view of its different stratigraphic layers. “The Gorge is located in the Great Rift Valley, between

the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Park… Olduvai Gorge was formed about

30,000 years ago, [as] the result of aggressive geological activity and streams” (Zimmerman

2013, online). The picture below is Olduvai Gorge taken from a far distance away, note you can

see the exposed layers (Picture Source: Prill by

Shutterstock). The exposed layers are due in part to

many years of water eroding away the gorge.

Over time, archaeologist and scientists alike have

been able to survey and even excavate the layers of

the gorge and have divided them into individual

beds. “From the oldest to the youngest they are: Bed I (about 1.7 million to 2.1 million years

old), Bed II (1.15 million to 1.7 million years old), Bed III (800,000 to 1.15 million years old),

the Masek Beds (400,000 to 600,000 years old), the Ndutu Beds (32,000 to 400,000 years old),

and the Naisiusiu Beds (15,000 to 22,000 years old)” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia

2015, online).
 Bed I is where Mary Leakey had discovered part of a skull fragment “belonging to an

early hominin” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015, online). I have covered Bed I in

the first part of my paper, and I am going to just focus on ones that I did not cover.

The picture to the left is a rough diagram of

the different stratigraphic layers that compose Olduvai

Gorge (Picture Source: Olduvai Geochronology

Archaeology Project). Bed II is “66-98 feet [roughly]

(20-30 metres) thick and consists of different rock

formations separated by a disconformity, or erosional

break” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015,

online). I had originally expressed in my research paper

that like Bed I, Bed II had similar geologic makeup as it

too had contained “ash-fall from nearby volcanoes” (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, online)

which helps with the preservation of certain objects; such as bone. In fact, H. habilis remains

were found in the lower one-third of Bed II, and a cranium of H. ergaster (also called African H.

erectus) was collected near the top of Bed II” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015,

online).

Beds III and IV, respectively, were both situated on plain that contained sediment run off

from rivers past, or an alluvial plain (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015, online).

Since these two beds have so many of the same characteristics, “thickness of about 98 feet (30

metres) and consist almost entirely of stream-laid detrital sediment” (Editors of the New World

Encyclopedia 2015, online), archaeologists and scientists have combined them into a single bed.

Finds here are “assigned to H. erectus and other species of Homo” (Editors of the New World
Encyclopedia 2015, online). The combination of both Beds III and IV are known as the Masek

Beds, Ndutu Beds, and the Naisiusiu Beds. The Masek beds are the oldest of these fossil beds of

Olduvai Gorge and they are roughly “82 feet (25 metres) thick and consist of about equal

amounts of stream-laid detrital sediment and aeolian (wind worked) tuff” (Editors of the New

World Encyclopedia 2015, online).

The Ndutu Beds were deposited “during intermittent faulting, erosion, and partial filling

of the gorge” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015, online). Like the Masek Beds, they

“consist largely of aeolian tuffs” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015, online). The last

of the conjoined Beds for III and IV, are the Naisiusiu Beds. These were thought to be

“estimated at about 2 million years old” (Zimmerman 2013, online) when they were first

discovered. However, as I expressed at the beginning of my paper, they are known to actually be

“15,000 to 22,000 years old” (Editors of the New World Encyclopedia 2015, online). This

particular area only contained one archaeological site that consisted of “a micro lithic tool

assemblage and a H. sapiens skeleton, both of which have an age of about 17,000 years” (Editors

of the New World Encyclopedia 2015, online).

It isn’t hard to see why Olduvai Gorge is considered to be one of the leading

archaeological hot spots. Countless finds ranging from bone fragments to tools have been

discovered here over the years, and it wouldn’t surprise me if more were found in the future.

These finds have, without a doubt, helped scientists and archaeologists alike deepen their

understanding of how we evolved. Olduvai Gorge serves as a kind of grim reminder, that death,

in a sense, cannot be evaded; however in death, as we have seen by the discovery of the bones

and bone fragments we are able to learn so much about what happened before the present. In a

way I feel that it’s humbling to make a big discovery, such as Mary Leakey and countless others
did. It reminds us all that we came from life forms who for their time were considered to be

advanced. Looking back on how they lived, compared to how we do now, I feel helps continue

our evolution and I hope someday future generations can look back on how we lived in the

present, and grow from that.

Work Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “Olduvai Gorge.” Encyclopedia Britannica,

Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 22 Nov. 2016, www.britannica.com/place/Olduvai-Gorge

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “Alluvium.” Encyclopedia Britannica,

Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 14 Apr. 2014, www.britannica.com/science/alluvium.

“Olduvai Gorge.” Ohio River-New World Encyclopedia, New World Encyclopedia,

www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Olduvai_Gorge.

Zimmerman, Kim Ann. “Olduvai Gorge: Oldest Evidence of Mankind’s Evolution.”

Live Science, Kim Zimmerman, 16 Oct. 2013, 1:59am, www.livescience.com/40455-olduvai-

gorge.html.

Pictures Utilized

“Olduvai Gorge taken from a distance” Shutterstock

“Olduvai Gorge stratigraphic layers” taken by the Olduvai Geochronology Archaeology Project