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Tanzania

Olduvai Gorge

PLAN MY TRIP

Olduvai Gorge, sometimes called the “Cradle of Mankind”, is the famous archeological site where Louis Leakey and his wife, Mary discovered remains of the earliest hominids.

Located between the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Olduvai Gorge consists of a thirty-mile steep-sided ravine that is 295 feet deep. Part of the Great Rift Valley, Olduvai is a misspelling of the local Maasai word, Oldupai for the wild sisal plant that grows in the region. More importantly, paleoanthropological evidence from 2.1 million to 15,000 years ago found in the gorge have yielded the fossil remains of more than 60 hominids and provided scientists with the most continuous known record of human evolution as well as information about the development of stone tools. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

While Wilhelm Kattwinkel and Hans Reck had noticed fossils and stone tools at the site more than a hundred years ago, World War I interrupted any further investigation until Louise Leakey and his wife, Mary came to the gorge in 1929. Convinced that the site held vital information on human origins, Louis began excavations. Their work along with the prior work of Raymond Dart and Robert Broom in South Africa convinced the scientific world that humans evolved in Africa.

Mary Leakey’s discovery of the 1.75-million-year-old fossils of Paranthropus boisei, who she called the Nutcracker Man, drastically changed the time scale of human evolution. Her son, Jonathan found the fragment of a jaw for the first fossil specimen of homo habilis, or handy man. Altogether the Leakey family, unearthed more than 2,000 stone tools. Geologist Richard L. Hay revealed that the gorge had once been a large lake whose shores where covered by volcanic ash. However, 500,000 years ago, seismic activity diverted a nearby stream which worked away at the sediment and exposed seven layers in the walls of the gorge.

Nowadays, travelers can visit Olduvai Gorge and its museum. The museum displays photographic history of the research conducted in the gorge as well as a summary of the important findings on human evolution. For an additional fee, a guide can be hired to take visitors on a walking tour of the gorge. Otherwise, safari lodges and hotels nearby can also arrange tours. Yet, most of the archeological finds can be seen in the museum.

Coming soon!

Safari Camps
Points of Interest
Hotels & Resorts
Journeys

Coming soon!

1 of 1

Tanzania

Olduvai Gorge

PLAN MY TRIP

Olduvai Gorge, sometimes called the “Cradle of Mankind”, is the famous archeological site where Louis Leakey and his wife, Mary discovered remains of the earliest hominids.

Located between the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Olduvai Gorge consists of a thirty-mile steep-sided ravine that is 295 feet deep. Part of the Great Rift Valley, Olduvai is a misspelling of the local Maasai word, Oldupai for the wild sisal plant that grows in the region. More importantly, paleoanthropological evidence from 2.1 million to 15,000 years ago found in the gorge have yielded the fossil remains of more than 60 hominids and provided scientists with the most continuous known record of human evolution as well as information about the development of stone tools. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

While Wilhelm Kattwinkel and Hans Reck had noticed fossils and stone tools at the site more than a hundred years ago, World War I interrupted any further investigation until Louise Leakey and his wife, Mary came to the gorge in 1929. Convinced that the site held vital information on human origins, Louis began excavations. Their work along with the prior work of Raymond Dart and Robert Broom in South Africa convinced the scientific world that humans evolved in Africa.

Mary Leakey’s discovery of the 1.75-million-year-old fossils of Paranthropus boisei, who she called the Nutcracker Man, drastically changed the time scale of human evolution. Her son, Jonathan found the fragment of a jaw for the first fossil specimen of homo habilis, or handy man. Altogether the Leakey family, unearthed more than 2,000 stone tools. Geologist Richard L. Hay revealed that the gorge had once been a large lake whose shores where covered by volcanic ash. However, 500,000 years ago, seismic activity diverted a nearby stream which worked away at the sediment and exposed seven layers in the walls of the gorge.

Nowadays, travelers can visit Olduvai Gorge and its museum. The museum displays photographic history of the research conducted in the gorge as well as a summary of the important findings on human evolution. For an additional fee, a guide can be hired to take visitors on a walking tour of the gorge. Otherwise, safari lodges and hotels nearby can also arrange tours. Yet, most of the archeological finds can be seen in the museum.

Coming soon!

Safari Camps
Points of Interest
Hotels & Resorts
Journeys

Coming soon!