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.
Oldupai
Gorge (originally misnamed Olduvai) is the most famous archaeological site in
East Africa, and has become an important tourist destination for Ngorongoro or
Serengeti.
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 on display in the Oldupai museum.
More
advanced descendants of Laetoli's hominids were found further north, buried in
layers of 100 meters deep in the Oldupai Gorge. Excavations, mainly by
archaeologist Louis and Mary Leakey, yielded four different types of hominid,
showing a gradual increase 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 million years ago, was found here. The most important find
include Home habilis, Zinjathropus and the Laetoli footprints.
The
excavation sites have been maintained for public viewing and work continues
during the dry seasons, coordinated by the Department of Antiquities. One may
visit Oldupai at all times of the year. It is necessary to have an official
guide to visit the excavations. At the top of the Gorge there is a small
museum, a sheltered area used for lectures and talks, toilets and a cultural
government. Local Maasai souvenirs are also available.
Thus,
Oldupai and Laetoli make the Ngorongoro Conservation Area an important place in
the world for the study of human origins and human evolution.
The
Laetoli Footprints: First Steps on the Road to Humankind
See
and touch a large cast of actual footprints made by our early human ancestors
(hominins) known as "Lucy" Australopithecus afarensis. The prints of
three hominins were miraculously preserved in muddy ash deposited by volcanic
eruptions and hardened by the sun some 3.6 million years ago.
Made
by feet slightly different than our own, they proved conclusively that these
creatures stood and moved upright (bipedally) with a human-like stride a
million years before the invention of stone tools and the initial growth in
hominin brain size. It's undoubtedly one of the most astounding and important
scientific discoveries of our time.
Nightmarish
Flesh-Eaters Ruled the Birth of Our Early Ancestors
Similar
to modern-day East African lakes, the nearly two million year-old paleolake
Olduvai once teemed with large predators and gigantic plant-eaters. Clearly our
ancestors lived and evolved in a brutal world where sudden death potential lurked
at every turn. They successfully competed against such dangerous competitors by
seizing an opportunity created by large carnivores with the aid of a few sharp
stones and refuge trees.
The
Upright Apes Who Changed the World
Somewhere
in East Africa's Great Rift Valley over two million years ago, a bipedal ape
picked up two rounded fist-sized stones. Forcibly striking one against the
other, he created a sharp-edged implement and several razor-edged stone flakes.
By design or accident, this was the world's most important technological
breakthrough because it helped make us human. Their ability to cut open the
thickest of animal hides and process and consume the nutritious flesh and bone
marrow may have been a metabolic catalyst for increased brain size and our
successful transition from apes to humans. These crude but effective tools and
later stone implements are on display in the Olduvai Museum. The full,
up-to-date story of Laetoli and Olduvai Gorge and our early ancestors is
available in a newly published booklet available at the Museum book shop.
>>>>>>>>>> THE OLDUVAI GORGE
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