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Olduvai Gorge
The Olduvai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches through East Africa. It is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania.
The gorge is about 48 km (30 mi) long. It is 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the Laetoli archaeological site. The gorge is a highly important prehistoric site for the study of human evolution. It was once a lake, and got covered by layers of volcanic ash.[1]
This site was occupied by Homo habilis about 1.9 million years ago, Paranthropus boisei 1.8 million years ago, and Homo erectus 1.2 million years ago. Homo sapiens occupied the site 17,000 years ago.
The name is a misspelling of Oldupai Gorge, which was adopted as the official name in 2005. Oldupai is the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, which grows in the gorge.
- ↑ Hay, Richard L. 1976 Geology of the Olduvai Gorge. University of California Press.
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