OLDUVAI GORGE

Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early human evolution.

Ancient Foot Prints at Olduvai Gorge

Layered Monolith at Olduvai Gorge.

Olduvai Gorge, ravine and archaeological site, northern Tanzania, in the eastern Serengeti Plain. It is a steep-sided gorge, about 35 km (about 22 mi) long and nearly 90 m (nearly 300 ft) deep. The gorge was created by earthquake activity, and the deposits exposed in its walls were formed in an ancient lake bed and are more than 2 million years old. Stone tools, building sites, and bones of early hominids were uncovered here by Louis S. B. Leakey, Mary Leakey, and others. The name Olduvai is actually a corrupted version of the Masaai word for a type of plant which grows abundantly in this area, Oldpai. It is here that the famed footprints of the 3-4 million year old hominids were found. The footprints have now been carefully covered, but one can still see their casts in Oldpai museum itself. The oldpai museum, located close to the site, houses most of her works including skulls and stone tools from five different periods of human evolution. Visiting this museum is a must if you are interested to know more about Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus and ourselves, the Sapiens.