Spatial simulation and modelling of the early Pleistocene site of DS (Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): a powerful tool for predicting potential archaeological information from unexcavated areas

Boreas ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 805-815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo ◽  
Lucía Cobo-Sánchez ◽  
David Uribelarrea ◽  
María Carmen Arriaza ◽  
José Yravedra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Spatial Simulation ◽  
Simulation And Modelling

scholarly journals Bats (Chiroptera) from Olduvai Gorge, Early Pleistocene, Bed I (Tanzania)

2015 ◽  
Vol 3846 (3846) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregg F. Gunnell ◽  
Percy M. Butler ◽  
Marjorie Greenwood ◽  
Nancy B. Simmons
Keyword(s):  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Olduvai Gorge

Phytoliths infer locally dense and heterogeneous paleovegetation at FLK North and surrounding localities during upper Bed I time, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

2010 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doris Barboni ◽  
Gail M. Ashley ◽  
Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo ◽  
Henry T. Bunn ◽  
Audax Z.P. Mabulla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Woody Vegetation ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Pollen Data ◽  
Eastern Margin ◽  
Alkaline Lake ◽  
Woody Cover ◽  
Time Observation ◽  
Freshwater Springs

AbstractThe phytolith content of 10 samples collected immediately under Tuff IF (~ 1.785 Ma) at FLK N and other surrounding localities (~ 2 km²) provides a direct botanical evidence for woody vegetation in the eastern margin of Olduvai Gorge during uppermost Bed I time. Observation and counting of 143 phytolith types (5 to >150 μ) reveal dense but heterogeneous woody cover (~ 40–90%) of unidentified trees and/or shrubs and palms associated to the freshwater springs surrounding FLK N, and more open formation (presumably ~ 25–70% woody cover) in the southeast at localities VEK, HWK W and HWK E. The paleovegetation is best described as groundwater palm forest/woodland or bushland, which current analogue may be found near Lake Manyara in similar hydrogeological context (freshwater springs near saline/alkaline lake). Re-evaluating the published pollen data based on this analogy shows that 70% of the pollen signal at FLK N may be attributed to thicket-woodland, Acacia groundwater woodland, gallery and groundwater forests; while < 30% is attributed to swamp herbage and grasslands. Micro-botanical, isotopic, and taphonomical studies of faunal remains converge on the same conclusion that the area surrounding FLK N, which attracted both carnivores and hominins in the early Pleistocene, was densely wooded during uppermost Bed I time.

scholarly journals Geochemical “fingerprints” for Olduvai Gorge Bed II tuffs and implications for the Oldowan–Acheulean transition

2016 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay J. McHenry ◽  
Jackson K. Njau ◽  
Ignacio de la Torre ◽  
Michael C. Pante
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Electron Probe Microanalysis ◽  
Mineral Assemblage ◽  
Electron Probe ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Critical Part ◽  
Homo Habilis ◽  
Arid Conditions ◽  
Stratigraphic Position

Bed II is a critical part of early Pleistocene Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Its deposits include transitions from humid to more arid conditions (with associated faunal changes), from Homo habilis to erectus, and from Oldowan to Acheulean technology. Bed II (~ 1.8–1.2 Ma) is stratigraphically and environmentally complex, with facies changes, faulting, and unconformities, making site-to-site correlation over the ~ 20 km of exposure difficult. Bed II tuffs are thinner, less evenly preserved, and more reworked than those of Bed I. Five marker tuffs (Tuffs IIA–IID, Bird Print Tuff (BPT)), plus local tephra, were collected from multiple sites and characterized using stratigraphic position, mineral assemblage, and electron probe microanalysis of phenocryst (feldspar, hornblende, augite, titanomagnetite) and glass (where available) composition. Lowermost Bed II tuffs are dominantly nephelinitic, Middle Bed II tuffs (BPT, Tuff IIC) have basaltic components, and upper Bed II Tuff IID is trachytic. The BPT and Tuff IID are identified widely using phenocryst compositions (high-Ca plagioclase and high-Ti hornblende, respectively), though IID was originally (Hay, 1976) misidentified as Tuff IIC at Loc 91 (SHK Annexe) in the Side Gorge. This work helps establish a high-resolution basin-wide paleolandscape context for the Oldowan–Acheulean transition and helps link hominin, faunal and archaeological records.

scholarly journals Earliest Olduvai hominins exploited unstable environments ~ 2 million years ago

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio Mercader ◽  
Pam Akuku ◽  
Nicole Boivin ◽  
Revocatus Bugumba ◽  
Pastory Bushozi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Ecological Perspective ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Rift Basin ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Eastern Side ◽  
Human Adaptability ◽  
Rapid Environmental Change

AbstractRapid environmental change is a catalyst for human evolution, driving dietary innovations, habitat diversification, and dispersal. However, there is a dearth of information to assess hominin adaptions to changing physiography during key evolutionary stages such as the early Pleistocene. Here we report a multiproxy dataset from Ewass Oldupa, in the Western Plio-Pleistocene rift basin of Olduvai Gorge (now Oldupai), Tanzania, to address this lacuna and offer an ecological perspective on human adaptability two million years ago. Oldupai’s earliest hominins sequentially inhabited the floodplains of sinuous channels, then river-influenced contexts, which now comprises the oldest palaeolake setting documented regionally. Early Oldowan tools reveal a homogenous technology to utilise diverse, rapidly changing environments that ranged from fern meadows to woodland mosaics, naturally burned landscapes, to lakeside woodland/palm groves as well as hyper-xeric steppes. Hominins periodically used emerging landscapes and disturbance biomes multiple times over 235,000 years, thus predating by more than 180,000 years the earliest known hominins and Oldowan industries from the Eastern side of the basin.

Disentangling hominin and carnivore activities near a spring at FLK North (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

2010 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Domínguez-Rodrigo ◽  
A.Z.P. Mabulla ◽  
H.T. Bunn ◽  
F. Diez-Martin ◽  
E. Baquedano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Olduvai Gorge ◽  
Depositional History ◽  
Lithic Tools ◽  
Main Target

AbstractFLK North is one of the densest concentrations of fossils found in Olduvai Gorge. A recent taphonomic re-evaluation of the collection excavated by Leakey at the site suggests that it was a palimpsest in which most of the animals were accumulated and modified by carnivores. The lithic tools therefore seem to have an independent depositional history from most of the fauna. The present study, based on new excavations, expands the evidence supporting this interpretation and demonstrates a thicker deposit than was reported by Leakey, including new archaeological levels. It also shows that in the few instances where hominins butchered carcasses, meat, not marrow, was their main target. This argues against passive scavenging hypotheses, which emphasize the dietary role of marrow, and instead underscores the importance of meat in the diet of early Pleistocene hominins.

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