Olduvai Gorge

The Olduvai Gorge (Correctly pronounced Oldupai Gorge is refered to as The Cradle of Mankind.The steep sided ravine which stretches in the eastern Serengeti Plain of northern Tanzania and about 30 miles long. The name came from the Maasai word OLDUPAI for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria robusta. The site is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and has been used as an instrument for understanding of early human evolution. since 1950s the work which continues until now. About 500,000 years ago the story of this place is revealed.
The earliest archaeological deposit, known as Bed I, has produced evidence of campsites and living floors along with stone tools made of flakes from local basalt and quartz. Since this is the site where these kinds of tools were first discovered, these tools are called Oldowan. It is now thought that the Oldowan tool making tradition started about 2.6 million years ago. Bones from this layer are not of modern humans but primitive hominid forms of Paranthropus boisei and the first discovered specimens of Homo habilis.