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Late Pliocene Homo and Hominid Land Use from Western Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Robert J. Blumenschine,1*Charles R. Peters,2Fidelis T. Masao,3Ronald J. Clarke,4Alan L. Deino,5Richard L. Hay,6Carl C. Swisher,7Ian G. Stanistreet,8Gail M. Ashley,7Lindsay J. McHenry,7Nancy E. Sikes,9Nikolaas J. van der Merwe,10Joanne C. Tactikos,1Amy E. Cushing,1Daniel M. Deocampo,11Jackson K. Njau,1James I. Ebert12
Excavation in the previously little-explored western
portion of Olduvai Gorge indicates that hominid land use of the easternpaleobasin extended at least episodically to the west. Finds includeda
dentally complete Homo maxilla (OH 65) with lower face,
Oldowanstone artifacts, and butchery-marked bones dated to be between1.84 and 1.79 million years old. The hominid shows strong affinitiesto
the KNM ER 1470 cranium from Kenya (Homo rudolfensis), a
morphotypepreviously unrecognized at Olduvai. ER 1470 and OH 65 can be
accommodatedin the H. habilis holotype, casting doubt on
H. rudolfensis asa biologically valid taxon.
1 Center for Human Evolutionary Studies,
Department of Anthropology, 131 George Street, Rutgers University, New
Brunswick, NJ 08901-1414, USA.
2 Department of
Anthropology and Institute of Ecology, Baldwin Hall, University of
Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-1619, USA.
3 Paleo-Cultural and Environmental Research, Post
Office Box 70566, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
4 School
of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School,
7 York Road, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa.
5 Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road,
Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
6 Department of
Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85718, USA.
7 Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers
University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
8 Department of Earth Sciences, University of
Liverpool, Brownlow Street, Post Office Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK.
9 Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural
History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0112, USA.
10 Archaeology Department, University of Cape Town,
7700 Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa.
11 Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum
of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC 119, Washington, DC
20560-0119, USA.
12 Ebert & Associates, 3700 Rio
Grande Boulevard N.W., Suite 3, Albuquerque, NM 87107, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
rjb{at}rci.rutgers.edu
