Olduvai Gorge

Olduvai Gorge is an archeological site within Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Situated on a series of fault lines, centuries of erosion have revealed fossils and remnants of early mankind. As early as 1911, a German professor found some fossil bones while looking for butterflies in Olduvai Gorge. In a later expedition, the Leakeys collected skull fragments and then a skull and bones that are approximately 2 million years old.

Tools and hunting weapons from 1 to 1.5 million years ago were also discovered in Olduvai Gorge. Another exciting find were the famous footprints of a man, woman and child at Laetoli, near Olduvai. Old campsites, a possible butchery site, as well as a loosely built circle of lava rocks suggest crude shelters. Hunting weapons, basic tools and remains of dead animals, killed by humans, are other unique findings in Olduvai Gorge. These discoveries provide more evidence to the theory that at least three hominid species were in this region over 2 million years ago.

A small museum is housed in a building where the Leakey's stored findings in the 1970s. Displays include casts of footprints, copies of some of the local finds and pictures of what life was like for some of Olduvai's early inhabitants. Skeletons of extinct animals including three-toed horses and giant antelopes are also on exhibit.