Late Pliocene Homo and hominid land use from Western Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.
Excavation in the previously little-explored western portion of Olduvai Gorge indicates that hominid land use of the eastern paleobasin extended at least episodically to the west. Finds included a dentally complete Homo maxilla (OH 65) with lower face, Oldowan stone artifacts, and butchery-marked bones dated to be between 1.84 and 1.79 million years old. The hominid shows strong affinities to the KNM ER 1470 cranium from Kenya (Homo rudolfensis), a morphotype previously unrecognized at Olduvai. ER 1470 and OH 65 can be accommodated in the H. habilis holotype, casting doubt on H. rudolfensis as a biologically valid taxon.
Blumenschine
Robert J
RJ
Center for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Anthropology, 131 George Street, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1414, USA. rjb@rci.rutgers.edu
Peters
Charles R
CR
Masao
Fidelis T
FT
Clarke
Ronald J
RJ
Deino
Alan L
AL
Hay
Richard L
RL
Swisher
Carl C
CC
Stanistreet
Ian G
IG
Ashley
Gail M
GM
McHenry
Lindsay J
LJ
Sikes
Nancy E
NE
Van Der Merwe
Nikolaas J
NJ
Tactikos
Joanne C
JC
Cushing
Amy E
AE
Deocampo
Daniel M
DM
Njau
Jackson K
JK
Ebert
James I
JI
D000818:Animals; D003817:Dentition; D004777:Environment; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005580:Fossils; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008437:Maxilla / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010161:Paleodontology; D010163:Paleontology; D012621:Seasons; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013636:Tanzania; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology