Last day at Olduvai Gorge!
Dr. Manuel started our morning by giving us a quick briefing on different kinds of bone breakage and modifications by carnivores and hominins. With our brains filled with new knowledge, we headed over to the same gully that we collected teeth from and conducted another survey to collect bones with green breakage. Green breakage means that the bone was broken when it was fresh/alive, and it looks distinctly different from dry (dead) breakage. The universe threw me a bone (more like 20) and didn’t make it too difficult to spot some good ones.
Manuel demonstrating dry bone breakage
Surveying for bones in the gully
My pile of bones
With bags full of bones, we used the rest of the morning to continue excavating site BK. I switched plots with Caroline, so I excavated on level 3 instead of level 4 this time. The sediment was much more compact, so I had to put a lot more force into chiseling it away. I was also situated next to a large pile of loose dirt, so the windy conditions meant that I spent the morning in a cloud of dust. Luckily, I had a bandana that I wore around my neck to cover my face and mouth, but my eyeballs and contact lenses were definitely screaming at me. One good thing was that the sky decided to give us some reprieve from the sun and put up some clouds for the first time in days. I did find another bone, but the sediment was so solid around it that I didn’t want to try to clean it up and accidentally ruin it, so I left it partially uncovered. As we left the site, I kissed my battering stone goodbye and went to shower and change out of my dust-covered Dr. Alan Grant outfit (somehow Dr. Solomon and I both decided to accidentally nail an identical Jurassic Park cosplay).
Excavating at site BK (level 3 in the foreground, level 4 in the background)
Level 3 bone fragment
Kissing my rock goodbye
Group photo evidence of me and Scott twinning
Reference photo of Dr. Grant (I swear this was a complete accident on both fronts)
After all that excavating, my hands and knuckles are not in the most amazing state. The dryness is so bad that it’s the same feeling as chapped lips but on my hands. And my level 3 plot was right on the edge of the dig, so it was up against a wall of rock. When trying to aim my rock at my screwdriver, I accidentally drove my fist into the wall instead many times, so my knuckles are a bit battered. The reality of the origin of my cuts is pretty embarrassing, so I’m going to tell people I fought off a baboon instead.
After re-wearing dirty clothes to the point where I can’t stand the smell of myself, I am happy to report that I did laundry!! I only washed a couple things for the trip home, but having fresh clothes to wear is like Christmas in June. We used buckets, and I luckily brought my dissolvable laundry detergent sheets! Item by item, the water got more and more brown, and my clothes got more and more recognizable. I hung them to dry on stiff, stalky plants called oldupai. With the breeze, the dryness of the air, and the strength of the afternoon sun, my clothes were dry in no time!
Oldupai > clothesline
I finally worked up the courage to haggle!! We went to the Olduvai Museum gift shop, and I worked down the price of a bracelet from 25,000 shillings for one to 30,000 shillings for two. I am quite proud of myself, and I’m sure that this is the first step in my quest to become an excellent haggler.
Back at camp, we took out our bone bags and analyzed them for evidence of carnivore or hominin damage. What we found corroborated our teeth evidence, and it was cool to come to the same soft conclusion that the paleohabitat by the gully was an open landscape with high competition and heavily visited by grazers, browsers, carnivores, and hominins.
Instead of getting sentimental about the end of the trip, I am going to gush about the Tanzanian practice of serving a soup course before dinner. Every place we have stayed at has served soup before dinner without fail. The soup is always vegetable-based and is served with a homemade bread roll. I almost never knew what kind of soup I was eating, but it was always delicious and piping hot. My method of eating the bread was to drop it into the soup and then cut it with my spoon into little pieces, essentially making little dumplings. I ate my soup with a tiny dumpling in every bite and a big smile on my face. I have a bone to pick with the U.S. about American soup culture.
Scrumptious soup
Alas, my tired and stiff bones will spend their last night in Olduvai. I’m going to miss the work, the sights, the people, and the thrill of having to watch out for wildlife when taking my 3:00 am bathroom trips every night.
Last Olduvai sunset <3
My journey home begins tomorrow. Bones and all.
