I excavated a 1.4-million-year-old stone tool today. No big deal.
We spent today at Olduvai’s BK dig site – one of the original sites excavated by Mary and Lewis Leaky, the archaeologists who discovered the Gorge. Each student was assigned a quadrant to begin digging with a chisel, “hammer” (river cobble), and brush. I excavated BK Level 3 Square D, where I uncovered an intact stone tool surrounded by quartzite and bone fragments. Quartzite does not naturally occur in the surrounding region, so its presence is indicative of transportation by early hominins; this stone was also used for tools, so the fragments in my area were likely broken off from another well-loved hammer. The bone fragments imply that these tools were used by hominins 1.4 million years ago to kill animals.
Me and my stone tool
What animals, you ask? Well, as we dug, the excavation team was uncovering what we believed was the pelvis of a hippopotamus. However, as we continued, Dr. Manuel quickly realized we were incorrect: we were uncovering the bones of a Sivatherium, a massive giraffid which went extinct at the end of the last ice age. The most exciting part is the Sivatherium’s lower skeleton has never been found intact, but Dr. Manuel feels hopeful that we may have finally encountered one of the first.
Excavation of the Sivatherium Pelvis
We dug until lunchtime, at which point we returned to camp for some grub and presentations. Afterwards, it was time to hit the market.
Just down the gorge, there was an outdoor market put on by local Maasai. There, they were selling handcrafts, clothing, shoes, textiles, goats, donkeys, produce, and grain. It was super cool to see all the different crafts and crops on display. One woman had made shoes from old tires, a farmer was selling mounds of shallots, while others were haggling off their piles of rice. My favorite part of the market was the goat arena – an enclosed area where vendors showed off their goats. We got to explore for roughly 45 minutes before departing for more excavations.
The Maasai Market
The Goat Arena
The afternoon excavations were much more pleasant on account of the setting sun. Although it never gets too hot here, being so close to the equator means the sun beats quite intensely during the daytime. I continued uncovering the same bone fragments from earlier until we packed up for dinner just before sunset.
After dinner, Dr. Scott revealed to us our long-lost camera traps (the ones we set out last week). All six cameras were recollected just as we had left them… although we were informed that one took a brief vacation before being returned. It was so exciting to review the images captured by the cameras! Although most pictures were triggered by the wind, there were a few interesting (and sometimes startling) exposés of giraffes, zebras, black-backed jackals, impalas, and a small mystery mammal. My favorite part, however, was seeing the reactions of Maasai boys who inevitably encountered our cameras; two friends even took the opportunity to pose for the camera together. It made me smile.
The purpose of our experiment was to assess the biodiversity present at varying distances from Lake Olbalbal. We determined that our intermediate cameras, set at ~0.3 miles from the lake’s edge, had the greatest abundance and variety of species. This was different than my hypothesis, which predicted that the intermediate locations would have the least biodiversity, since they’re not near water, but still far from open plains. I think, perhaps, the spatial scope of our experiment may have influenced the expected results. Regardless, this exercise was a really fun opportunity to learn about different methods in ecology field work.
After reviewing our photos, I returned to my little safe-haven (school-issued tent) for another night of slumber. Goodnight!
