12 Epic Archaeological Adventures

12 Epic Archaeological Adventures book cover — 12 Story Library ARCHAEOLOGICAL ADVENTURES 12 EPIC by Carla Mooney

12 Epic Archaeological Adventures — page 1 — 1 Olduvai Gorge Holds Clues about Early Humans Olduvai Gorge is part of the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania Africa Millions of years ago volcanoes spread layers of ash and rocks across the area About 30,000 years ago draining water began carving through the ash and rock Erosion slowly formed the gorge Layers up to two million years old were exposed Olduvai Gorge holds many clues about our early human ancestors Scientists have uncovered hundreds of fossils In the 1930s archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey began large excavations at Olduvai Gorge They made several important discoveries They uncovered stone tools The gorge is also called the Cradle of Mankind 4

12 Epic Archaeological Adventures — page 2 — 30 Number of miles 48 2 km that Olduvai Gorge stretches in length Olduvai Gorge was formed nearly 30,000 years ago Scientists have uncovered hundreds of fossils of early humans and stone tools Louis and Mary Leakey found fossilized bones of Homo habilis an early human that lived about two million years ago and fossilized bones of early human species One morning Mary Leakey made one of their most famous discoveries She found pieces of a skull They belonged to a new species of early human called Paranthropus boisei The discovery became known as Nutcracker Man Scientists estimated Nutcracker Man was about 1 75 million years old Later the Leakeys found fossil evidence of another early human species called Homo habilis It was dated to be about two million years old The Leakeys work sparked interest in the study of human evolution Today archaeologists still work at Olduvai Gorge Visitors can tour the excavation sites and visit a museum The museum holds a collection of early human fossils and stone tools Mary and Louis Leakey at a dig site 5

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