GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF THE BELL'S KORONGO EAST SITE, OLDUVAI GORGE, TANZANIA: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

The many important paleoanthropological studies in Olduvai Gorge began with the Leakey’s work in the early 1930s. The past two years of field and lab work on geological materials from the Bell’s Korongo East (BKE) site add to this research and our understanding of the paleolandscapes in which our human ancestors lived ~1-2 million years ago. BKE is located in the south side of the Side Gorge, between the fourth and fifth faults. This new excavation – located near the Leakey’s original BK site – hosts clay- and siltstones incised and filled with interbedded fluvial sands. These fossil-rich fluvial sediments likely represent hominin activity and artifact deposition loci. We are currently working to recover nstruct local paleoenvironments and to understand what may have attracted hominins to BKE. Mineralogy, chemistry, and other sediment and soil biophysical analyses will expand our knowledge of small-scale sedimentological and pedological dynamics in the environments preserved in Olduvai's Side Gorge.