History
The
Olduvai Gorge Museum was founded by
Mary Leakey in the late 1970s. The museum was originally designed to house paleoanthropological
artifacts from the surrounding area. The
Olduvai Gorge Museum was later after her death put under control of the Tanzanian Government's Department of Cultural Antiquities. During the Mid 1990s The
J. Paul Getty Museum's Department of Conservation renovated and added to the museum. This included a new wing with exhibitions that were designed by the
J. Paul Getty Museum.
Location
Exhibits
The exhibits at the Olduvai Gorge Museum are centered around the paleoanthropological research and
artifacts that have come from the surrounding area. There is one hall dedicated to the Leakey family and their pursuit of working at Olduvai Gorge. This hall has historical artifacts from the Olduvai Gorge area as well as charts and maps explaining the process of
fossil excavation. Many of the artifacts are original but some are casts (specifically the
hominid skulls). The adjacent hall is dedicated solely to the
Laetoli fossilized footprints. A cast that was made of part of the footprint trail in 1996 by the
J. Paul Getty Museum is on display. Accompanying this are several charts and photographs describing and illustrating the process of the Laetoli Footprints creation. There is also a large illustration depicting three
Australopithecus afarensis walking through the area 3.6 million years ago. In addition to these indoor museum exhibits there are also two outdoor lecture areas. These are utilized for orientation presentations given by museum staff.
The museum was founded by
Mary Leakey and is now under the jurisdiction of the Tanzanian government's Department of Cultural
Antiquities. It is a
museum dedicated to the appreciation and understanding of the Olduvai Gorge and
Laetoli fossil sites.
The Olduvai Gorge Museum and Visitors Center offer numerous educational exhibits, including fossils and artifacts of our human ancestors and skeletons of many extinct animals who shared their world. There are also informative lectures, special guided archaeological sites tours, native handcrafts and a well-stocked bookshop. See and learn about our collective human origins when we were once all Africans.
Over the last thirty years or so, it has become increasingly apparent that Africa is probably the “Cradle of Mankind”. From Africa they spread out to populate the rest of Earth. Remains of the earliest humans were found in Oldupai Gorge.
The Olduvai Gorge Museum and Visitors Center offer numerous educational exhibits, including fossils and artifacts of our human ancestors and skeletons of many extinct animals who shared their world. There are also informative lectures, special guided archaeological sites tours, native handcrafts and a well-stocked bookshop. See and learn about our collective human origins when we were once all Africans.
Over the last thirty years or so, it has become increasingly apparent that Africa is probably the “Cradle of Mankind”. From Africa they spread out to populate the rest of Earth. Remains of the earliest humans were found in Oldupai Gorge.
Oldupai Gorge (originally misnamed Olduvai) is the most famous archaeological location in East Africa, and has become an essential visit for travelers to Ngorongoro or Serengeti.
At Laetoli, west of Ngorongoro Crater, hominid footprints are preserved in volcanic rock 3