[A quick note to say that I’ve recently been writing posts for the geology/education blog The Earth Story and I’m going to start cross-posting some of those pieces here, in expanded form. TES can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/theearthstory, on Tumblr at the-earth-story.com, and Twitter as @TheEarthStory. The original for the following post can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/TheEarthStory/posts/967000540027657:0]

West of the volcanic slopes of Ngorongoro Crater, which was covered in another post not long ago, there is a deep cut across the landscape that interrupts the wide Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania. A dry, winding ravine exposes layers of lava and ash, and within them, the traces of early human evolution. Named for a European misunderstanding of the Maasai word for wild sisal flowers, oldupai, Olduvai Gorge has a rich history of paleoanthropological finds, grueling excavations, and intriguing characters. Continue reading →