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Age-depth model for uppermost Ndutu Beds constrains Middle Stone Age technology and climate-induced paleoenvironmental changes at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania)

Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania is part of a globally important archeological and paleoanthropological World Heritage Site location critical to our understanding of modern human evolution. The Ndutu Beds in the upper part of the geological sequence at Olduvai Gorge represent the oldest unit to yi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of human evolution 2024-01, Vol.186, p.103465-103465, Article 103465
Main Authors: Smedley, Rachel K, Fenn, Kaja, Stanistreet, Ian G, Stollhofen, Harald, Njau, Jackson K, Schick, Kathy, Toth, Nicholas
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania is part of a globally important archeological and paleoanthropological World Heritage Site location critical to our understanding of modern human evolution. The Ndutu Beds in the upper part of the geological sequence at Olduvai Gorge represent the oldest unit to yield modern Homo sapiens skeletal material and Middle Stone Age technology. However, the timing of the deposition of the Ndutu Beds is poorly constrained at present, which limits our understanding of the paleoenvironments critical for contextualizing H. sapiens and related technologies in the Olduvai Basin. Using a suite of 15 luminescence ages of sedimentary core samples, combined with Bayesian statistics, this study provides a new higher-resolution age-depth model for the deposition of the uppermost Upper Ndutu and Naisiuiu Beds cored by the Olduvai Gorge Coring Project. The luminescence and modeled ages are presented as ±1 σ uncertainties. The Ndutu Beds intersected by the Olduvai Gorge Coring Project cores are dated to between 117.1 ± 17.9 and 45.3 ± 4.2 ka (between 125.9 ± 26.5 and 45.8 ± 8.2 ka modeled ages), while a probable overlying layer of Naisiusiu Beds dates to 23.7 ± 10.9 to 12.1 ± 1.7 ka (25.7 ± 18.9 ka and 12.0 ± 3.4 ka modeled age). Time-averaged accretion rates are derived during this time: (1) initially low rates (
ISSN:0047-2484
1095-8606
DOI:10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103465