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Tanzania is also the site of the Olduvai Gorge, a steep ravine that has acquired the name "Cradle of Mankind", and is highly significant for anthropologists and archaeologists alike. Today, it has also become a significant part of Tanzania's flourishing tourism industry, with people flocking to witness for themselves the various layers of fossils, and the remains of pebble tools, choppers and such prehistoric artifacts being unearthed regularly. Excavation of the Olduvai Gorge began in 1931, pioneered by the famous Louis and Mary Leakey, the famous Kenyan archaeologists and naturalists. Over the years, it has yielded evidence of human and animal life over the past 2 million years - from the early hominids onwards. Today, the Gorge is being excavated by a team led by Professor Fidelis Masao of the Open University of Tanzania. For anthropologists, the most significant deposit in the Olduvai Gorge is "Bed I" - the earliest deposit. This has revealed evidence of some ancestors of mankind - the hominid Paranthropus boisei and the early man Homo habilis. Evidence of habitations and campsites of these species has been found. Some of the tools used by these primitive hominids and men have also been unearthed; they are made of basalt and quartz, both of which stones are found locally. These tools have been called the "Oldowan", named after the Olduvai Gorge. Though the hard evidence is 2 million years old, anthropologists and archaeologists deduce that the Oldowan tradition is about 2.6 million years old. The Frida Leakey Korongo North site is another significant deposit, named after Louis Leakey's first wife Frida. It is usually known as the FLK North. Deposits here are about 1.8 million years old, and include evidence of early humans - Homo ergaster who were the earliest known humans to eat elephants. The complete skeleton of an Elephas recki was also found at this site, surrounded by stone choppers and flakes, at the lowest of six occupation levels. A number of bone fragments have been found as well, leading archaeologists to conclude that the FLK North was an early butchering site. Bed II is a level above the FLK North, and has yielded more evidence about the life of Homo ergaster. Handaxes - a vast improvement over the previous pebble tools - have been unearthed, as well as other sophisticated tools of the Acheulean industry. This bed has not been dated as precisely as the rest, but its deposits seem to be between 1.75 and 2 million years old. Beds III and IV yield similar deposits, more than 600,000 years old. Other beds contain deposits that are between 15,000 and 600,000 years old, from the Kenya-Capsian industry, the Ndutu and the Naisiusiu. For people who wish to catch a quick glimpse of the exhibits the Olduvai Gorge has to offer, there is also the Olduvai Gorge museum at its rim, which regularly presents exhibitions to inform tourists about the Gorge's history.
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