Ewass Oldupa (Trench 3)
Basic information
Sample name: Ewass Oldupa (Trench 3)

Sample aka: Geological Locality 63; Oldupai Gorge; Olduvai Gorge

Reference: J. Mercader, P. Akuku, N. Boivin, R. Bugumba, P. Bushozi, A. Camacho, T. Carter, S. Clarke, A. Cueva-Temprana, P. Durkin, J. Favreau, K. Fella, S. Haberle, S. Hubbard, J. Inwood, M. Itambu, S. Koromo, P. Lee, A. Mohammed, A. Mwambwiga, L. Olesilau, R. Patalano, P. Roberts, S. Rule, P. Saladie, G. Siljedal, M. Soto, Umbsaar, and Petraglia. 2021. Earliest Olduvai hominins exploited unstable environments ~ 2 million years ago. Nature Communications 12(3):1-15 [ER 3876]
Geography
Country: Tanzania



Coordinate: -2.95° S, 35.24° E
Coordinate basis: estimated from map

Time interval: Early Pleistocene

Max Ma: 2.015

Min Ma: 2

Age basis: Ar-Ar

Geography comments: coordinate estimated based on Fig. 1
the fossils are from Lower Bed 1 (see Fig. 1), which is bracketed by argon dates of 2.015 +/- 0.006 and about 2 Ma

Environment
Lithology: claystone

Taphonomic context: lake deposit

Archaeology: stone tools

Habitat comments: Lower Bed I facies include a "conglomeratic channel fill deposit... waxy claystones from trench 3... multi-storey fluvial channel belt deposits in trench 2"
specifically, trench 2 is "a multi-storey channel belt prograding into the lake", trench 3 is "a transgressive lakeshore", and trench 5 is "a sinuous channel flowing east"
there are 151, 188, an 201 artefacts in trenches 2, 3, and 5
there is "a lack of human modified fauna"

Methods
Life forms: carnivores,ungulates,birds,turtles,other reptiles

Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash

Sample size: 22 specimens

Sampling comments: "Sediments from each trench were dry-sieved (0.5 cm mesh)"

Metadata
Sample number: 4255

Contributor: John Alroy

Enterer: John Alroy

Created: 2023-04-25 15:44:38

Modified: 2023-04-25 05:44:38

Abundance distribution
8 species
4 singletons
total count 22
geometric series index: 22.8
Fisher's α: 4.523
geometric series k: 0.7306
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.7532
Shannon's H: 1.7273
Good's u: 0.8224
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
Register
Tragelaphus strepsiceros1189 kg browser-grazer
Hippopotamidae indet.1
possibly Hippopotamus cf. gorgops
Equus sp.4
Panthera sp.2
plus four Carnivora
Crocuta crocuta166 kg carnivore
Testudines indet.9
"Chelonia"
Crocodylus sp.1
Aves indet.3