This grant permits Dr. Eck and his international team of collaborators to continue their paleoanthropological research at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. This site is of extreme anthropological significance because its sediments, deposited over an approximately 2 million year period contain a series of human physical and cultural remains. Much of this material has been dated and allows anthropologists to trace human development over most of the Ice Age. What also makes the site important is its wealth of non.human faunal remains. These allow one to reconstruct the shifting climates and environments in which humans functioned. The goals of this project are to: 1. address geographical and stratigraphic biases in previous faunal collections from the site; 2. augment previously documented vertebrate taxa; 3. increase knowledge of human physical development; 4. refine the stratigraphic and geochronological framework for the Olduvai faunal and cultural sequences; 5. develop a strategy of paleoanthropological resource management to ensure Olduvai's continued contribution to science. To accomplish these goals a multidisciplinary group of scientists will conduct two seasons of research at the site. This work is important because it builds on a splendid data base ammassed over many years by the Leakey family and their collaborators. It will help to increase our understanding of human development and the factors which guided it. Because the research team includes Tanzanian members, the project will help to improve the scientific base in this country and strengthen ties between the U.S. and Tanzania.
