EF-HR
EF-HR is located in the North side of the Olduvai Gorge, around 1.3 km west from the Third Fault. It was discovered in 1931 by Sir Evelyn Fuchs and Professor Hans Reck, and named after their initials. The first excavations were undertaken by M. Leakey in 1963, and then OGAP resumed excavations at the site in 2009.
EF-HR is one of the earliest Acheulean sites in Olduvai, although OGAP´s stratigraphic work suggests that EF-HR is positioned higher in the Bed II sequence than previously proposed, which has implications for the age of the site, now estimated to be around 1.5 million years ago.
EF-HR trenches on the orthomosaic produced through Unmanned Aerial Vehicle imagery.
Location of trenches in the EF-HR wider area.
DEM model of the EF-HR outcrops, extracted from the UAV orthomosaic.
OGAP has extended Leakey’s trench to the north, and placed eleven additional trenches within an area of nearly 1 km2, to sample the same stratigraphic interval as in the main trench across the broader palaeo-landscape. OGAP archaeological excavations at the main site and nearby trenches have unearthed a large new assemblage, with more than 3,000 fossils and artefacts, including a hundred handaxes in stratigraphic position.
Composite picture of trenches in the EF-HR main outcrop.
Our test-trenching approach has detected conspicuous differences in the density of artefacts across the landscape, with a large cluster of archaeological material in and around the main trench, and less intense human activity at the same level in the more distant satellite trenches.
Plan view of the trenches at the EF-HR main outcrop.
Flyover videoclip across the EF-HR trenches, based on the orthomosaic produced by OGAP through Unmanned Aerial Vehicle imagery.
–
Trachyte-trachyandesite cleaver from EF-HR Trench 2.
Mary Leakey considered the technology of EF-HR as different from most of assemblages in Middle and Upper Bed II, due to the large number of handaxes struck from boulders or larges cobbles.
The site was been interpreted by Mary Leakey as a temporary camp located on the side of a small water stream. Nonetheless, recent geological research shows that the main EFHR site was situated at the deepest part of an incised valley formed through river erosion, and our results indicate that fluvial action over the assemblage was significant.
Excavations at EF-HR by OGAP.
Horizontal distribution of findings in EF-HR Trench 2.
T2-Main Trench rose diagrams in artifact clusters and in areas deeply incised by watercourses.
