WHAT IS FLK ZINJ?
ary and Louis
Leakey discovered Zinjanthropus boisei (Zinj) at this
site know as FLK in 1959, then the oldest significantly
intact fossil from Olduvai Gorge. From the 1960-1961 excavation of
the level 22 i.e the FLK-Zinj layer. Leakey reported approximately
2500 Oldowan Stone artifacts and 3500 fossil bone specimens
including remains of Homo Habilis and Zinjanthropus. (later renamed
Paranthropus boisei)
The site is
recognized as one of the prime examples of a localized, dense
concentration of Oldowan Tools and fossilized bones. The
significance of the site form understanding the origins of
sophisticated hominin behavior, such as foraging strategies, is
documented by abundant butchered bones and evidence of repeated
transport of portions of at least 48 large mammal carcasses (mostly
Bovidae) to this location on the paleolandscape.
Why this unique
archaeological site occurred at this specific location in the
Olduvai Basin has remained a mystery. FLK Zinj was considered to
have occupied an undetermined spot in a Borren lacustrine
floodplain based on the original interpretation of its geological
context as a “near lake” location. However, the recent
discoveries carried out by TOPPP (The
Olduvai Paleoanthropological and Palaeoecological Project ) have
shown that this spot was near a fresh-water source available to
hominins less than 200m away from high-density patch of stone tools
and butchered bones observed at the site. Here at the Zinj Site
itself, abundant plant silica bodies (Phytoliths) from woody
dicotyledons and palmswere found, which attest to the presence of
trees and/or shrubs.