• Arrival Kilimanjaro International. Transfers to hotel in Arusha.
• Travel, safety, health and living in Tanzania sessions.
• Introduction to course activities, methods of instruction, field sites, student responsibilities.

• Learn basic Swahili
• History and culture of Tanzania.
• Visit local village and market.

• Geologic history of continental rifting.
• Fossil evidence from East African Rift System.
• History of early human discoveries at Olduvai Gorge.
• Guided tour to the Human Evolution and Olduvai exhibitions

• Geologic setting of Olduvai system.
• Overview of human origin in Africa.
• Olduvai the cradle of humankind: history of discoveries.
• Guided tour to the Human Evolution and Olduvai exhibitions.

Geology: Development of the East African Rift System Impact of rifting to environments and human evolution. Formation of archaeological sites

• Arusha-Olduvai road trip with stops on the way.
• Field observations of features associated with rifting i.e., volcanism, faults, lake basins, archaeological deposits, and evolution of the wildlife ecosystems and cultural landscapes.
• Introduce the concept of graben and half-graben in rift formation.
• How Lake Manyara environments are used as modern analogues for hominid adaptation at prehistoric Olduvai lake basin.

Geology: Geographic overview of Ngorongoro volcanic highlands Evolution of Olduvai paleolandscapes and environments

• From Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro volcanic highlands: Brief recap of volcanism, formation of collapse caldera and evolution of Olduvai system.
• How Ngorongoro Crater environments are used as modern analogue for Olduvai hominid environments.

Geology: Stratigraphy of Olduvai: Rock Identification (Igneous/Sedimentary/Metamorphic)

• Formations in sedimentary rocks.
• How sedimentary Beds or rock packages reflect depositional environments.
• Age of nearby volcanoes and Precambrian rocks.

Geology: Principles of sedimentary facies and facies correlation.

• Olduvai depositional environments.
• Sedimentary facies

Geology: Contemporaneous faulting and sedimentation. Precambrian crystalline geology. Tertiary volcanism.

• Rock deformation associated with extensional tectonics.
• Tanzania craton and unconformity between Pre-cambrian and Quaternary sedimentary rocks.
• Sand dunes, fluvial deposits, re-worked airfall tuffs.

Geology: Sources of raw material for stone tool making.

• Difference between volcanic vs. meta-sedimentary outcrops.

Paleoanthropology: Hominid evolution and emergence of prehistoric people in Africa. Origins and evolution of stone age technology

• Human origins: Development, distribution and evidence of Australopithecines, Paranthropus (Zinjanthropus), Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Archaic H. sapiens, prehistoric hunter-gatherers, modern pastoral communities.

Paleoanthropology: Evolution of vertebrate fauna and early human behavior in geological context.

• Biological and cultural evolution from Bed I to Beds II, III and IV times.
• Faunal turnover during basal Bed II. Environmental contexts of Beds I-IV.
• Establishment of recent fauna communities.
• Origin of meat eating behavior by human ancestors and archaeological evidence.

Paleoanthropology: Fossil and faunal analysis. Taphonomy: Hunting and scavenging behaviors of carnivores and crocodiles

• Osteology and fossil identification.
• Classification of skeletal and animal groups.
• Bite marks and bone damage by carnivore gnawing.

Paleoanthropology: Techniques in lithic analysis. Cultural chronology of Olduvai. Stone knapping experiments. Simulating archaeological sites

• Types of stone artifacts.
• Classification of tool industries.
• How artifact types tied to sedimentary Beds.
• Tool making and raw material choice.
• Butchery experiments using experimentally made tools.
• Actualistic observation of large carcass consumption by carnivores and crocodiles.

Paleoanthropology:Paleoenvironmental reconstruction.

• Volcanism.
• Faults.
• Seismic and earthquake hazards.
• Geological structures.
• Fluvial processes.

Paleoanthropology: Human-environment interaction.

• The role of Maasai community in conservation of natural and cultural landscapes and resources