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PaleontologyeLife
Peer-reviewed journal article

Earliest Evidence of Elephant Butchery at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) Reveals the Evolutionary Impact of Early Human Megafaunal Exploitation

Manuel Domínguez‐RodrigoiD, Enrique BaquedanoiD, Abel MoclániD, David Uribelarrea, José Ángel Correa CanoiD, Fernando Diéz MartíniD, Alejandro Velázquez-Tello, Elia OrganistaiD, Eduardo Mendez-QuintasiD, Marina Vegara‐RiquelmeiD, Agness GidnaiD, Audax Z. P. MabullaiD

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Abstract

The role of megafaunal exploitation in early human evolution remains debated. Occasional use of large carcasses by early hominins has been considered by some as opportunistic, possibly a fallback dietary strategy, and for others a more important survival strategy. At Olduvai Gorge, evidence for megafaunal butchery is scarce in the Oldowan of Bed I, but becomes more frequent and widespread after 1.8 Ma in Bed II, coinciding with the emergence of Acheulean technologies. Here, we present the earliest direct evidence of proboscidean butchery, including a newly documented elephant butchery site (EAK). This shift in behavior is accompanied by larger, more complex occupation sites, signaling a profound ecological and technological transformation. Rather than opportunistic scavenging, these findings suggest a strategic adaptation to megafaunal resources, with implications for early human subsistence and social organization. The ability to systematically exploit large prey represents a unique evolutionary trajectory, with no direct modern analogue, since modern foragers do so only episodically.

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In-depth summary

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Claude Opus 5.5 · xhigh effort · 5 Nov 2026 · from the full text of version 4 (4 Feb 2026) · CC BY-NC 4.0

Excavation of the 1.78 Ma Emiliano Aguirre Korongo site and landscape surveys across Olduvai Gorge Bed II reveal systematic early Pleistocene hominin butchery and percussive bone breakage of elephants.

Spatial co-occurrence of stone tools and megafaunal fossils in paleolandscapes can arise from natural time-averaging rather than hominin agency, leaving the timing of systematic proboscidean exploitation debated. Combining spatial point-pattern statistics at a 1.78 Ma elephant site with >6 km stratigraphic surveys across Bed I and Bed II tests functional association and landscape-scale hominin modification.

Key results

  1. ShownThe 1.78 Ma Emiliano Aguirre Korongo (EAK) site preserves a juvenile Elephas recki carcass in tight stratigraphic association with Oldowan-like stone tools and green-broken bone.

    Excavation of 52.56 m^2 on Tuff IF at the base of Bed II recovered 153 proboscidean bone specimens (46 elements from a single juvenile E. recki, including two specimens with anthropogenic green breakage) alongside 80 sharp-edged stone tools (mostly flakes and fragments). · Introduction; The Emiliano Aguirre Korongo (EAK) site; Taphonomic analysis of EAK; Lithic analysis of EAK

  2. ShownSpatial point-pattern modeling at EAK confirms a non-random functional association between the central elephant carcass and peripheral stone tools.

    MAD and DCLF tests on inhomogeneous and scaled K and L functions rejected spatial randomness (p = 0.025) for both bones (intensity 7.74 specimens/m^2, quadratic regression AIC = -1990.689) and lithics (intensity 1.67, quadratic AIC = -71.73), with Kcross/Lcross regular peripheral segregation of tools and a sharp drop in lithic intensity beyond 50 cm from elephant bones. · The spatial statistical analyses of EAK; The spatial statistical analyses of EAK; Figure legends

  3. ShownAcross over 6 km of Olduvai Gorge outcrops, green-broken proboscidean bones emerge from lower Bed II (1.78 Ma) onwards and cluster specifically within high-density lithic artifact zones.

    Surveys across Bed I and three Bed II intervals found virtually no megafaunal green bone breakage in Bed I (except one locality), whereas in lower, middle, and upper Bed II, elephant and hippopotamus carcasses and hammerstone-broken elephant limb bones clustered exclusively within dense artifact areas (LAS from HWKE to FLK West, SHK, BK, and SC). · Bed I; Bed II; Discussion; Megafaunal exploitation along the paleolandscape…

  4. ShownMost purported Bed II flaked bone tools are equifinal with butchery percussion or carnivore gnawing, with only one pointed femur shaft (>1.7 Ma) showing potential use-wear polish.

    Taphonomic comparison of purported 1.5 Ma T69 Complex bone tools (averaging ~13 vs 4 flake scars) showed asymmetric, stepped medullary scars and absent microwear polish typical of hammerstone carcass breakage or hyena gnawing, whereas only one pointed proboscidean femur shaft from LAS near EAK exhibited tip polishing and bilateral-like retouch. · Discussion; Conclusions; Figure legends

Methods, data and reproducibility

Excavated 52.56 m^2 at the 1.78 Ma EAK site (Bed II, Olduvai Gorge) via laser theodolite 3D plotting and photogrammetry, analyzing skeletal profiles (NISP, MNE), bone marks, fractures, and lithics alongside a >6 km stratigraphic survey. Modeled bone and lithic point patterns in R (spatstat) using isotropy tests, K/L/F/G/J and pair-correlation functions, DCLF/MAD tests, nnclean, AIC regressions, and covariates.

  • Excavated juvenile Elephas recki partial carcass, background fauna, and lithic assemblage from the 1.78 Ma Emiliano Aguirre Korongo (EAK) site, base of Bed II, Olduvai Gorge · Elephas recki, Parmularius, hominin · n = 153 proboscidean bones (46 elements) and 80 stone tools across 52.56 m^2
  • Stratigraphic landscape survey of proboscidean and hippopotamid carcasses, green-broken bones, and stone tool concentrations across Bed I and lower, intermediate, and upper Bed II at Olduvai Gorge · Proboscidea, Hippopotamidae, Sivatherium, Pelorovis · n = over 6 km of outcrops across 4 stratigraphic intervals
Methods & tools
R, spatstat, OpenStereo, AutoCAD, TOPCON total stations
Reagents & environment
R with the spatstat library for spatial point pattern modeling; OpenStereo for orientation and slope stereograms/rose diagrams; AutoCAD for georeferenced orthophoto mapping.
Reproducibility gaps
No public repository or link is provided for the 3D artifact/fossil coordinate files or the R spatstat scripts.
Limitations (3)
  • A Holocene landslide displaced the EAK block 6.25 m vertically and ~12 m downslope, fragmenting Tuff IF into blocks up to 1 m across and potentially leaving missing carcass parts buried under thick Ndutu sediments. · stated by the authors
  • Diagenetic alteration of cortical bone surfaces and adhering sedimentary matrix on several EAK specimens prevented complete inspection for microscopic bone surface modifications, and no cut or tooth marks were preserved on the EAK elephant bones. · stated by the authors
  • Taphonomic traces cannot distinguish whether early Pleistocene hominins hunted or scavenged megafauna, nor establish a direct causal link between Bed II megafaunal butchery, larger site areas, and the emergence of Acheulean tools. · stated by the authors

Who should read:Read this if you study early Pleistocene hominin subsistence, taphonomy of megafaunal butchery and bone tools, or spatial point-pattern analysis of archaeological assemblages.

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