EP Gallery: Middle Acheulian -- Olorgesailie, Olduvai Gorge, Near East, Abbevillian (c. 1.0 MYA to 500,000 BP) / h)olorgbif

Two cleavers and a biface from Olorgesailie, Kenya, dating from about 750,000 to 1 million years ago. It is interesting that at Olorgesailie there appear to be two frequent length categories, one about 17-22 cm., the other about 11-17 cm., with the smaller one's 'nosed' or 'pointed.' The reasons for this are not known.

Photo © Glynn Isaac. Isaac, G. (1977). Olorgesailie: Archaeological studies of a Middle Pleistocene lake basin in Kenya. Chicago: University of Chicago.
pl. 26 and 27, site I3 (Member 1, 992,000 BP); cleaver 17.4 cm L; biface 11.4 cm
pl. 34 and 35, site DE/89 B (Member 7, 747,000-974,000 BP); cleaver 18.1 cm; biface 16.4 cm.
pl. 30 and 31, site DE/89 A (Member 7, 747,000-974,000 BP); biface 22.6 cm; nosed biface 17.6 cm