Home » Human Evolution Evidence » Human Fossils » Fossils » OH 16

OH 16

 
Mystery Skull Interactive
Skull visual

When scientists discover a fossil skull, they compare it to skulls that have already been identified as particular early human species. Now you get to be the scientist!

View the Full Content >>
3D Collection
3D Skull visual

Explore our 3D collection of fossils and artifacts: view, rotate, and explore hundreds of 3D scans!

View the Full Content >>
OH 16
Exhibit item
Site: 
Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Date of discovery: 
1963
Discovered by: 
Louis S. B. Leakey
Age: 
About 1.7 million years old
Species: 
Homo habilis

This crushed skull found in 1963 at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, has a lightly-built braincase yet a larger brain size than Australopithecus - two features that led Louis Leakey and colleagues to recognize the species Homo habilis.

Image of OH 16, skull, side view
Image Credit: Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution