The
tool-making technology of
Homo erectus, associated with
Olduvai Gorge in
Tanzania. The name
Oldowan is apparently from a German form of
Olduvai.
An Oldowan chopper is created by chipping flakes off a flint. The resulting sharpened body piece of flint is the tool. This contrasts with later technologies where the flakes themselves were worked into sharper tools. It is the crudest human tool technology.