Taphonomy of ungulate ribs and the consumption of meat and bone by 1.2-million-year-old hominins at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

► The butchered and chewed ribs of ungulates from the Olduvai site of BK are described. ► The ends of these modified ribs are also peeled, with stripping-back of lamellae. ► Such rib peeling is associated with hominoid (chimpanzee and modern human) rib chewing. ► Rib peeling is extremely rare in modern carnivore-generated faunas and is thus highly diagnostic of hominoid carnivory. ► This recognition may aid the search for indications of hominin meat-eating before the invention of stone cutting tools.