Late Pliocene woody vegetation of Area 41, Koobi Fora, East Turkana Basin, Kenya

Abstract

Silicified woods from the archaeological site of FwJj20, Area 41, Il Dura region of Koobi Fora, northern Kenya, are described. They are dated at 1.95 Ma on the basis of geochemical and palaeomagnetic dates of the tuffs. Woods have been identified as Funtumia sp. (Apocynaceae); Leguminoxylon sp. and Schotia sp. (Caesalpiniaceae); Diospyros sp. (Ebenaceae); Drypetes sp. (Euphorbiaceae); Khaya sp. (Meliaceae); Acacia sp. (Mimosaceae); and Ziziphus sp. (Rhamnaceae). Palaeoenvironmental implications from the woods support the evidence from the fauna and sedimentology of a riverine, wooded and humid setting where there is the earliest evidence for hominins who produced and used stone tools for the butchery of animal carcasses. Open woodlands were in the near vicinity.