Abstract
Early herders in eastern Africa built elaborate megalithic cemeteries ~ 5000 BP overlooking what is now Lake Turkana in northwestern Kenya. At least six ‘pillar sites’ were constructed during a time of rapid change: cattle, sheep, and goats were introduced to the basin as the lake was shrinking at the end of the African Humid Period. Cultural changes at this time include new lithic and ceramic technologies and the earliest monumentality in eastern Africa. Isolated human remains previously excavated from pillar sites east of Lake Turkana seemed to indicate that pillar site platforms were ossuaries for secondary burials. Recent bioarchaeological excavations at four pillar sites west of the lake have now yielded ≥49 individuals, most from primary and some from secondary interments, challenging earlier interpretations. Here we describe the mortuary cavities, and burial contexts, and included items such as adornments from Lothagam North, Lothagam West, Manemanya, and Kalokol pillar sites. In doing so, we reassess previous hypotheses regarding pillar site construction, use, and inter-site variability. We also present the first osteological analyses of skeletons buried at these sites. Although the human remains are fragmentary, they are nevertheless informative about the sex, age, and body size of the deceased and give evidence for health and disease processes. Periosteal moulds of long bone midshafts (n = 34 elements) suggest patterns of terrestrial mobility. Pillar site deposits provide important new insights into early herder lifeways in eastern Africa and the impact of the transition to pastoralism on past human populations.
Highlights
The spread of food production into eastern Africa ~ 5000 years ago coincided with the creation of elaborate megalithic cemeteries, the first of their kind in eastern Africa and some of the earliest monumental architecture known from sub-Saharan
Termination of the African Humid Period (AHP) ~ 5300 years before present (BP) caused lake levels to drop by approximately 55 m, altering deep water
Extensive excavations at Lothagam North allowed for reconstruction of the burial sequence for deposits concentrated in the central platform (Grillo and Hildebrand 2013; Hildebrand et al 2018; Hildebrand and Grillo 2012)
Summary
The spread of food production into eastern Africa ~ 5000 years ago coincided with the creation of elaborate megalithic cemeteries, the first of their kind in eastern Africa and some of the earliest monumental architecture known from sub-SaharanAfrica (Grillo and Hildebrand 2013; Hildebrand and Grillo 2012; Hildebrand et al 2018). The spread of herding is linked to the emergence of new stone tool and ceramic technologies (Goldstein In Press; Grillo and Hildebrand 2013; Hildebrand et al 2018), longdistance obsidian trade networks (Ndiema et al 2011), and evidence for population admixture (Sawchuk 2017) Providing records of both human morphology and cultural behaviour, pillar sites are crucial to understanding how these complex biological and social processes unfolded during this dynamic period. The British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) undertook initial excavations at Namoratunga I ( known as Lokori) between 1970 and 1976, documenting individual interments within ‘stone circle graves’ (Soper and Lynch 1977; see Lynch 1978) These finds led scholars to presume that megalithic sites across the basin would likely contain burials, despite the fact that Lokori differs from most ‘pillar sites’ in having numerous stone circles and no pillars. Other potential sites include GbJj4 (Kamau 1991) and an unconfirmed site in the Suguta Valley (Hildebrand et al 2011)
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