Researchers report an early monumental burial site near Lake Turkana in Kenya that may have served as a stable landmark for mobile herders in a changing environment. Archaeologists have previously associated the creation of monumental architecture with the development of hierarchy in societies with concentrated resources and dense populations. However, the discovery of monuments without accompanying evidence of social stratification raises the need for alternative models to explain the relationships between monuments and social change. Elisabeth A. Hildebrand and colleagues report excavations and ground-penetrating radar studies of a monumental cemetery near Lake Turkana in Kenya. The approximately 5,000-year-old site, called Lothagam North Pillar Site, represents the earliest known monumental site in eastern Africa and was built by the region's herders. At the time, the African Humid Period was coming to an end, regional rainfall decreased, and Lake Turkana receded, heightening uncertainty around the availability of wild plants and fish. The site consists of a mortuary cavity within a platform, surrounded by boulders. Over a period of several centuries, the authors note, people buried an estimated minimum of 580 individuals, of both sexes and diverse ages, in the cavity along with ubiquitous but personalized ornamentation, suggesting no social stratification. Instead, the authors suggest, the monuments may have served as a social anchor point to foster communal identity and interaction among mobile herders in a rapidly changing physical landscape.
###
Article #17-21975: "A monumental cemetery built by eastern Africa's first herders near Lake Turkana, Kenya," by Elisabeth A. Hildebrand et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Elisabeth A. Hildebrand, Stony Brook University, NY; tel: 631-574-7153; e-mail: elisabeth.hildebrand@stonybrook.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences