The REAL archaeological expedition to Lake Baringo began this autumn. From September to November 2014 a team of experienced researchers criss-crossed the southern Baringo lowlands looking for signs of past human occupation. In their quest for knowledge they traversed kilometres under the hot African sun, battling spitting cobras, gruesome thorn shrubs, and the ferocious (but […]
UNIVERSITY OF YORK REAL-CAPACITIE-AAREA TRAINING WORKSHOP
The University of York hosted a 6 day training workshop for the REAL members and also invited participants from the environment department and other research groups (CAPACITIE, AAREA, ENVIRON). This was held at the University of York Heslington East Campus and the Department of Archaeology, Kings Manor. The training course 24th-26th was aimed at imparting […]
PAA/SAfA Conference 2014
The REAL project was well represented at the jointly held 14th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies and the 22nd Biennial Meeting of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists which took place 14th-18th of July at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Nik Petek presented on Gifts, Feasts, and Social […]
Phytolith Training Workshop – University of Cape Town
During the week of June 30th – July 4th 2014, Anna Shoemaker and Nik Petek had the opportunity to participate in a Phytolith Training Workshop at the University of Cape Town led by Professor Carlos Cordova of the Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University. The workshop was hosted by Professor Michael Meadows, Department of Environmental […]
Project Overview – Resilience in East African Landscapes (REAL)
Project summary The strong temporal dynamics of the East African landscape and natural-resource distributions have always encouraged people to innovate and adapt to changing conditions. However, the realities of current social and environmental changes are occurring at unprecedented rates and amplitudes. Increasing population growth, changes in patterns of land tenure, industrialization, weak systems of governance, […]
Obsidian tools
Obsidian is a volcanic extrusive rock with a glassy texture that is very hard and dense. The volcanic glass is usually black in colour, but it can also be dark green and brown. In rare cases trace elements of mineral crystals can cause obsidian to reflect light in various colours, or even the colour spectrum […]
Amboseli fieldwork
Assorted REALers accompanied Esther and Colin on their fieldwork trip to the Amboseli region. Two swamps were targeted for analysis, resulting in some beautiful cores and a ton of fun, all under the watchful eye of Mount Kilimanjaro. Further activities included mapping the sediment depth, taking pictures with the trusted Quad “Don’t land me in […]
First visit to Lake Baringo region
The Lake Baringo Basin is a place the vast majority of people have not heard of, and neither would I if it were not for the Tugen Hills, just west of the lake, famous for their hominin remains. If I had to describe it in a few words, I would say it is an area […]
Workshop on archival sources
From March 24 to 25, 2014, Dr. David Anderson and Dr. Benoit Hazard led a workshop on accessing and critically analysing archival sources and historical research methods at the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the Kenya National Archives. The workshop introduced archival sources and historical research methods to scholars with limited experience in historical research. The workshop […]
Workshop in Palaeoenvironmental Approaches
This week some of the REAL members came together with researchers of the National Museums of Kenya to participate in a workshop in palaeoenvironmental approaches organised by Stephen Rucina, Rob Marchant, and Colin Courtney Mustaphi. The workshop was held at the National Museums in Nairobi. Some of the REAL members enjoying the sun Colin talked […]
Accessing historical air photographs of Kenya
Most of the Colony of Kenya was photographed in the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and used to compile the Kenyan topographic maps (scale 1:50 000; Series Y731). These maps show the locations of the air photographs and a copy of the photos are held by the Rhodes House of the Bodleian Libraries at the […]
ESR 1: Finding Past Human Landscapes: An archaeological and historical ecological investigation of the Lake Baringo Basin, Baringo District, Kenya
Fellow: Nik Petek, MA, PIfA Supervision: Prof Paul Lane Host Institution: Institute of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Sweden Duration: 4 years – starting in January 2014 Project description: ESR 1 focuses on the archaeology and the historical ecology of the Lake Baringo Basin, Kenya, between AD 900-1750, understanding past landscapes and socio-ecological resilience of past communities. […]