Published in

Wiley, Geoarchaeology, 7(22), p. 709-728, 2007

DOI: 10.1002/gea.20183

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Stratigraphic and geochronological context of human habitation along the Galana River, Kenya

This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Geoarchaeological investigations along the Galana River, eastern Kenya, document a pattern of channel aggradation and then degradation from the Middle to Late Holocene. Archaeological occupations at six sites in fluvial terraces along a ˜100 km stretch of the Galana River in Tsavo East National Park correspond with fluvial aggradation beginning ca. 6000 years ago. Artifact analyses indicate that the inhabitants of these sites utilized ceramics and stone tools similar to Pastoral Neolithic traditions detected at other penecontemporaneous archaeological sites in East Africa and possessed domesticated cattle from ca. 3700 years ago. The site occupations that occur during this period have dense artifact concentrations of predominantly locally procured items. The Galana River incised after ca. 900 years ago and there is a noticeable paucity of archaeological material, reflecting more peripatetic lifestyles. This shift in settlement pattern may reflect a decrease in reliance on riverine food sources during the Late Holocene, with diminished riparian environments associated with channel incision. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.