Early Oldowan Technology Thrived During Pliocene Environmental Change in the Turkana Basin, Kenya
The Namorotukunan site in Kenya’s Turkana Basin reveals significant archaeological insights into hominin tool-making adaptations across 300,000 years amid rising environmental variability.
Context and Location
Located within the upper Tulu Bor and lower Burgi members of the Koobi Fora Formation (Marsabit District), Namorotukunan offers important data for a period previously poorly understood due to extensive erosion.
Environmental Background
About 2.75 million years ago, the Turkana Basin underwent environmental shifts marked by increased aridity and variability, influencing hominin behavior.
Significance of Namorotukunan
- It represents the earliest known evidence of Oldowan technology in the Koobi Fora Formation.
- Unlike other Oldowan sites older than 2.6 million years that capture only short periods, Namorotukunan provides a long-term view of technological practices.
- The site includes three distinct archaeological layers spanning roughly 300,000 years (2.75 to 2.44 million years ago).
Archaeological Findings
The findings indicate a continuous pattern in tool production, showing systematic selection of rock types for tools.
“Our findings suggest continuity in tool-making practices over time, with evidence of systematic selection of rock types.”
In Summary
Namorotukunan offers a rare, extended temporal perspective on the development and stability of early hominin technological behavior during a period of environmental change.
Author’s Summary
This site demonstrates how early hominins in the Turkana Basin consistently adapted their tool-making strategies over hundreds of thousands of years despite shifting environmental conditions.