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Lothagam North Pillar Site
The Lothagam North Pillar Site, registered as GeJi9, is an archaeological site on the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya dating to the Pastoral Neolithic. It is a communal cemetery, built between 3000 BCE and 2300 BCE by the region's earliest herders. It is thought to be eastern Africa's largest and earliest monumental cemetery. The main burial mound is flanked by megaliths, stone circles, and cairns and is believed to hold the remains of hundreds of individuals. Many of the people buried at Lothagam North were adorned with stone beads, ivory, animal teeth, rings or other ornaments. Background The site is the oldest of six known pillar sites in the area and was in use for almost five hundred years. It is hypothesized that towards the end of African humid period, nomadic peoples would return to the site to bury their dead. The changing climate caused the lake to recede revealing fertile land for herbivores to feed on. The use of the site ended with the end of the humid pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Turkana
Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world's fourth-largest salt lake after the Caspian Sea, Issyk-Kul, and Lake Van (passing the shrinking South Aral Sea), and among all lakes it ranks 24th. Lake Turkana is now threatened by the construction of Gilgel Gibe III Dam in Ethiopia due to the damming of the Omo river which supplies most of the lake's water. Although the lake commonly has been —and to some degree still is— used for drinking water, its salinity (slightly brackish) and very high levels of fluoride (much higher than in fluoridated water) generally make it unsuitable, and it has also been a source of diseases spread by contaminated water. Increasingly, communities on the lake's shores rely on underground springs for drinking water. The same c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from palaeontology, which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the adven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pastoral Neolithic
The Pastoral Neolithic (5000 BP - 1200 BP) refers to a period in Africa's prehistory, specifically Tanzania and Kenya, marking the beginning of food production, livestock domestication, and pottery use in the region following the Later Stone Age. The exact dates of this time period remain inexact, but early Pastoral Neolithic sites support the beginning of herding by 5000 BP. In contrast to the Neolithic in other parts of the world, which saw the development of farming societies, the first form of African food production was nomadic pastoralism, or ways of life centered on the herding and management of livestock. The shift from hunting to food production relied on livestock that had been domesticated outside of East Africa, especially North Africa. This period marks the emergence of the forms of pastoralism that are still present. The reliance on livestock herding marks the deviation from hunting-gathering but precedes major agricultural development. The exact movement tendencies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herder
A herder is a pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic or transhumant management of stock, or with common land grazing. The work is often done either on foot or mounted. Depending on the type of animal being herd, the english language can give different professional names, for example, cowboy for cows, shepherd for sheep, or goatherd for goat. Terminology Herders may be distinguished by sex (''e.g.'', herdsman, herdswoman or herdboy) or by the type of livestock, for example camelherd, cowherd, duckherd, goatherd or shepherd. By country China Tibetan herding communities living in the Tibetan Plateau in the Sichuan Province of southwest China continued to graze herds on common lands even after the 1982 Household responsibility system. Several reasons have been given for the endurance of the traditional pastoral lifestyle: *complex topography preve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical Omani Empire and colonial territories of the British East Africa Protectorate and German East Africa, the term ''East Africa'' is often (especially in the English language) used to specifically refer to the area now comprising the three countries of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. However, this has never been the convention in many other languages, where the term generally had a wider, strictly geographic context and therefore typically included Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.Somaliland is not included in the United Nations geoscheme, as it is internationally recognized as a part of Somalia. *Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan are members of the East African Community. The firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monumental Cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a burial ground and originally applied to the Roman catacombs. The term ''graveyard'' is often used interchangeably with cemetery, but a graveyard primarily refers to a burial ground within a churchyard. The intact or cremated remains of people may be interred in a grave, commonly referred to as burial, or in a tomb, an "above-ground grave" (resembling a sarcophagus), a mausoleum, columbarium, niche, or other edifice. In Western cultures, funeral ceremonies are often observed in cemeteries. These ceremonies or rites of passage differ according to cultural practices and religious beliefs. Modern cemeteries often include crematoria, and some grounds previously used for both, continue as crematoria as a principal use long after the interment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge and derives from the Ancient Greek words "mega" for great and " lithos" for stone. Most extant megaliths were erected between the Neolithic period (although earlier Mesolithic examples are known) through the Chalcolithic period and into the Bronze Age. At that time, the beliefs that developed were dynamism and animism, because Indonesia experienced the megalithic age or the great stone age in 2100 to 4000 BC. So that humans ancient tribe worship certain objects that are considered to have supernatural powers. Some relics of the megalithic era are menhirs (stone monuments) and dolmens (stone tables). Types and definitions While "megalith" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stone Circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The best known examples include those at the henge monument at Avebury, the Rollright Stones, and elements within the ring of standing stones at Stonehenge. Scattered examples exist from other parts of Europe. Later, during the Iron Age, stone circles were built in southern Scandinavia. Stone circles are usually grouped in terms of the shape and size of the stones, the span of their radius, and their population within the local area. Although many theories have been advanced to explain their use, usually related to providing a setting for ceremony or ritual, no consensus exists among archaeologists regarding their intended function. Their construction often involved considerable communal effort, including specialist tasks such as planning, quar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistoric times, they were raised as markers, as memorials and as burial monuments (some of which contained chambers). In modern times, cairns are often raised as landmarks, especially to mark the summits of mountains. Cairns are also used as trail markers. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to elaborate megalithic structures. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons. A variant is the inuksuk (plural inuksuit), used by the Inuit and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. History Europe The building of cairns for various purposes goes back into prehistory in Eurasia, ranging in s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Humid Period
The African humid period (AHP) (also known by other names) is a climate period in Africa during the late Pleistocene and Holocene geologic epochs, when northern Africa was wetter than today. The covering of much of the Sahara desert by grasses, trees and lakes was caused by changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun; changes in vegetation and dust in the Sahara which strengthened the African monsoon; and increased greenhouse gases. During the preceding Last Glacial Maximum, the Sahara contained extensive dune fields and was mostly uninhabited. It was much larger than today, but its lakes and rivers such as Lake Victoria and the White Nile were either dry or at low levels. The humid period began about 14,600–14,500 years ago at the end of Heinrich event 1, simultaneously to the Bølling–Allerød warming. Rivers and lakes such as Lake Chad formed or expanded, glaciers grew on Mount Kilimanjaro and the Sahara retreated. Two major dry fluctuations occurred; during the Youn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Journal Of Anthropological Archaeology
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a daily record of financial transactions * Logbook, a record of events important to the operation of a vehicle, facility, or otherwise *Record (other) *Transaction log, a chronological record of data processing *Travel journal In publishing, ''journal'' can refer to various periodicals or serials: *Academic journal, an academic or scholarly periodical ** Scientific journal, an academic journal focusing on science ** Medical journal, an academic journal focusing on medicine **Law review, a professional journal focusing on legal interpretation * Magazine, non-academic or scholarly periodicals in general **Trade magazine, a magazine of interest to those of a particular profession or trade ** Literary magazine, a magazine devoted to li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kalokol Pillar Site
The Nasura Pillar Site, registered as GcJh3 and also known as Namoratunga II, is an archaeological site on the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya dating to the Pastoral Neolithic. Namoratunga means "people of stone" in the Turkana language. The site was originally believed to have been created around 300 BC, but recent excavations have yielded an older radiocarbon sample dating to 2398 +/- 44 years BC. Background The site is easily visible on the Lodwar – Kalokol roadside, from the road. The Kalokol Pillar Site contains 19 basalt pillars which are surrounded by a circular formation of stones. A number of other pillar sites surround Lake Turkana as well and date to the same time period; Lothagam North and Manemanya, for example, are communal cemeteries. These sites were likely built by the region's earliest herders. Another burial site with stone cairns, Namoratunga I, also known as Lokori, does not have stone pillars. Archaeologists Mark Lynch and L.H. Robbins described t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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