The oldest Oldowan tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago, have previously been confined to Ethiopia’s Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.032 to 2.581 million years ago and expand this distribution by over 1300 kilometers. Furthermore, we found two hippopotamid butchery sites associated with mosaic vegetation and a C 4 grazer–dominated fauna. Tool flaking proficiency was comparable with that of younger Oldowan assemblages, but pounding activities were more common. Tool use-wear and bone damage indicate plant and animal tissue processing. Paranthropus sp. teeth, the first from southwestern Kenya, possessed carbon isotopic values indicative of a diet rich in C 4 foods. We argue that the earliest Oldowan was more widespread than previously known, used to process diverse foods including megafauna, and associated with Paranthropus from its onset.

In Kenya, cases of malnutrition and nutritionally related ailments have been on the rise. This calls for the search for food crops with vital trace elements. The aim of the current study was to use energy dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF) to determine the concentrations of Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn in the stems and leaves of the African spider plant (Cleome gynandra) in the context of nutrition. Stems and leaves of the African spider plant grown in the highland and in the lowland of Molo Ward, Nakuru, Kenya, were found to contain total available Zn in the range of 140 ± 50 to 230 ± 60 mg/kg, Fe in the range of 2200 ± 700 to 3900 ± 1700 mg/kg, Cu at 13 ± 3 to 16 ± 5 mg/kg, and Mn at 380 ± 120 to 400 ± 140 mg/kg. There was no significant difference in the average concentrations of the trace elements in the leaves and stems of the African spider plant from the lowland and highland regions of Molo Ward (p > 0.05). The concentrations of Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn in the African spider plants is high enough to make it a nutritious traditional vegetable. Therefore, farmers should be encouraged and empowered to grow more vegetables.