The Pleistocene archaeology and environments of the Wasiriya Beds, Rusinga Island, Kenya

Tryon, Christian A.; Faith, J. Tyler; Peppe, Daniel J.; Fox, David L.; McNulty, Kieran P.; Jenkins, Kirsten; Dunsworth, Holly M.; Harcourt‐Smith, William E. H.

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.020

Cited by 81 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…The SMCRE is the familiar dry savanna of eastern Africa characterized by habitats that range from Acacia-Commiphora deciduous bushland/thicket to semidesert grassland and shrubland with distinctive arid-adapted fauna such as the oryx (Oryx beisa) and Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi; Grubb et al 1999). Faunal data from eastern African MSA sites consistently show hominin occupation of grassland habitats broadly similar to those found in the SMCRE (Tryon et al 2010. Other sites occur in the Eastern Forest transitional zone along the Indian Ocean coast, the Lake Victoria regional mosaic (LVRM), or near the ecotone between the SMCRE and scattered highland Afromontane areas ( fig.…”

Section: Environmental Controlssupporting

confidence: 53%

“…Human exploitation of large mammals is also documented at other sites, including Rusinga Island, Kenya (Jenkins et al 2012;Tryon et al 2010), and Loiyangalani, Tanzania (Thompson 2005). Although the sample is small, these studies suggest that at least by the later parts of the Pleistocene, MSA foragers hunted a variety of large and small ungulates and selectively transported meatrich elements to central places such as caves for further processing and consumption.…”

Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Sites such as Porc Epic, Ethiopia, and Nasera, Tanzania, have been interpreted as overlook sites situated near game pathways (Clark 2001a;Mehlman 1989). Hunters appear to have used natural features such as topographic lows, streams, or springs to acquire game at site GvJm46 at Lukenya Hill (Marean 1990;1997;Miller 1979) and Rusinga Island (Jenkins et al 2012;Tryon et al 2010) in Kenya. Ambrose (2001) has argued that MSA populations in the central part of the Rift Valley in Kenya positioned themselves at or near the ecotone between grassland and forest habitats in order to best access resources from both environments.…”

Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variability in the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa

Tryon¹,

Faith²

2013

Current Anthropology

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174

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Section: Environmental Controlssupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variability in the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa

Tryon¹,

Faith²

2013

Current Anthropology

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“…The Late Pleistocene geology, fossils, and MSA artifacts from Rusinga and Mfangano Islands have been the focus of research since 2009 (Tryon et al, 2010Faith et al, 2011Faith et al, , 2012Faith et al, , 2014Van Plantinga, 2011;Jenkins et al, 2017;Blegen et al, in press). More recently, this research has expanded to include the deposits around the region known as Karungu ∼40 km to the south near the town of Sori (Figure 1; Beverly et al, 2015a,b;Blegen et al, 2015;Faith et al, 2015).…”

Section: Karungu and Rusinga And Mfangano Islandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These sites sample an approximately 55 km-long north to south transect along the eastern margin of the modern lake: Rusinga Island (n = 2), Mfangano Island (n = 1), and Karungu (n = 4) (Figure 1; Tryon et al, 2014Tryon et al, , 2016Beverly et al, 2015a,b;Blegen et al, 2015;Faith et al, 2015;Garrett et al, 2015). These deposits are all part a sequence of late Pleistocene deposits around the northeastern margin of Lake Victoria and the stratigraphy is dominated by paleosols, freshwater tufa, fluvial deposits, and volcaniclastic deposits (tuffs) that can be geochemically correlated between outcrops (Tryon et al, 2010Van Plantinga, 2011;Beverly et al, 2015a,b;Blegen et al, 2015Blegen et al, , 2016Faith et al, 2015). The objectives of this study are to: (1) use field and micromorphological observations of paleosols and bulk geochemical proxies for paleoenvironment and paleoclimate to reconstruct a series of paleo-CZs across the northeastern margin of Lake Victoria, (2) provide additional context for fossil fauna and MSA sites, and (3) integrate observations and MAP estimates into other Late Pleistocene reconstructions of regional paleoclimate and paleoenvironment to better understand their impact on human evolution and dispersal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstruction of Late Pleistocene Paleoenvironments Using Bulk Geochemistry of Paleosols from the Lake Victoria Region

et al. 2017

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The impact of changing environments on the evolution and dispersal of Homo sapiens is highly debated, but few data are available from equatorial Africa. Lake Victoria is the largest freshwater lake in the tropics and is currently a biogeographic barrier between the eastern and western branches of the East African Rift. The lake has previously desiccated at ∼17 ka and again at ∼15 ka, but little is known from this region prior to the Last Glacial Maximum. The Pleistocene terrestrial deposits on the northeast coast of Lake Victoria (94-36 ka) are ideal for paleoenvironmental reconstructions where volcaniclastic deposits (tuffs), fluvial deposits, tufa, and paleosols are exposed, which can be used to reconstruct Critical Zones (CZ) of the past (paleo-CZs). The paleo-CZ is a holistic concept that reconstructs the entire landscape using geologic records of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and pedosphere (the focus of this study). New paleosol-based mean annual precipitation (MAP) proxies from Karungu, Rusinga Island, and Mfangano Island indicate an average MAP of 750 ± 108 mm year −1 (CALMAG), 800 ± 182 mm year −1 (CIA-K), and 1,010 ± 228 mm year −1 (PPM 1.0 ) with no statistical difference throughout the 11 m thick sequence. This corresponds to between 54 and 72% of modern precipitation. Tephras bracketing these paleosols have been correlated across seven sites, and sample a regional paleo-CZ across a ∼55 km transect along the eastern shoreline of the modern lake. Given the sensitivity of Lake Victoria to precipitation, it is likely that the lake was significantly smaller than modern between 94 and 36 ka. This would have removed a major barrier for the movement of fauna (including early modern humans) and provided a dispersal corridor across the equator and between the rifts. It is also consistent with the associated fossil faunal assemblage indicative of semi-arid grasslands. During the Late Pleistocene, the combined geologic and paleontological evidence suggests a seasonally dry, open grassland environment for the Lake Victoria region that is significantly drier than today, which may have facilitated human and faunal dispersals across equatorial East Africa.

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Cryptotephras: the revolution in correlation and precision dating

Davies

2015

J Quaternary Science

135

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From its Icelandic origins in the study of visible tephra horizons, tephrochronology took a remarkable step in the late 1980 s with the discovery of a ca. 4300-year-old microscopic ash layer in a Scottish peat bog. Since then, the search for these cryptotephra deposits in distal areas has gone from strength to strength. Indeed, a recent discovery demonstrates how a few fine-grained glass shards from an Alaskan eruption have been dispersed more than 7000 km to northern Europe. Instantaneous deposition of geochemically distinct volcanic ash over such large geographical areas gives rise to a powerful correlation tool with considerable potential for addressing a range of scientific questions. A prerequisite of this work is the establishment of regional tephrochronological frameworks that include well-constrained age estimates and robust geochemical signatures for each deposit. With distal sites revealing a complex record of previously unknown volcanic events, frameworks are regularly revised, and it has become apparent that some closely timed eruptions have similar geochemical signatures. The search for unique and robust geochemical fingerprints thus hinges on rigorous analysis by electron microprobe and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Historical developments and significant breakthroughs are presented to chart the revolution in correlation and precision dating over the last 50 years using tephrochronology and cryptotephrochronology.

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The Pleistocene archaeology and environments of the Wasiriya Beds, Rusinga Island, Kenya

Cited by 81 publications

References 109 publications

Variability in the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa

Variability in the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa

Reconstruction of Late Pleistocene Paleoenvironments Using Bulk Geochemistry of Paleosols from the Lake Victoria Region

Cryptotephras: the revolution in correlation and precision dating

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