Pastoral Neolithic Mortuary Site Sedimentology at Noomparrua Nkosesia, Kenya

Summary

Mobile pastoralism was the earliest form of food production in eastern Africa. The spread of pastoralism in Kenya c. 5000-1200 BP involved peoples with diverse subsistence patterns and material culture repertoires. However, little is known about the social landscapes and mortuary practices in southern Kenya. The mosaic of Pastoral Neolithic burial traditions across Kenya is diverse, ranging from monumental pillar sites to the north to cairns and rockshelter cremations to the south. In 2016, members of a Maasai community in the Loita Hills discovered a unique Pastoral Neolithic mortuary site named Noomparrua Nkosesia (GxJg2). This rockshelter held the remains of five cremated individuals, approximately 90 ground stone bowls and 44 obsidian artifacts, but no grindstones. We report on the chronology, stratigraphic profile, and formation processes of this site. Particle size, magnetic susceptibility and FTIR analyses demonstrate the presence of distinct layers of ash and red ochre at the site. Our analyses provide insight into mortuary practices clearly distinct from those at Elmenteitan cremation sites such as Njoro River Cave.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21523