African Humid Period Ceramics in the Turkana Basin, Kenya: New Data from Lothagam Lokam (and New Chronological Challenges)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ceramics produced by fisher-hunter-gatherers during the African Humid Period (AHP) are recognized archaeologically throughout northwest Kenya’s Turkana Basin, predating the arrival/adoption of cattle-based pastoralism and “Nderit” ceramic traditions ~5,000 years ago. Some AHP ceramics in the Turkana Basin share well-documented decorative similarities with Wavy Line and Dotted Wavy Line pottery, suggesting cultural connections with the Sahara and Nile Valley. New excavations of stratified occupational contexts at Lothagam Lokam provide evidence for early and repeated site use, including discard of thus far unidentified and stylistically diverse AHP ceramics, in areas separate from mortuary activity. Some radiocarbon dates on bulk organic material in this pottery are surprisingly old. We present here initial results, acknowledging complex geomorphological dynamics at a site where shorelines repeatedly shifted with lake level changes, and solicit feedback on chronological and stratigraphic interpretation of Lokam’s fisher-hunter-gatherer settlement history and craft production.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53379