Kenya (1999–2003)

Abstract

In 1999 Professor Stan Ambrose , a friend and colleague from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, invited me to work with him in the West Kenya Rift . Our aim was to investigate the transition from Middle to Late Stone Age at a number of sites in this remote and beautiful area. During four field seasons (1999–2003) we achieved this aim, working closely with the local Maasai people. The stone tools and fossil bones that we excavated are still in process of analysis. An older site called Lemudong’o had an abundance of fossil bone. A bed of volcanic ash associated with the bones had an age of six million years. Dr Leslea Hjulsko , now at the University of California , Berkeley, excavated this site and published the results in full. Despite the rich fauna at the site, no hominid fossils came to light. A highlight of working in this part of Kenya was the wildlife, including Cape buffalo, lions, hyenas, jackals, baboons and anteaters. We never troubled them and they never troubled us. Being struck in the left eye by a rock proved a temporary inconvenience.