Journal
JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
Volume 59, Issue 6, Pages 657-671Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.020
Keywords
Middle Stone Age; Lake Victoria; Aridity; Pleistocene
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation [BCS-0841530, BCS-0852609]
- Leakey Foundation
- National Geographic Society s Committee for Research and Exploration [8762-10]
- New York University
- Baylor University
- University of Minnesota
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Western Kenya is well known for abundant early Miocene hominoid fossils However the Wasiriya Beds of Rusinga Island Kenya preserve a Pleistocene sedimentary archive with radiocarbon age estimates of >33-45 ka that contains Middle Stone Age artifacts and abundant, well-preserved fossil fauna a co-occurrence rare in eastern Africa particularly in the region bounding Lake Victoria Artifacts and fossils are associated with distal volcanic ash deposits that occur at multiple localities in the Wasiriya Beds, correlated on the basis of geochemical composition as determined by electron probe microanalysis Sediment lithology and the fossil ungulates suggest a local fluvial system and associated riparian wooded habitat within a predominantly and grassland setting that differs substantially from the modern environment, where local climate is strongly affected by moisture availability from lake Victoria In particular the presence of oryx (Oryx gazella) and Grevy s zebra (Equus grevyi) suggest a pre-Last Glacial Maximum expansion of and grasslands an environmental reconstruction further supported by the presence of several extinct specialized grazers (Pelorovis antiquus Megalotragus sp and a small alcelaphine) that are unknown from Holocene deposits in eastern Africa The combination of artifacts, a rich fossil fauna and volcaniclastic sediments makes the Wasiriya Beds a key site for examining the lake Victoria basin a biogeographically important area for understanding the diversification and dispersal of Homo sapiens from Africa whose pre-Last Glacial Maximum history remains poorly understood (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available