We are experiencing an El Niño event all over the globe, seeing weather patterns that are drastically different from our seasonal norms. The Laikipia region in central Kenya is no different – in a time when it should be dry, the region has been doused with much higher rainfall than the typical average. The TBI [...]
Welcome to the Turkana Basin Institute Field School blog. We will post weekly updates of students' adventures and will also discuss what we are all learning along the way. There are 5 modules over the next 10 weeks- Ecology, Paleontology, Geology, Human Evolution, and Archaeology. Please share with others that might be interested. In addition, check [...]
This semester we have learned a lot....we have made lifelong friends and we have grown as an individual. We are sad to leave but it's time to move on. Here are some pics from our last week in Turkana. One last day in Lodwar town... . One last lunch in Lodwar at The Diner. [...]
As students began their study of hominins and the evolution to bipedalism, they began their study by comparing and contrasting skeletal parts between modern humans, modern apes, and finally, our fossil ancestors. Below are pictures from students’ lab activity on parts of the skeleton of modern humans, apes, and fossil hominins. Dr. Skinner leads a [...]
We have finally entered our last module on Paleoanthropology and is one of the main reason most field school students have come to the Turkana Basin Institute Field School to learn … Human Evolution! With extensive fossil deposits, the Turkana Basin is one of the most (if not #1) important regions for human prehistory. This [...]
In the fields of paleoanthropology and archaeology we are not just searching for bones of our early ancestors. Instead we are seeking knowledge of our biological and technological origins and how these characteristics have changed over time. Presently, the earliest fossil bipedal hominins are between 4- 7 million years old (discussed more in the next [...]
In the last 100,000 years, human behavior evolved to a lifestyle with trading, burying their deceased, fishing, more cooked food, and the creation of figurative art and better-made tools. At the end of the last glacial period (~11,700 years ago), humans were adjusting to changing environments from an overall shift in global climate. During this, [...]
In the study of archaeology, interpreting the behavior and lives of early humans and their ancestors is based on an examination of material they left behind. Guiding the TBI students in their learning this module is Dr. Sonia Harmand, an experienced field archaeologist with expertise on early stone tools. But why would anyone study stone [...]