The Turkana Basin Institute's Origins Field School started off this week with the students exploring the African Savannah and meeting some of the amazing creatures that call this ecosystem home. We were very lucky to spend three days at Mpala Ranch in Laikipia where we had some incredible sightings of wildlife, while learning about the [...]
The Turkana Basin Institute's Fall 2014 Origins Field School has begun. Students arrived in Kenya on the 4th and travelled up to Mpala Ranch yesterday. It was a wet, rainy day - but we did get to see some amazing wildlife on the way to the campsite, including giraffe and elephant. A Reticulated Giraffe [...]
The last event, and almost certainly the one everyone was looking forward to was the Rhythmic Dancing and Singing. This event was different from all the others because the athletes would not only be judged on their skill, but, more importantly, their creativity. And of course, for this, we had three experienced judges - Dr. [...]
During the Human Evolution module the students also got the chance to go on a number of field trips. The first was to the sites of Kalodirr and Losodok where Dr. Skinner set them the challenge of finding a Miocene Ape. The students begin their search of the outcrops. Kalodirr is dated to [...]
Last week marked the beginning of the last module of the Spring 2014 Field School - Human Evolution, taught by Dr. Matt Skinner from University College London. The module kicked off with a journey through the history of palaeoanthropology from the first fossils discovered to important scientific breakthroughs that enabled early scientists to start piecing [...]
On Thursday, after having collected all the raw materials during the Nariokotome trip, it was time for our young hominins to test their knapping skills and prove their worth to the Oldowan community. But before we started, the students made a short trip just outside the compound to collect some quartz pebbles to use as [...]
Day 1 On Thursday, the students set off an a camping adventure to Nariokotome. The truck and the pick-up were packed with bed-rolls, tents, cooking equipment,wash-tubs, and enough food to feed a small army of archaeology students for the next three days. The students also made their own preparations, taking notebooks, academic articles and a [...]
First and foremost, a belated Happy Mardi Gras! The Students and the TA make impromptu masks for Mardi Gras. Our athletes have been very busy these past weeks studying hard and doing research for their modules. But, as all good athletes, they have made time for their training sessions (even if this required [...]