This week, Dr. Lisa Hildebrand introduced students to Holocene cultural practices across Africa and in the Turkana Basin. This is Dr. Hildebrand's primary area of research, and she shared her perspectives on ancient human activities in the region and the climatic changes that influenced them. The Holocene time period spans from about 11,700 years ago [...]
As we delve deeper into major innovations of earliest technologies in the archaeological record, TBI Origin Field School students have learnt to appreciate the importance of meticulously recording and analyzing data. The archaeological record involving stone tool technology is characterized by changes in production and form of artefacts, and through detailed studies we can understand [...]
The last course of the field school is underway, Archaeology of the Turkana Basin. Prof. Elisabeth Hildebrand from Stony Brook University joins us as the lead instructor of this course. She has been doing research on the west side of Lake Turkana for years, with a focus on Late Pleistocene and Holocene Archaeology. Prof. [...]
As we approach the end of the Human Evolution course, students have been learning about the evolution of our own genus Homo. They have come to find out that climatic changes that happened about 3-2.5 mya seem to coincide with the evolutionary changes of our ancestors. We learn that the environmental shift from wooded areas [...]
The quest to understand our origins has been a topic that has kept many paleoanthropologists engaged in reconstructing the evolutionary tree in the past few years. Fossil specimens from different sites in the world have been the primary source of data, most of which are from the Late Miocene period (11.6-5.3mya), and the Plio-pleistocene period [...]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students and instructors returned back to their home countries around mid-March. Since then, the Origins Field School has been utilizing virtual classes for its remaining two courses. Underway is the Human Evolution course, taught by Dr. Carrie Mongle. She is a postdoctoral research fellow at the American Museum of Natural [...]
On Monday, students were introduced to the basics of anthropometrics, which are fundamental to understanding human physical variations in populations. Students have come to find out the importance of measuring weight, height, and body fat percentages in assessing diets and life-histories. As emphasized by our instructor, Zane, local adaptations influence much of the body form [...]
Water is a vital but scarce resource for pastoral communities in the Turkana Basin. The situation has been worsened by climate change, which often results in prolonged periods of drought or floods. Water sources determine the movement pattern and settling sphere of people and their livestock. During dry seasons, the Daassanach move around in search [...]