With support from the National Science Foundation Dr. Sally McBrearty will continue archaeological research in the Baringo Basin region of Kenya. In particular she will focus on the Kapthurin Formation in the Tugen Hills. Previous archaeological research in the area has yielded a stratified sequence of archaeological sites as well as a small amount of hominid (human) skeletal material. Research will include analysis of existing museum collections, new archaeological site excavations and investigation of ancient landsurfaces. Geochemical analysis and argon dating of tuff units will refine the Kapthurin chronology. Dr. McBrearty will use stone artifacts and archaeological fauna in an attempt to reconstruct human behavior. A number of techniques will be employed to understand the fluxuating environment to which these hominids adapted. While a number of lines of evidence archaeological, paleontological and genetic suggest that anatomically modern humans first appeared in sub Saharan Africa just when and where this occurred is unknown. What interests paleoanthropologists most however is the process which lead to this emergence and here also little evidence is available. Dr. McBrearty's research will address this issue. Information to date suggests that the transition took place during the Middle Pleistocene and the Kapthurin Formation encompasses this time period. Prior work indicates that it contains archaeological materials and fauna as well as human remains. Dr. McBrearty's work will increase this data base and bring a wide range of modern scientific techniques to bear in order to make interpretations. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of Africa's past. It will provide data of interest to a large number of paleoanthropologists and shed new light on the emergence of modern humans.
