National Geographic History - 01.2019 - 02.2019

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 5

carved colored stones. Re-

searchers were intrigued

to find an ornate headpiece

decorated with 405 gerbil in-

cisors. The grave goods were

evenly distributed among

the bodies, with no sign of

social hierarchy. Most mon-

umental ancient burial sites

were reserved for the elite,

which would make Lothagam

unusual. Future explorations

of the larger site will need to

delve into the implications of

these initial finds.

Winds of Change

Analysis suggests that the

mound may have been built

some 5,000 years ago, when

Lake Turkana was much

larger and rainfall abundant.

In the coming centuries, the

climate changed, and the lake

began to recede. As the land-

scape transformed around

the community, herding

replaced fishing as a source

of food. To the local peoples,

the communal cemetery at

Lothagam North would have

stood as a beacon of conti-

nuity in a changing world.

LEGACY AT THE LAKE

FIVE THOUSAND YEARS may seem like a long time

ago. The 5,000-year-old Lothagam North necropolis

certainly seems ancient, but the region around Lake

Turkana (the world’s largest, permanent desert lake)

has been home to communities that extend back to the

dawn of humanity itself. In 1994 National Geographic

explorer-in-residence Maeve Leakey unearthed a fossil of

a hominid(Australopithecusanamensis)who lived around

4.2 to 3.9 million years ago. Study of the fossil found the

creature had walked on two feet, and that hominids had

developed bipedalism earlier than previously thought.

Near the lake in 1984, Kenyan paleontologist Ka-

moya Kimeu found a fossil ofHomoerec-

tuswho lived 1.5 to 1.6 million

ago. Believed to be a boy ab

eight or nine years old, the fo

was nicknamed Turkana Boy

is the most complete hominid

skeleton found to date.

elderly were among this small
sample; evidence suggests
that generation after gener-
ation of herders returned to
this place to bury their dead
over hundreds of years.
The team also found a
cache of remarkable artifacts
at the site, including pieces
of pottery, bracelets made of
hippo tusks, and intricately

TURKANA BOY’S SKULL HELPED

ANTHROPOLOGISTS DETERMINE HIS

AGE AT THE TIME OF DEATH.

RICHARD DU TOIT/AGE FOTOSTOCK

BRENT STIRTON/GETTY IMAGES

KATHERINE GRILLO/PNAS

PNAS

years

bout

ossil

y.It

d

B

LAKE TURKANA, KENYA.

IN THE FOREGROUND IS THE

NABIYOTUM CRATER.

THIS UNIQUE HEADDRESS

FOUND AMONG THE BURIALS

IS ADORNED WITH 405

GERBIL TEETH.