GUOMDE
LOCATION
SE of Ileret, on the northern sector of the east shore
of Lake Turkana, northern Kenya.DISCOVERY
W. Mangao, 1976.
MATERIAL
KNM-ER 3884, partial and fragmentary cranium
with upper dentition; also a femoral fragment, KNM-
ER 999.DATING AND STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT
Surface finds in a part of the Guomde Formation that
was included in the Chari Member of the Koobi Fora
Fm subsequent to the fossils’ discovery (Feibel et al.,
1989). The sediments from which the specimen came
are close to the base of the latest Pleistocene/Holocene
Galana Boi Fm, and were initially considered to fall in
the range of 0.5-0.1 Ma or possibly even younger
(Brauer et al., 1992). Nondestructive gamma-ray
spectrometry on two fragments of the cranium later
yielded U/Th ages of 272 and 279 Ka, with minimum
ages of ca. 160 Ka; the femur produced an age of
305 Ka (Brauer et al., 1997). U/Pa dates support an
age of well over 180 Ka (Brauer et al., 1997).ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
None.PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS AND ANALYSES
The original description of the cranium by Brauer
et al. (1992) emphasized similarities to modern
African Homo sapiens, while also pointing out some
details of the supraorbital region and maxilla that are
reminiscent of more archaic forms. A later analysis by
Brauer and colleagues, which was made when the
considerable antiquity of the specimen had been con-
firmed, found that the hominid “might represent an
archaic Homo sapiens or a transitional specimen very
closely related to modern humans” (Brauer et al.,
1997: 337). Brauer et al. (1997) point to an endocra-
nial capacity of “around 1,400 cm3”).MORPHOLOGY
KNM-ER 3884
Rear of skull reconstructed from many pieces, plus
reconstructed maxilla with all teeth, very worn and
eroded, some fragmentary; also anterior part of frontal
in several pieces. Bone of frontal quite robust; that of
neurocranium more posteriorly very thin (may be
partly due to weathering and flaking off of inner
table).Frontal. Supraorbital tori double arched and
uniformly thick from side to side, with slight lateral
taper, Tori were smoothly rolled above and angled
sharply below into orbital roof. Frontal rises quite
sharply close behind tori (no distinct posttoral sulcus85