GEOLOGIC CORRELATIONS AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES OF SIGNIFICANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE TURKANA BASIN, EASTERN AFRICA

The Turkana Basin in northern Kenya is a significant site known for fossils and artifacts related to human evolution. Analysis of context can help to understand these finds more thoroughly. Context encompasses the location in where the artifact or fossil is found, as well as its relationship to strata, other artifacts, and fossils. Current research into past environments involves the analysis of sediment cores and outcrops throughout the basin. This project focuses on integration of a 216 m core (WTK13) drilled at Kaitio, west of Lake Turkana, with contemporary finds from the basin and other sites in eastern Africa. The core lies close proximity to over 100 archaeological sites and numerous hominin localities. With the organization and synthesis of data collected over 30 years we can construct a temporal and environmental framework for hominin evolution throughout the region. The WTK13 core provides a critical reference for the context of the KNM-WT 15000 (Turkana Boy skeleton), the earliest Acheulean stone tools at Kokiselei, the northernmost Paranthropus robustus skull from Konso, and key finds from Olduvai Gorge such as the skeleton OH 62. In the interpretation of the core, new research suggests that while hydroclimate reacted to significant short-term variability, the long-term record is more stable than previously theorized.