Pastoralists in the northeastern Mara Plains, Kenya: archaeological investigations of the Pastoral Neolithic and the Pastoral Iron Age

Abstract

During the 1980s, a fairly detailed picture was constructed of the prehistory of the Loita-Mara region, Narok District, southwestern Kenya, up to Elmenteitan times. However, the archaeological sequence after the Elmenteitan period remained poorly understood. Researchers from the University of Helsinki therefore undertook an initial examination of this post-Elmenteitan period in 1984 and 1986. This paper presents results of the work thus undertaken and of the oral histories collected. Field survey in the northeastern Mara Plains identified a host of Pastoral Iron Age (PIA) sites and many late or post-Elmenteitan sites, provisionally named ‘Oldorotua’ and thought likely to date, based on currently available evidence, to the transition between the Pastoral Neolithic and the Pastoral Iron Age. Two PIA sites were excavated, an iron-smelting/working furnace (GuJe 32) and a few hundred years old boma (GuJf 70). In addition, oral histories were also collected from local informants. Based on these field studies a preliminary culture-historical base sequence for the area is proposed, ranging from Pastoral Neolithic times to the twentieth century. This can be used as a working hypothesis for future research in the area.

Au cours des années 1980, une image assez détaillée a été construite de la préhistoire de la région de Mara-Loita, Narok District, au sud-ouest du Kenya, jusqu'au temps de l'industrie Elmenteitan. Cependant, la séquence archéologique après la période Elmenteitan était encore mal connue. Donc, des chercheurs de l'Université d'Helsinki ont entrepris un examen initial de cette période en 1984 et 1986. Cet article présente les résultats des travaux ainsi entrepris et des récits oraux recueillis. Dans le nord-est des plaines du Mara Plains des études sur le terrain ont identifié beaucoup de stations de l'Age du Fer pastoral (PIA) et des autres d'une age Elmenteitan ou post-Elmenteitan, provisoirement intitulés “Oldorotua”. Selon les témoignages actuellement à notre disposition les sites “Oldorotua” remontent probablement à la transition entre le Néolithique pastoral (PN) et la PIA. Deux sites de la PIA ont été fouillés, un four (GuJe 32) et un boma (GuJf 70). En outre, des histoires orales ont également été recueillies auprès des informateurs. Sur la base de ces études sur le terrain une sequence culture-historique de base est proposée, allant du PN jusqu'au vingtième siècle. Cela peut être utilisée comme une hypothèse de travail pour des recherches à l'avenir.

Keywords:

• Pastoral Neolithic
• Pastoral Iron Age
• Maasai, ethnohistory
• East Africa

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Professor Peter Robertshaw, Dr Paul Lane and anonymous referees for their valuable and constructive comments. All errors are obviously our responsibility. Since the first author, Dr Ari Siiriäinen (1939–2004), passed away before the paper was finished, the final version was brought together by the junior authors. Ari Siiriäinen directed the fieldwork and was responsible for most of the analyses, assisted in the field by Laurén, and in lithic and GIS analyses by Seitsonen. Seitsonen also completed the paper, tables and figures, and tried to bring the interpretations of these twentieth century studies into the twenty-first century. Radiometric dates were funded by the University of Helsinki project 08431001 (director, O. Seitsonen).

This paper is one of the last in a series of manuscripts by Dr Siiriäinen to be published posthumously (see Siiriäinen et al. 2008). However, a still larger autobiographical manuscript describing Siiriäinen's African expeditions is currently being edited by Seitsonen. This will be published in a popular format in future, hopefully in English as well.

Notes

1. Radiometric dates from two KSW sites are 140±170 BC (N-1234) and AD 760±75 (N-1235) (Bower 1973).

2. Elevation data derived from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) built with ArcGIS^tm 9.3, based on the Map Maker Trust Africa 3D data (www.mapmaker.org); the DEM was interpolated using a Natural Neighbour algorithm from contours with a 2 m interval, cell size is 25×25 m.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ari Siiriäinen

Deceased