Kansyore fisher-foragers and transitions to food production in East Africa: the view from Wadh Lang'o, Nyanza Province, Western Kenya

Abstract

The site of Wadh Lang'o in southern Nyanza Province (Kenya) has produced a very large faunal assemblage in association with Kansyore, Elmenteitan and Urewe ceramics. The stratigraphy of the site appears to be intact and six dates have been obtained from the sequence, making this the best opportunity to look at diachronic change in subsistence strategies in this region. The main results of the zooarchaeological analysis are presented here, with emphasis on the Kansyore component. Two important findings are discussed: first, the fish remains, when taken together with remains from other Kansyore sites and considering the behavioural traits of these fish, suggest that Kansyore riverside and lakeshore sites were occupied in distinct seasons and used together in a single settlement and subsistence system. Second, the mammalian remains suggest that while Kansyore foragers hunted a broad range of taxa, they also began to consume domesticates perhaps as early as the mid- to late-third millennium cal. BC. This suggests that occupants of late Kansyore sites were in contact with food producers, but whether the domestic animal remains are the result of exchange, or of adopting food production, remains ambiguous.

Le site de Wadh Lang'o, au sud de la province de Nyanza (Kenya), a produit un grand ensemble faunistique en association avec poterie du style Kansyore, Elmenteitan et Urewe. La stratigraphie du site semble entière et six datations ont permis de dater la séquence, en rendant ce site fondamental pour l′étude du changement diachronique des stratégies de subsistance de la région. Les principaux résultats de l′analyse zooarchéologique sont présentés ici, avec un accent sur le composant Kansyore. Deux découvertes sont discutées: la première est l′étude du poisson. Les restes du poisson quand sont considérés en conjonction avec d′autres sites de type Kansyore, suggère que les sites près du lac et ceux formés prés des rivières ont été occupés dans des saisons différentes et ont été parties d'un système saisonnier de subsistance et d'installation. La seconde découverte, d′après l′étude des restes des macro-mammifères, suggère que bien que les populations du Kansyore aient chassé une gamme très grande de taxons sauvages, ils consommaient aussi des animaux domestiqués au milieu ou fin du troisième millénaire av. J.-C. Ceci indique que les occupants des sites appartenant à la phase finale du Kansyore étaient en contact avec des producteurs. La manière auquel ces populations obtenaient ces animaux (échange, élevage) reste encore ambiguë.

Keywords:

• Kansyore
• hunter-gatherers
• fishing
• pastoralism
• East Africa
• zooarchaeology

Acknowledgements

Excavations at Wadh Lang'o in 2001 were conducted by the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) with assistance from the British Institute in East Africa (BIEA). I would like to thank F. Odede, P. Lane, and C. Ashley for providing me with information about both the 2001 and 2004 excavations, particularly field notes and drawings from 2001. I am indebted to P. Kiura, M. Muia, P. Watene, S. Katisya, M. Njonge, D. Nyingi, M. Ogeto and all the staff of the Archaeology, Ichthyology and Osteology Departments at the NMK for their support. I thank K. Hartel of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology for access to lungfish specimens, and W. Van Neer for invaluable instruction and advice regarding identification and analysis of fish remains. Finally, I thank two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments and suggestions.

Permission to conduct research was granted by the Office of the President of the Republic of Kenya, and by Dr. I. Farah, Director General of the NMK. This formed one part of my dissertation research, which was supported by a NSF Doctoral Dissertation Grant (NSF-0620262), a Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant (Grant #7489), and two Harvard grants: a Graduate Society Summer Research Grant, and the Sheldon Travelling Fellowship. I thank F. Marshall, R. Meadow, P. Lane and P. Robertshaw for guidance during my research.

Notes

1. An exception to this may be the Kanjera midden, which is extremely large compared to others in the region (P. Robertshaw, pers. comm.). It is thus possible that it may have resulted from either a more sedentary occupation or from a series of shorter occupations over a long time period, an issue that could only be resolved through further excavations.