Bone and Site Modification Processes Among the Okiek

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Dr. Fiona Marshall and her colleagues will conduct research among the Okiek people of Kenya. The Okiek, who live in small local groups scattered throughout the highlands of Kenya, are of great anthropological interest because they have retained a traditional lifestyle which relies heavily on hunting and the gathering of wild plant foods. They are also important because they occupy high montane forest and little is known about adaptation to such environments. The team will provide a case study of hunter- gatherer faunal use. They will live with the Okiek, accompany hunting parties, and study faunal acquisition, bone modification, and discard. Because the project will extend over twelve months and the Okiek move frequently, it will be possible to study faunal use at a variety of sites, in a variety of habitats, and through a variety of seasons. Data will be collected on Okiek hunting strategies, details of carcass processing, and the relationship between human actions and the location and character of cuts and bone breakage. Records will be kept on bone transport and discard. Discarded bone will be mapped, collected, and studied, and post-discard bone modification processes will be examined at selected sites. This research will accomplish several anthropologically important goals. It will document a unique, and fast disappearing way of life. It will also provide insight into hunting and traditional subsistence practices and yield data which will help archaeologists to understand the past. Finally, through examination of the relationship between subsistence and the faunal byproducts of this process, it will provide a set of tools which will aid in the interpretation of archaeological remains. Until approximately 10,000 years ago all humans lived by hunting and gathering and many pan-human traits such as the family and language developed in this context. We can better understand ourselves today when we view ourselves in this broader context. Dr. Marshall's research will contribute to this goal.