Collaborative Research: Middle Pleistocene Hominin Behavior and Paleoecology at Farre, Chalbi Basin, Northern Kenya

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The African early Middle Pleistocene saw the emergence of archaic Homo, the expansion of hominin brain capacities to near-modern dimensions, and the first appearance of a battery of sophisticated new technologies. And yet, as relatively few African localities sample this important timeframe (i.e. the period from c.781-500ka), the specific details regarding the timing, setting, and dynamics that underlie the emergence and early evolution of these advances remain poorly understood. With an estimated minimum age of c.600-500ka, recent paleoanthropological discoveries at the open-air site of Farre, located in the Chalbi Basin of northern Kenya, may add important new data relevant to these issues. In this project, an interdisciplinary team of investigators will conduct a two-year archaeological and geochronological study to better understand the age and contents of the Farre site. Broader impacts of the project include the opportunity to build research collaborations across universities, museums, and research centers, research and training opportunities for students and junior faculty, and public education and conservation outreach at the field site and in the U.S. During two seasons of paleoanthropological fieldwork at Farre, the investigators will expand preliminary excavations to further document the presence of in situ archaeological materials, increase the sample size of diagnostic artifact forms and fossil taxa, refine the geoarchaeology and paleoenvironmental setting of the site; and refine the geochronology of site. Finds from preliminary excavations include artifacts consistent with both Early and Middle Stone Age technologies, coupled with fossil taxa suggesting an age in excess of 500ka. Farre may thus help bridge a long-standing gap in the record of this paleoanthropologically-important region, refine our understanding of the emergence and early evolution of important technological capacities, and place inferred hominin adaptations within local, regional, and global paleoenvironmental contexts.