Turkana Basin Institute Field School

"As we delve deeper into major innovations of earliest technologies in the archaeological record, TBI Origin Field School students have learnt to appreciate the... importance of meticulously recording and analyzing data. The archaeological record involving stone tool technology is characterized by changes in production and form of artefacts, and through detailed studies we can understand how these forms are categorized. Understanding the technological capabilities of hominins helps us define major phases and cultural abilities of these early humans." See more

"The last course of the field school is underway, Archaeology of the Turkana Basin. Prof. Elisabeth Hildebrand from Stony Brook University joins us as the lead instructor of this course."

"The quest to understand our origins has been a topic that has kept many paleoanthropologists engaged in reconstructing the evolutionary tree in the past few years."

TBI Origins Field School students engage in a well-digging exercise during the Cultural Immersion module of the program. This is a common practice among the pastoral Dassanach community of eastern Lake Turkana because clean water is a very scarce resource. The essential knowledge of knowing where exactly to dig for water has been passed down generations among the Dassanach community.