33 Cultural Succession of East Africa

D. K. Bhattacharya

East Africa is a distinct climatic zone in the huge continent of Africa. This is mainly because of a deep gorge that cuts through this landmass forming a north-south axis. This gorge was created because of plate tectonics motion during the past. Presently most of these fissures and gorges have become huge lakes providing large part of resources to the people of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Roughly speaking the area between 50 N and 120 S including the equator in the middle constitutes East Africa. The lakes of the valley seem to have undergone considerable and also repeated fluctuations both in terms of their level and expanse. The available evidences suggest of certain epochs when huge amount of water filled almost the whole of eastern segment of the rift valley and the level of lake Victoria stood about 1000 feet higher than its present level. The lacustrine beaches exposed by erosion during lowering of the lake level have served to establish a sequence of the Pluvial phases for this part of Africa.

 

During Tertiary period many high mountains and lakes were formed due to extensive tectonic movements, which started with the beginning of Cenozoic and almost terminated by the Pliocene period. The subsequent period- Quaternary was marked by great Pluvial phases. The Kageran, the first pluvial is taken to be more or less contemporary with the Villafranchian stage of Europe. Recently a large amount of Archaeo-magnetic dates on polarity reversal of earth’s magnetic field has been worked out in this region. This enables us to ascribe the Kageran phase to the phase of Gauss-Matuyama reversal. In terms of absolute date, therefore, this can be dated anywhere between 4 to 5 million years. This is followed by an arid phase after which the second pluvial or Kamasian phase begins. This pluvial in many parts of the country records two phases. The earlier one is named Kamasian and the later one is named Kanjeran. It is during the Kamasian pluvial that the eastern valley was almost entirely occupied by the huge lake Kamasia, the deposits of which are cut through by the famous Olduvai or Oldowai gorge. After the very dry epoch succeeding the Kamasian pluvial a new wet epoch called Gamblian sets in with three peak periods. The rainfall was however, much less marked in this period than during the Kageran or the Kamasian. This marks the end of Pleistocene epoch. In the early Holocene occurs two humid and weaker damp climates interspersed with dry intervals. The first of these is called Makalian and the next one is called Nakuran phase.

 

The chronology of East African prehistory is mainly based on the foregoing sequence of oscillating climatic phases. Rich mammalian fauna and prehistoric tools are found associated with the deposits of these climatic phases. Pleistocene divisions of East Africa may be represented in the following table.

 

Sequence of Climatic phases, Cultural succession and Archaeo-magnetic reversal dates of East Africa

 

Epochs Pluvials Culture Date
Holocene Nakuran Iron Age 8000 B.C.E

Kafuan is identified as a simple pebble industry that begins around early Lower Pleistocene phase slightly pre-dating the Oldowan succession. Many authors believe that both chronologically as also on technological details Kafuan can be considered ancestral to the Oldowan which emerges around the second Pluvial. The tools of this tradition are mainly prepared on quartz pebbles and are entirely devoid of any delicate retouch. Although Lower Kafuan is the earliest recorded human culture of this region, it is known to continue parallely with the Oldowan till the end of Middle Pleistocene. Kafuan is identified as a simple pebble industry that begins around early Lower Pleistocene phase slightly pre-dating the Oldowan succession.

 

Oldowan: This is the first cultural phase that emerges with Kamasian. Prof. Leakey found the type specimens of Oldowan culture in Level I of Olduvai gorge deposits. The artifacts found in four different strata of Level I form one homogenous industry. It is pebble culture, but unlike the preceeding Kafuans the raw material chosen is no longer quartz but also include quartzite, chert and basalt. The types mostly include choppers, that is, pebbles which are flaked from one surface only. Pebbles worked alternately from both surfaces are called chopping tools and these are not so common. Besides these some flakes with little or no retouch are also recorded. Directly overlying these layers occurs the Chello-Acheulian layers.

 

Chello-Acheulian or Biface industry: During late Lower Pleistocene the handaxe culture appears to develop directly from its preceeding pebble based layers. This gradual development is seen through the layers II, III and IV. As many as 11 separate phases have been identified through these 3 layers. This culminates into a typical late Acheulian stage with strong Mousteroid element mixed with it. This has been named Kenya Fauresmith. This is the only site in the world where one can demonstrate a typo-technological evolution of the entire Lower Palaeolithic culture attested with confirmed stratigraphic succession.

 

The third or Gamblian Pluvial marks the disappearance of handaxes and cleavers from East Africa. After their disappearance, the East African sites manifest a strong regional variation.

 

Kenya: Proto-Stillbay and Kenya Stillbay are two terms assigned to two stratigraphically distinct industries from Kenya. Typologically, however, they need not be separated under two categories because of their overall similarity. They represent an obsidian culture which is high in levalloise technique and totally Mousteroid in type. Some flakes having bifacial flaking led many to comment that Kenya Stillbay represents a Mousterian evolving into Solutrean.

 

Kenya Capsian: This represents a backed blade and burin industry. Also mixed in this one can find such microlithic types as lunates, triangles and trapezes. Ostrich egg shell beads and bored shell beads are other cultural objects. Two sherds of ill fired pottery with basket impression form the other cultural material of this tradition.

 

Uganda: The Gamblian industries in Uganda are well represented in a chronological succession in the terraces of the Kagera river, which flows into lake Victoria. The majority of the tools are retouched Levalloise flakes but handaxes are found to continue with these. This is followed by Sangoan which is broadly speaking contemporary with Proto-Stillbay of Kenya.

 

During the Makalian wet phase of early Holocene, Kenya has two successive cultures called Elementeitan and Kenya Wilton. In Uganda the corresponding industries are termed Magosan and Lupenban. Both these show microliths with profusion of pot-sherds. While in Kenya the raw material used is predominately obsidian, in Uganda it is changed to chert material. Uganda also demonstrates arrow heads and Solutrean like leaf points.

 

To sum up, the above brief survey of East African prehistory reveals the following important features:

 

1. The culture of East Africa, specially during the times of the Kageran, Kamasian and Kanjeran pluvials displays roughly the same essential characteristics as those of West European Lower Palaeolithic. The comparability of this succession seems to be more with the British sites like High Lodge and Baker’s hole rather than with French sites of La Micoque or Pech du l’Áze. Infact a Lower Plaeolithic succession slowly changing into Middle Palaeolithic is not demonstrated with stratigraphic context anywhere is Western Europe. In this regard the evidence of East Africa is not only classic but also shows an earlier transformation of biface as also flake tool types.

 

2. East Africa also is unique in providing the evidence of the earliest member of genus Homo fossils in association with pebble tools.

 

3. From the time of the Gamblian Pluvial there appears to be an inter-mingling of certain strains of culture which indicates some contact with and influence of exogenus sources. The Levalloiso-Mousterian in its general form acts as the sub-stratum for the grafting of these cross-currents.

 

4. The evolution of Capsian in East Africa when compared with Aurignancian of Europe shows a remarkable variation. This is the almost total lack of or rarity of bone tools. However, the presence of pottery wares in the Upper Capsian can only imply that at places this culture directly evolved into Mesolithic phase. This is not an altogether uncommon phenomenon in many South Asian evidences where microliths develop well within Pleistocene epoch.

References and Suggested readings

  • The Archaeology of Early Man. London: Faber and Faber. Coles, J.M. and E.S. Higgs. (1969).
  • The Old Stone Age: A study of Palaeolithic Times. London: Bowes and Bowes. Burkitt, M. (1963).
  • People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Fagan B. M. (2004).
  • Frameworks for dating Fossil man.London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Oakley, K.P. (1966).
  • An Introduction to Prehistoric Archaeology. New York: Hold, Rinehart and Winston, INC. Hole, H. and R.F. Heizer. (1969).