My last post was written this morning at 4am. While it is a bit excessive to write two posts in one day, this is definitely a day that warrants it.
Like I mentioned this morning, we were up early. We were on the road by 5am on our way to Kariandusi, which is the site where Louis Leakey, in 1928, uncovered the first evidence to suggest prehistoric hominid presence in Kenya. It is a home to several sites that contains thousands of deposited hand tools. It is roughly a 4 hour truck ride, but we were only conscious for the last hour after we stopped for coffee. Upon arrival, John took us to the Upper and the Lower sites where we saw some of the stone tools where they were discovered. Then the fun began!
After discussing stone tools and the various ways to identify them from regular rocks, we had the opportunity to make our own. What makes Kariandusi special is that it is one of the only sites where obsidian stone tools are found. The volcanic glass is quarried just north of the site and it is considered amongst the easiest materials to make tools with. It is easy to fracture and can be made wicked sharp.
We had a quick tutorial from our professor, David, and then we each got a chance to make our own. Using a hammer stone, and some strategic planning, one can strike a flake of an obsidian core. Getting a good flake requires some forethought and some planning. Its amazing that early hominids discovered this technique and were then able to transfer the knowledge without the use of language. Just some of the wonderful things we get to contemplate in our class.
When we were all sufficiently creating stone tools, we then put them to work. There was a goat carcass that had been freshly prepared. It was hanging, headless from a nearby tree, and with some local instruction, we tried out our tools in skinning the animal. Obsidian stone tools are wicked sharp and the task was remarkably easy. We skinned practically the whole carcass ourselves, and I got some great footage to prove it. It was surprisingly not as gross as you might expect. It was actually really cool. The process took us a while because everyone wanted to try their hand at it. Some more then others (Adri, Emily, Bianca and Anna were all over it!) but everyone tried it, including myself.
After the skinning was complete, we handed it over to the experts who removed all the fun innards, while we drank some cold sodas under a tree, complements of our thoughtful prof. About half an hour, forty-five minutes later, the goat was ready for consumption and lunch was served.
So, quick recap. We learned about stone tools, saw stone tools, made stone tools, used them to skin a goat, and then ate the goat with a hefty serving of ugali (staple Kenyan food). We also observed our cut marks on the bone, because they are the same cut marks that archaeologists use to identify a fossilised carcass that has been eaten by hominids. This is the definition of hands on learning! It creates a whole new level of engagement, comprehension and perspective that you cannot get from a classroom lecture.
We ended the day with a trip to John's house, where his wife made us some amazing rosemary chai. It was wonderful and it may have ruined all other tea for me in the future it was so good (although, Dr. Green says I should hold out for the spiced tea on the coast). It was a long truck ride back to ICIPE after that. Little did we know but we had driven right by Mt. Longonot and Lake Naivasha where we had been in session two. It is an absolutely beautiful drive up the east side of the Rift Valley, which we were all awake for this time. We got back at 7pm, just in time for dinner. All in all an amazing day!
We are heading out to Mpala tomorrow morning. We are unfortunately leaving one of our beloved staff members, Monica, behind as she is flying home soon. It's always sad when we part from professors, doctors or staff but I guess it's just a little preparation for the end of the road in Zanzibar (which is approaching much to fast for my liking).
I understand that some of you would like to see more pictures and I am sorry that I haven't provided any. We have almost no time on the computer when we do have access to internet and it just isn't enough time for me to upload pictures. Quite frankly, it's very time consuming and I do not have the patience. I do, however, have several thousands pictures (but actually, I surpassed the 2,000 mark recently), so do not fret, there will be pictures eventually!
There is now a long line of people waiting to get on this computer after me and I also have yet to pack for tomorrow. I will not have access to internet until Zanzibar but hopefully will be in cell phone range when we get the coast. At which time, hopefully Dad can post another update.
Thanks and take care!
Lala Salama!
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