Elisabeth Hildebrand

Until recently, archaeologists thought that emerging elites instigated monumental constructions to simultaneously bolster their own authority and serve as symbols of social unity.

Elisabeth Hildebrand

These motives may well have been the case among sedentary farmers, but the finds at Lothagam North Pillar Site show that some instances of monumentality developed for other reasons that did not relate to elites.

Elisabeth Hildebrand

By constructing the mortuary cavity, people created a shared space where community members could be placed all together, without any sign of certain individuals being given primacy.

Elisabeth Hildebrand

Today, Lake Turkana gets about 90 % of its water from the SW Ethiopian highlands via the Omo River, and the remaining 10 % from the western Kenyan highlands via the Turkwel and Kerio Rivers. During times past, rainfall in all these areas fluctuated, and Lake Turkana expanded and contracted as weather systems changed.

Elisabeth Hildebrand

In a certain sense, these early herders formed the first civilization of Eastern Africa with elaborate individual and community practices. In today's time of climate change and economic instability, we can all take a very important lesson from eastern Africa's first herders : Facing an equally challenging situation, they responded by coming together and strengthening their community.

Elisabeth Hildebrand