Lakeside View: Sociocultural Responses to Changing Water Levels of Lake Turkana, Kenya

Abstract

Throughout the Holocene, Lake Turkana has been subject to drastic changes in lake levels and the subsistence strategies people employ to survive in this hot and arid region. In this paper, we reconstruct the position of the lake during the Holocene within a paleoclimatic context. Atmospheric forcing mechanisms are discussed in order to contextualize the broader landscape changes occurring in eastern Africa over the last 12,000 years. The Holocene is divided into five primary phases according to changes in the strand-plain evolution, paleoclimate, and human subsistence strategies practiced within the basin. Early Holocene fishing settlements occurred adjacent to high and relatively stable lake levels. A period of high-magnitude oscillations in lake levels Afr Archaeol Rev (2015) ensued after 9,000 years BP and human settlements appear to have been located close to the margins of the lake. Aridification and a final regression in lake levels ensued after 5,000 years BP and human communities were generalized pastoralists-fishers-foragers. During the Late Holocene, lake levels may have dropped below their present position and subsistence strategies appear to have been flexible and occasionally specialized on animal pastoralism. Modern missionary and government outposts have encouraged the construction of permanent settlements in the region, which are heavily dependent on outside resources for their survival. Changes in the physical and cultural environments of the Lake Turkana region have been closely correlated, and understanding the relationship between the two variables remains a vital component of archaeological research.Résumé Tout l'Holocène, le lac Turkana a été soumis à des changements drastiques dans l'altitude des lacs et les stratégies de subsistance des gens utilisent pour survivre dans cette région chaude et aride. Dans cet article, nous reconstruisons la position du lac au cours de l'Holocène dans un contexte paléoclimatique. Mécanismes de forçage atmosphériques sont discutées afin de contextualiser les changements de paysage plus larges qui se produisent en Afrique orientale au cours des 12.000 dernières années. L'Holocène est divisé en cinq phases principales en fonction des changements dans l'évolution altitude du lac, paléoclimats et les stratégies de subsistance humains pratiqués dans le bassin. Premiers établissements de pêche de l'Holocène ont eu lieu à proximité d'altitude d'eau élevés et relativement stables. Une période d'oscillations de grande amplitude dans l'altitude du lac s'ensuit après 9000 années BP et les établissements humains semblent avoir été situé à proximité des marges sur le lac. Aridification et une régression finale du altitude des lacs s'ensuit après 5000 années BP et les communautés humaines sont généralisées éleveurs-pêcheurs-cueilleurs. Au cours de l'Holocène tardif, les altitudes des lacs pourraient avoir chuté en dessous de leur position actuelle et les stratégies de subsistance semblent avoir fait preuve de souplesse et de temps en temps spécialisé sur le pas...

Humans as Agents in the Termination of the African Humid Period

“…In eastern Africa, the arrival of domesticated animals is difficult to precisely ascertain because the point of first entry likely occurs in the Lake Turkana region when lake levels were approaching their nadir ( Figure 4D; Wright et al, 2015). However, by 4500 years BP, domesticated cattle and an accompanying Neolithic complex, including megalithic burial features, had taken root in the region (Grillo and Hildebrand, 2013) and had nominally spread southward into the equatorial regions at approximately the same time (Wright, 2007;Prendergast, 2010;Lane, 2013).…”

African Palaeoclimate and Human Response: A Special Issue of the African Archaeological Review

“…In BHolocene habitation with oscillating water levels and paleoclimate of Lake Turkana, Kenya^by Wright et al (2015), a paleoecological overview of changing subsistence and climatic systems over the last 12,000 years is presented. Reconstructions of lake levels were made from OSL and radiocarbon dating of coquinas in beach ridges and an exhaustive survey of archaeological materials housed in the National Museums of Kenya formed the basis of the cultural interpretations.…”

Fisheries and water level fluctuations in the world's largest desert lake

“…The North Sector lies close to the conflict-stricken Illemi triangle (Oba, 1992) and, at high water levels, crosses into Ethiopia. Conflict over fishing rights in the Omo delta has worsened over the past decade and is exacerbated by low lake levels (Kine & Achalei, 2011;Johannes, Zulu, & Kalipeni, 2015;Wright et al, 2015). Some locals warn that resource scarcity will turn Lake Turkana into an "endless battlefield" (Vidal, 2015).…”

“…In line with a higher CPUE, fishermen around the lake have reported that incomes from fishing tend to increase during periods of higher lake level (Kaijage & Nyagah, ). Over geological time scales, the species composition of Lake Turkana's fisheries has changed in relation to its water level status, with a predominance of large species during high lake stands and small species during low lake stands (Wright, Forman, Kiura, Bloszies, & Beyin, ). Furthermore, rates of primary production, which are positively correlated with fish production in lakes (Melack, ; Downing, Plante, & Lalonde, ), are linked to riverine inputs of nutrients in the system (Tebbs, Avery, & Odermatt, ).…”