|
DISPATCH 04: Move to camp-
Il Naibir laga
(Google Earth™
coordinates 4.0930, 36.27098)
Previous
Dispatch
:
Next
Dispatch
The lorry was
loaded with some drinking water and the tents, followed
later by a second load with the remaining equipment
including bedding, food supplies, fuel and the vehicles. The
team cleared areas behind bushes and trees to act as wind
breaks and began to erect the tents. Building the camp took
a total of four days once we had everything up and running.
The methane gas freezer proved quite exciting to light and
we had a small fire to deal with, quickly extinguished by
throwing sand and dust at it.
We set up the solar panels and inverter to power the laptops
and printer, charge field computers and digital cameras,
etc. which we use on a daily basis while we are working.
This system also provides lighting for the kitchen and
dining areas.
With the camp up and fully functional the team are now back
into the swing of work again and are finding lots of good
fossils. We are now back in fossil exposures that date to
around 3.5 million years ago. This is an important age in
which to find hominin fossils as there is limited fossil
exposure in the Turkana Basin from this time. Any hominin
specimens that we can find at this age may help to
understand the relationship between the two known species
from this time;
Kenyanthropus platyops (specimens
discovered on the west side of Turkana) and
Australopithecus afarensis (many specimens recovered
from deposits in Ethiopia).
Perhaps in the coming weeks we may come across some exciting
fossils. There are certainly plenty of pairs of well trained
eyes out there trying to find them. We have a total of 16
fossil hunters on the ground.
|
