Part One

In the early 1990’s Don Young and some of his clients on a safari with him were walking along the banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River in Samburu and stumbled across the outline of a human skeleton lying on the river bank. A friend of Mary Leakey, Don arranged for her to visit the site accompanied Dr. Meave Leakey, her daughter in law, and her granddaughter Samira. The skeleton was on the far bank of the river from where they were all camped and so the inner tube of a car tyre was inflated, lined with comfortable cushions and the Queen Mary was pulled across the water with Mary Leakey aboard. At the time Mary concluded that the specimen was unlikely to be very old, and although it was definitely fossilized it was possibly a burial. The specimen lay in a hard mudstone and would have been very difficult to extract.

Ewaso Nyiro river has been for many thousands of years a lifeline to many species of animals in this arid region in Northern Kenya. Every year in the short and long rains the river swells and rises over its banks. In each flooding more of this specimen is gently eroded away.

In July 2003, Meave, Richard and Louise Leakey revisited the site and its possible significance was discussed at length. There was no evidence to suggest that this specimen was a burial and it could therefore potentially be much older. With increased evidence for an African origin for our own species, early specimens of Homo sapiens are increasingly important. It was decided that an effort should be made to try to raise some funds to extract this. Funding was sought from a group of generous donors and the National Geographic Society and this June an effort was led by Nasser Malit working with the National Museums of Kenya Palaeontology Department and Don Young to extract the specimen.

Along the banks of the river are a series of fresh water springs which form areas of swamp land. If the individual had died here and fallen into the swamp it would have been buried and fossilized covered by subsequent years of sediment deposited over it.

To extract and excavate any specimen in Kenya permission must be granted by the Ministry and also from the National Museums in Kenya where all Kenyan fossil specimens are housed. Unlike at Lake Turkana where people are familiar with work of the museum, here in Samburu considerably more explanation was needed to convince the authorities that this specimen was not going to be extracted and sold overseas!! In fact Nasser eventually spent several weeks dealing with various authorities and explaining the issues to them.

The excavation of the specimen was not to be a simple operation. It was not a matter of brushing away the sand and collecting the bones. It was preserved in a solid mudstone. Working on the site we could often hear lion calling from both sides of the river, and occasionally a elephant would come down to the river to drink.

Dr. Thure Cerling from University of Utah visited the site to look at the geology and to collect some possible samples for dating to calculate an age of the specimen. A piece of charcoal was discovered by Michael while he was there from the same horizon and Dr. Cerling recovered some gastropod shells and bone which may be useable too.

Once the go-ahead was given from all the local authorities the team reassembled at the site to cut a block of rock out. A similar sized block was cut and lifted first to ensure that no damage would be done to the real thing. Pick axes were used to cut out the block Picture and the mudstone chiseled away from underneath. The surface was covered with a protective coat of plaster Picture once it had been pained with a hardener to keep the specimen safe. Steel bars were placed under the block forming a solid frame to lift the specimen using a pulley and chain block. It was then carefully lowered into the back of a truck for transportation to Nairobi. The truck was now so heavily laden that it got stuck trying to climb the river bank but was out as night fell.

The specimen was driven to the National Museum in Nairobi and here it was off loaded. Here it will be cast so that a replica of the specimen can be sent back for exhibit in Samburu. Over the coming months the specimen will be cleaned carefully using air scribes and chisels.

Part Two of this report will document the cleaning and preparation of the fossil, and the results of studies conducted upon it. Check back soon.


Donors and Thanks

Thanks must be extended to the following people among others:

Nasser Malit, Irene Mugambi, Nancy Reynolds
Ann Lawrence-Nahigian
Sue Anschutz-Rodgers
Gahl Burt
Dr. Douglas Tewes & Mike Tewes,
Mary, Meave, Richard, and Louise Leakey
National Geographic Society
Don Young Safaris and staff

SITE LOCATION:
SAMBURU NATIONAL PARK, Kenya

The Samburu region of Kenya, named for the people who have lived there for centuries, is one of the wilder, more pristine areas of the country. Elephant, buffalo, lion, cheetah, as well as Grevy zebra and reticulated giraffe are all found here in impressive concentration.

The Samburu people, pastoralists who are similar to the Maasai in appearance and culture, can be seen throughout this region tending their herds of cattle and goats, and often serve as guides to tourists visiting the area.