We are almost at the end of the archaeology module, and thus at the end of the Fall 2014 Field School. Ten weeks have flown by! This week, students got to try their hand at knapping stone tools, a much-anticipated activity. Dr. Harmand accompanied students on a trip to collect raw materials, in this case [...]
Today, students headed out for their last day in the field before the Field School ends on Sunday. It's hard to believe that we have already reached the last week! Dr. Harmand took the students to Napaget, a very rich Holocene archaeological site right next to beautiful Lake Turkana. Both the view and the artifacts [...]
Yesterday, students participated in an illustration competition. After learning about the Acheulean stone tool industry in lecture, Dr. Harmand showed the students several Acheulean artifacts from the TBI collections, including handaxes, cleavers, and cores. Students were then tasked to accurately illustrate one of the artifacts. Artists at work. Students worked extra diligently when [...]
The Field School is in its final two weeks, and that means we are in the final module, Archaeology, taught by Dr. Sonia Harmand. So far, students have learned about the Oldowan and Acheulean stone tool industries, with lots more coming in the next week and a half. A box of various geofacts and [...]
Yesterday, the Field School students got to take part in an excavation, giving them the opportunity to hone recently acquired skills and learn new ones. A fossil elephant skeleton had been eroding out of deposits near South Turkwel, only 30 minutes from the TBI compound. Previous Field Schools have worked at extracting the bones, but [...]
Hi, we’re Katie and Letty and we’re students from UCL. On Thursday, we went on a trip to South Turkwel and some deposits nearer the TBI compound to learn about surveying and excavation techniques used in Paleoanthropology. Currently we are taking a course on Human Evolution led by Dr. Jason Lewis. In the morning, we [...]
Hi, I’m Melina, a sophomore from Stony Brook University. I’m interested mainly in archaeology and came to TBI for the amazing experience. Two Sundays ago we went to Eliye Springs for a well-deserved break. We started out after lunch for an afternoon of swimming at Lake Turkana. Tom, our resident pet, looked so sad as [...]
Yesterday marked the beginning of the third Field School module, Vertebrate Paleontology, taught by Dr. Doug Boyer of Duke University. Students have already learned about the geologic time scale, biostratigraphy, and the history of evolutionary thought in lecture, and today they got some first-hand experience working with fossil material from a wide variety of taxa. [...]
Hi, we’re Eloise and Stacey, third year Archaeology and Anthropology students from University College London. We are interested in hominin evolution and behaviour, as well as past environments. Just three days into the geology module, it was time for a two day camping trip to Lothagam, an ancient lake and river bed system to the [...]
This Sunday, Field School students took advantage of the day off with a trip to Central Island, an island in (you guessed it) the center of Lake Turkana. Both Dr. Martins and Dr. Lepre were on hand to offer ecological and geological expertise. The day started off bright and early with a walk across the [...]
We have just finished the first week of the Field School's geology module, taught by Dr. Chris Lepre of Rutgers University. Studying geology means lots of time spent out in the field and the students began with a lab exercise examining local stratigraphy (rock layers). TBI-Turkwel sits on the Nachukui Formation, famous for its rich [...]
During the Field School, students have class Monday through Saturday, with Sundays off for rest and relaxation. Often, Dr. Martins will organize Sunday activities for those students who crave a little more excitement on their day off. Last Sunday morning, all fifteen Field School students, plus several members of the TBI staff, headed to nearby [...]
Hello from TBI-Turkwel! Monday marked the start of classes in the first module of the Fall 2014 TBI Field School, Ecology of the Turkana Basin, taught by Dr. Dino Martins. So far, students have learned about African savanna biodiversity, coevolution, mimicry, Rift Valley biogeography, vector biology, plant/pollinator interactions, evolutionary stable strategies, and lots more. Many [...]