Lithics use at Kansyore sites in East Africa: technological organisation at four recently excavated sites in Nyanza Province, Kenya

Abstract

Recently a series of active investigations have been launched on aspects of the Kansyore tradition such as ceramics, subsistence and chronology. However, Kansyore lithic assemblages have been little studied and its quartz-based technology has often been simply dubbed as ‘non-descript.’ Here I attempt an overview of the organisation of Kansyore lithic technology based on assemblages from four recently excavated sites in Nyanza Province, Kenya. Kansyore lithics show apparent longevity of use, remaining essentially unchanged between c. 6000 cal. BC and cal. AD 500, despite major changes in ceramics and subsistence economy. Based on the lithics it seems that early Kansyore settlement patterns could have been more mobile, becoming increasingly residentially sedentary over time. However, this was not a complete change, but instead a matter of increasing emphasis on sedentism, since even some early Kansyore sites are indicative of moderate delayed-return subsistence systems and seasonally sedentary settlement patterns. These interpretations based on studying Kansyore stone tool assemblages are also supported by the analyses of other finds from the studied sites.

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