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Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives from Samburu, Kenya Katherine Mary Grillo Washington University in St

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Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives from Samburu, Kenya Katherine Mary Grillo Washington University in St Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) 5-17-2012 The aM teriality of Mobile Pastoralism: Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives from Samburu, Kenya Katherine Mary Grillo Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Grillo, Katherine Mary, "The aM teriality of Mobile Pastoralism: Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives from Samburu, Kenya" (2012). All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). 956. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/956 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Department of Anthropology Dissertation Examination Committee: Fiona B. Marshall, Chair David L. Browman Gayle J. Fritz Michael D. Frachetti Tristram R. Kidder Carolyn K. Lesorogol Susan I. Rotroff The Materiality of Mobile Pastoralism: Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives from Samburu, Kenya by Katherine Mary Grillo A dissertation presented to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Washington University in St. Louis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2012 Saint Louis, Missouri Copyright by Katherine Mary Grillo © 2012 Abstract This thesis represents the first comprehensive ethnoarchaeological study to date on the material culture of African mobile pastoralism, a way of life economically, culturally, and ideologically centered on the herding of livestock. In Africa, tens of millions of people today still rely on cattle-based pastoralism for survival in arid lands that are unsuitable for agricultural production. Our understanding of ancient pastoralism is still hampered, however, by a belief held by many that nomadic populations such as pastoralists are difficult to trace in the archaeological record. Results from ethnographic research among modern Samburu cattle pastoralists in Kenya in fact challenge common archaeological assumptions about relationships between mobility, subsistence practices, and material culture. Data from twelve months of participant observation, extensive interviewing, and the administration of 117 household surveys reveal a deep and perhaps unexpected integration of pottery and other container types into a highly nomadic lifestyle centered on the herding of livestock. Key findings demonstrate that ceramic production and consumption, for example, are not prohibited by high levels of residential mobility. Instead, ceramic technologies enable pastoralist systems of production in part by allowing people to better exploit certain resources in unpredictable and drought-prone environments. Despite prevailing wisdom, repeated use of some spaces by pastoralists would allow for significant and varied accumulations of ceramics and other archaeologically-recoverable material culture. These results should, ultimately, prompt new dialogue in the archaeological literature on the material consequences of food production. ii Acknowledgements First, thanks must go to the Republic of Kenya, and the Ministry of Science and Education for permission to conduct this research. I also thank the National Museums of Kenya for institutional affiliation. Purity Kiura and the staff of the Archaeology Department at the Nairobi National Museum have been a source of tremendous support throughout the course of this project. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (Dissertation Improvement Grant #0752042), the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (Dissertation Fieldwork Grant #7786), and Lambda Alpha (Graduate Overseas Research Grant). The British Institute in Eastern Africa also provided me with a great deal of personal and logistical assistance, particularly during my time in Nairobi. Many thanks to all. I am convinced that no better doctoral program in anthropology exists than the one at Washington University in St. Louis. Thank you, Fiona Marshall, for serving as my academic inspiration and for guiding me through graduate school with such patience and wisdom. Thanks also to the other members of the archaeology faculty, David Browman, TR Kidder, Gayle Fritz, John Kelly, and Michael Frachetti, for all that you’ve taught me. I also wish to thank Geoff Childs for his help on this dissertation with methodological and analytical issues, and Bilinda Straight and Jon Holtzman at Western Michigan University for encouragement and help along the way. Adria LaViolette, my life would be completely different (and much less wonderful) if you hadn’t introduced me to African archaeology at the University of Virginia. Thank you. At WashU, Kathleen Cook, Elaine Beffa, and Carrie Asmar-O’Guin all deserve medals for their roles in helping me through the past eight years. The Mr. and Mrs. Spencer T. Olin Fellowship iii for Women in Graduate Study, sponsored by the Monticello Foundation and Washington University, has also been critical to my success. Thank you so much, Dean Nancy Pope, for making me feel so at home. A big thanks to all the friends who got me through graduate school, most especially Liz Horton, Mercedes Gutierrez, Anna Warrener, Abby Smith, Lisa Hildebrand, and Chet Cain. I am particularly grateful to Lynne Rouse, José Capriles, and Tim Schilling for patiently helping with mapping, statistics, Illustrator, etc. whenever I asked, which was often. Special thanks to Abby, Christina Pugh, Helina Woldekiros, and the (embarrassingly) large number of other friends who helped out with cat care before, during, and after my fieldwork. Greg Meyerkord, this past year has been one the best of my life, all thanks to you. And finally, thanks to my parents, Ruth and Roger Grillo. You raised your eyebrows all those years ago when I announced my intention to major in anthropology at UVa, but you have supported me unconditionally all the way through. I hope I have made you proud. Greatest thanks of all go to my family and friends in Samburu. Carolyn Lesorogol and Lolkitari Lesorogol, I will be forever grateful to you for inviting me to the Mbaringon Group Ranch and for giving a Samburu home. Your hospitality has changed my life in so many ways, all for the better. I also wish to extend my thanks to the Lenolkulal family in Siambu for your incredibly generous hospitality during this project. Now, Prame Lesorogol, it is hard for me put into words just how blessed I have always felt to have met you. I could not have completed this project without your intellectual strength, as well as your patience and friendship. The words “thank you” seem greatly inadequate. To the women in my extended Samburu family, including Mpashie iv Lesorogol, Noosoroitare Lesorogol, Ramponi Lesorogol, and Sarais Lolngojine, your kindness and grace will always be an inspiration. To all the other Samburu men and women who shared their time, expertise, goat stew, and sugary tea, ashe oleng. This dissertation is for you. v Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................xv 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.1 Dissertation Structure ............................................................................................3 2 Approaches to the Archaeology of African Pastoralism .........................................6 2.1 Terminology ..........................................................................................................6 2.2 Ancient African Pastoralism .................................................................................8 2.2.1 Origins in Northern Africa ............................................................................ 8 2.2.2 Expansion into Eastern Africa .................................................................... 11 2.3 Pastoralist Ecology ..............................................................................................14 2.4 The Material Culture of Mobile Pastoralism ......................................................16 2.5 Mobility ...............................................................................................................16 2.6 Ecological/Functional Perspectives.....................................................................18 2.7 Archaeologies of Food ........................................................................................20 2.8 Archaeological Approaches to African Pastoralist Material Culture ..................22 2.9 The Ethnoarchaeology of Mobile Pastoralism ....................................................26 2.9.1 Pastoralist Ethnoarchaeology: Previous Research ...................................... 29 2.10 The Samburu Ethnoarchaeological
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