This archive report was first published on 14 August 2019.
Located in northern Kenya, the Turkana region has been a treasure trove for fossil excavators, yielding numerous significant discoveries that have shed light on human evolution.
One of the most famous fossils found in Turkana is KNM-WT 15000, also known as the Turkana Boy. This 1.5-1.6 million-year-old skeleton is the most complete early human skeleton ever found and is kept under lock and key at the National Museum in Nairobi.
According to Prof Isaiah Nengo, the director of Research and Science at the Turkana Basin Institute, the Turkana Boy was a Homo erectus, a species that was the first human ancestor and a top predator. He was able to compete with big cats for meat and was a skilled hunter, using sophisticated tools like the hand axe and fire.
Scientists believe that the Turkana Boy died at the age of 12, standing at 5.5ft tall. Had he lived to adulthood, he might have grown to 6ft or more. The fossil evidence also suggests that Homo erectus was the first human species to migrate from Africa to Asia and Europe over a million years ago.
To celebrate this remarkable find, a monument with a replica of the skeleton was erected close to the excavation site in Turkana North Sub-County in 2015. The monument was a collaborative effort between the Turkana devolved government, the Turkana Basin Institute, and the National Museums of Kenya.
Another significant discovery made in Turkana was the Alesi fossil, a 13 million-year-old skull found in Napudet, about 20 kilometres east of Lodwar. This discovery provided evidence of humans and apes originating from Africa, challenging the long-held theory that the origin of the ape family was Eurasia.
The Turkana region is rich in fossils, and scientists regard it as a reservoir of vital information that can make the world understand its past. The region has provided evidence of evolution, the advance of technology from stone tools to the Iron Age, and the domestication of animals.
Prof Nengo noted that Kenya, particularly Turkana, is unique in providing proof of Africa being the origin of human beings and apes. The Turkana Basin Institute, founded in 2007 by renowned Kenyan palaeoanthropologist Richard Leakey, has two centres: Turkwel in Turkana County and Ileret in Marsabit.
