Enkapune Ya Muto

Enkapune Ya Muto
Enkapune Ya Muto
Enkapune Ya Muto
location in Kenya
Alternative nameTwilight Cave
LocationMau Escarpment of Kenya
RegionKenya
Coordinates0°50′0″S 36°09′0″E / 0.83333°S 36.15000°E / -0.83333; 36.15000

Enkapune Ya Muto, also known as Twilight Cave, is a site spanning the late Middle Stone Age to the Late Stone Age on the Mau Escarpment of Kenya. This time span has allowed for further study of the transition from the Middle Stone Age to the Late Stone Age. In particular, the changes in lithic and pottery industries can be tracked over these time periods as well as transitions from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a herding lifestyle. Beads made of perforated ostrich egg shells found at the site have been dated to 40,000 years ago. The beads found at the site represent the early human use of personal ornaments. Inferences pertaining to climate and environment changes during the pre-Holocene and Holocene period have been made based from faunal remains based in this site.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ "Enkapune Ya Muto Rockshelter - Enkapune Ya Muto". Archaeology.about.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  2. ^ Marean, Curtis W. (1992). "Hunter to herder: large mammal remains from the hunter-gatherer occupation at Enkapune Ya Muto rock-shelter, Central Rift, Kenya". The African Archaeological Review. 10: 65–127. doi:10.1007/BF01117697. S2CID 129526564.
  3. ^ Ambrose, S (1997). "Chronology of the Later Stone Age and Food Production in East Africa". Journal of Archaeological Science. 25 (4): 377–392. doi:10.1006/jasc.1997.0277.