Sip back and enjoy over a cocktail a discovery of Kenya as we explore why alongside its neighbours of Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda this part of sub-Saharan Eastern Africa is regarded by palaeontologists and anthropologists such as Charles Darwin, Louis and Mary Leakey as the “Cradle of Humankind”. Kenya’s fossil record has revealed many important discoveries that tell us an almost complete story for the evolutionary origin of humans dating back over 6 million years.
Based on fossil discoveries and DNA research we now understand that the evolutionary family of Humans is Hominoid and includes the primates. Our closest human relatives shared a common ancestor over 6 million years ago in Africa during the Late Miocene. This was the time when the human lineage diverged from the Great Apes.
Today there are currently two fossil ancestors regarded as the oldest human relative in Africa dating back over 6 million years. Orrorin tugenensis from Kenya and Sahelanthropus tchadensis from Chad. Though the shear volume of species and fossil finds of hominids is certainly weighted towards Kenya being at the heart of the “Cradle of Humankind”.
Kenya has an ethnically diverse population of over 54 million people made of over 42 different ethnic groups including the peoples of Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kisii and Meru. Over half of these groups are “Bantu" and share a common ancestry of language and religion.
One of the most colourful and recognisable Kenyan tribes is the semi-nomadic and pastoral people of the Maasai that live in the northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania border near to the African Great Lakes region.
English is Kenya’s second language and Kiswahili is Kenya's first language so knowing a few words will always be a benefit but don’t be too ambitious as Kiswahili is a Bantu language and accounts from anywhere between 300 – 600 distinct languages spoken across a third of the African continent.
Kenya is the go-to destination for travellers wishing to experience an "Out of Africa" wildlife safari experience because it is home to the famous "Big Five" animals of lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo, and leopard.
Many of these safari excursions are available at several national parks including Lake Nakuru National Park, Amboseli National Park, Tsavo National Parks, Samburu Game Reserve, Masai Mara National Reserve and the private conservancy called Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
Kenya is the host each year between the months of July to October to the natural phenomenon known as the "Great Migration" where huge numbers of zebra, gazelle and wildebeest travel from neighbouring Tanzania to Kenya before returning back to Tanzania later in the year.
From January and March these animals give birth to their calves on the Ndutu plains of the Tanzania's Serengeti National Park before migrating in their millions to follow the rains and fresh grass to feed upon on Kenya’s Masai Mara plains.
During the migration these herds are hunted and ambushed by big cats, Hyena and the freshwater crocodiles lurking in and around the muddy waters of the Mara River. The herds will again return back across this perilous route and Mara River to Tanzania between September to October.
The oldest rocks in Kenya date back to the Archean Eon over 2.5 – 3.1 billion years when the Earth had a single supercontinent of types known as "Kenorland". This land mass was made up of many small clustered cratons and along their actively volcanically rifting margins mountain arcs were formed.
Kenya’s oldest rocks are the Nyanzian and Kavirondian rock formations located in the west of the country towards Lake Victoria and are rich in base and precious metals such as gold, copper and silver.
Towards the end of the Archean Eon this region of the world experienced a combination of sea level changes and intense tectonic activity subjecting the base rock, sediments and volcanic ash to high temperatures and pressures causing them to undergo metamorphism.
The geological processes that then altered the minerals also formed Kisii Stone a soapstone made of soft hydrothermically changed lava. Because of its low relative hardness on the Mohs' Scale of Hardness it has been mined from the Tabaka Hills of Kisii County in southwestern Kenya and carved into tools and decorative ornaments.
The most significant event in Kenya’s geological history occurred during the Miocene Epoch. The East African Rift Valley was formed from the tectonic plate movements of a divergent tectonic plate boundary where the African Plate began splitting into two smaller plates called the Somali Plate and Nubian Plate as well as forming the microplates of Victoria, Rovuma, and Lwandle.
This tectonic rifting process created a zone of weakness where the Earth’s crust thinned and began to pull apart. As the plates moved away from each other, faults formed, and large blocks of the Earth’s crust dropped down, creating the rift valley characterised by deep valleys, fault scarps, and mountain ranges.
The process was accompanied by extensive volcanic activity that further shaped the landscape forming the stratovolcanoes of Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro and the shield volcano of Mount Elgon. The latter is nowadays the world's largest mountain caldera or largest volcanic crater formed by the collapse of the mouth of the volcano after a major eruption.
The East African Rift runs for over 6,440 kilometres from northern Syria to central Mozambique and is bordered by mountains and active volcanoes, and is a site of earthquakes and faults and the location for the African Great Lakes.
Kenya's savanna ecosystems of grasslands and woodlands have been influenced by the East African Rift Valley system. The combination of volcanic tephra, basalts, lava flows and ash deposits plus eroded sediments of sandstones, limestone and clays deposited in ancient lakes, rivers, and floodplains has contributed to creating mineral rich soils.
The interplay between geology and climate has made the Kenyan savanna a highly biodiverse and geodiverse region.
Kenya has built a reputation as one of most profound regions in the world for fossil discoveries that trace human evolution. Several key sites across Africa including Kenya have yielded fossil remains instrumental in building a comprehensive understanding of human evolution and many claim to be the "Cradle of Humankind".
It was Charles Darwin in 1871 that initially credited Africa as the “cradle of humankind” when he published his work on the evolution of man. In 1999 UNESCO designated the Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein in South Africa and other fossil - bearing cave deposits including Swartkrans, Kromdraai, Makapan Valley and Taung Skull Fossil Site as a World Heritage Site. This place is sometimes also referred to as the "Cradle of Humankind" though their hominid fossil discoveries including Australopithecus africanus (Taung Skull) found in 1936 and a species of Paranthropus only trace human evolution back between 3.3 – 4.5 million years.
Now let’s focus our attention on East Africa. Some of the most significant paleo-anthropologic discoveries in Kenya followed the discovery of Homo habilis by the Leakey Family at Olduvai Gorge in neighbouring Tanzania in the early 1960’s.
Known as the “handy man” it was thought that this early human made the stone tools that were also found at this site. Further discoveries of partial skeletons, skulls, leg bones and a jaw bone at this site in 1960, 1963, 1968, 1986 gave rise to some affectionately named fossils like Twiggy, Cindy and Johnny’s Child and were dated as far back as 1.8 million years ago.
Then in 1969 at Koobi Fora in Kenya an extensive record of paleontological finds began to emerge starting with the discovery of Paranthropus boisei.
Today this fossil site has unearthed fossil remains of five species including Austrolophithecus anamensis, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, Paranthropus boisei, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. Today the research still continues in this area with the Koobi Fora Research Project who have now catalogued over 350 hominid specimens.
Then in 2000 palaeontologist Brigitte Senut and geologist Martin Pickford discovered in the Lukeino Formation of the Tugen Hills of Kenya the remains of Orrorin tugenensis nicknamed "Millennium Man". This was species of early hominin dating back over 6 million years. The Tugen Hills are located in the central-western part of Kenya.
Only a year later in Toros-Menalla in the Djurab Desert of Chad Sahelanthropus tchadensis known as Toumaï (“Sahel man”) was also dated at over 6 million years old. So who is the oldest known human ancestor? - only time, further research and more fossil discoveries will tell.
It is now generally considered that there are two hominin taxa known to be the oldest dating back over 6 million years in Africa but in different geographic locations. Orrorin tugenensis from Kenya and Sahelanthropus tchadensis from Chad. Though the shear volume of hominin taxa and fossil finds is certainly weighted towards Kenya.
7 Million Years of Human Evolution by American Museum of Natural History
If you are looking for a wonderful African location to explore the "Cradle of Humankind" you would be well served in exploring Kenya and also take in a safari. "Welcome to Kenya!" or in the Kenyan national language of Kiswahili (Swahili), “Karibu Kenya” and as a polite visitor to this extraordinary country simply reply, “Asante Sana” to show your appreciation.
Before Travelling to Kenya
For people travelling on a full “British Citizen” passport from the UK please follow UK government’s travel checklist to understand and advice before travelling to Kenya on the current rules for the most common types of travel. The authorities in Kenya set and enforce entry rules. If you’re not sure how these requirements apply to you, contact the Kenyan High Commission in the UK.