Characterizing Archaeological Assemblages from Eastern Lake Natron, Tanzania: Results of Fieldwork Conducted in the Area.

Unlike Peninj and Monik localities in western Lake Natron, eastern Lake Natron remains an archaeological terra incognita. A brief survey of the landforms adjacent to the eastern shoreline revealed 28 Stone Age archaeological sites exhibiting technological and typological features suggestive of the Acheulean Sangoan, Middle Stone Age (MSA), and Later Stone Age (LSA) distributed in three different landforms. While the majority of the assemblages were recovered from the surface, test excavations at two sites also yielded artifacts. The majority of the assemblages are MSA, predominantly made of chert and distributed on the landscape. Although intersite typological variability is negligible, the density of artifact concentration is variable, perhaps as a result of the factors of redeposition encouraged by topographic differentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]