Dry stone walling at Thimlich Ohinga |
Procunsul africanus
Palaeontology
Proconsul africanus, one of
Mary and Louis Leakey’s first important
hominid finds, was found on Rusinga Island in 1948. The most complete
skeleton of its kintd ever found, it has been dated to approximately 18
million years old, the time of the last major volcanic activity in the
region. The original can now be viewed at the Nairobi National
Museum. Fossils are also visible in some of the lava flows on Mfangano
Island; these are still under investigation by the National Museums of
Kenya.
Pre-colonial fortified settlements
Western Kenya and southern Uganda are home to a number of pre-colonial
fortified settlements. In the rocky areas around Lake Victoria, the
fortifications consist of dry stone walls; further north they are
earthen ditch-and-embankments. The dry stone walls are free standing
and built without mortar. Although they may have been built for
defence, it is also possible that they were principally created for
prestige. There are several hundred such fortified settlements, of
which the largest and best known is at Thimlich Ohinga, just outside
Suba district. Within Suba, pre-colonial dry stone walls can be seen
near Mawanga or Nyamugondho.
Recent research at Thimlich reveals that the structures are associated
with the Nilotic Luo inhabitants of the region, and has dated them to a
few centuries using oral tradition. Thimlich was abandoned in the first
decades of the 20th century.
In 1999, the World Monuments Fund (WMF)
named Thimlich Ohinga among the
100 most endangered sites in the world, and one of only nine sites
nominated into the list from Africa for the year 2000. The site is
currently open to the public, and is managed by the National Museums of
Kenya. Please do not climb or walk on the walls, as this will
accelerate their
deterioration.
