Pastoral Neolithic Communities of Kenya Subsistence Patterns: Ethnoarchaeological Analysis

Abstract This paper attempts to reconstruct pastoral Neolithic (PN) communities of southern western Kenya subsistence patterns. Generally, subsistence patterns of PN have mainly been reconstructed through cultural materials and food remains found in the archaeological sites. As the basis of the reconstruction of prehistoric and historic subsistence patterns, these sources are inadequate due to the relative generalization of pastoralists’ behaviors and their choices regarding acquiring, preparation and subsequent disposal of food remains. Fundamentally, the aim of this study was to interrogate the subsistence strategies of PN sites of Ngamuriak using ethnographic study of contemporary Maasai community. Thus, middle range theory whereby ethnographic information was employed to interrogate the findings. Notably, data from one months of participant observation, extensive oral interviewing and administration of the survey to 40 households shows that some of the food consumed by pastoralists’ communities cannot be traced in archaeological data. Key findings demonstrate that a considerable percentage of foods are acquired, prepared, consumed and disposed away from the homestead. On the other hand, pastoralists’ communities will venture into other forms of subsistence such as crop agriculture, fishing or hunting and gathering when circumstances allow hence they are not fixed in livestock as their only mode of subsistence. Finally, diversification is one of the key adaptation strategies that enable nomadic people to settle in one area for a long time. These findings should, therefore, trigger a dialogue on shortcomings of archaeological remains as the only basis of interpreting subsistence patterns of Pastoral Neolithic communities as well as insistence of using better methods such as froth floating in future to search for carbonized seeds in these Pastoral Neolithic sites.