Site I Edit
"Site I" is the area of Hyrax Hill that was occupied during the Neolithic and late Iron Age. Although the early occupation of the site 5000 years ago is frequently referred to as the "Neolithic" (a trend started by Louis and Mary Leakey during the first excavations in the area), evidence has yet to be found for the cultivation of crops or raising of animals at the early occupation of Site I at Hyrax Hill.[8] The Iron Age portion of the site dates to around 200 years ago, and consists of several stone enclosures and a large midden. Directly under this layer was an earlier Neolithic cemetery.[9] The Neolithic cemetery consisted of several low burial mounds formed out of large blocks of stone. Many of the individuals buried at the site were dismembered.[10]
The occupants of this period of the site manufactured distinctive ground stone bowls, and many were found associated with female burials in the Neolithic cemetery at Hyrax Hill and other sites in the area.[11] The bowls from Hyrax Hill are round or oblong, particularly shallow, and made from an easily accessed local variety of stone.[12] Because these bowls were so distinctive at many sites in the Rift Valley, archaeologists created the term "Stone Bowl Culture" to encompass the Neolithic culture they were believed to represent. The term "Stone Bowl Culture" is not widely used today, having been supplanted by "Savanna Pastoral Neolithic", a culture which Christopher Ehret indicates was likely produced by early Cushitic settlers.[13] In Kenya, the broader term "Pastoral Neolithic" refers to sites archaeological containing a Later Stone Age lithic industry, predominant livestock husbandry, and ceramic vessels.[14]
The ceramic type known as "Nderit ware" is found at Site I. These are rounded vessels with a highly textured surface of wedge-shaped impressions, which are commonly found at Neolithic sites in eastern Africa. They resemble baskets.