Ancient site · Tomb
Lothagam North Pillar Site
Also known as GeJi9
A monumental cemetery on the west side of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, built by eastern Africa's earliest herders about 5,000 years ago. A platform about 700 m² was dug down to bedrock and filled with at least 580 burials of men, women and children of all ages, nearly all with beads and ornaments, then capped and ringed with boulders.
Natural basalt pillars were set up on top. It shows that early herders built large monuments together while the lake shrank and climate changed.
- Dates
- c. 3000–2300 BCE
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 2.92° N, 36.07° E
How we know
No writing existed; the cemetery is dated by radiocarbon, published in 2018; the location shown is approximate.
Nearby sites
- Laas Geel c. 3500–2500 BCE (estimated)
- Aksum (stelae fields) capital from c. 1st century BCE–1st century CE; great stelae c. 300–400 CE
- Yeha (Great Temple) temple c. 700 BCE
- Matara c. 8th century BCE – 7th century CE (approximate; pre-Aksumite to Aksumite)
- Meroë c. 800 BCE – 350 CE; royal pyramids c. 300 BCE – 350 CE
- Great Dam of Marib 8th century BCE – c. 570s CE
Related
- Pastoral Neolithic of eastern Africa archaeological culture
- The world in 3000 BCE: The First Kings chapter