Climates of Change in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia

The archaeological and cultural heritage sites found across the arid and semi-arid pastoral landscapes of Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia have survived multiple changing climatic and environmental conditions over several millennia. However, these environments are facing fresh, unprecedented challenges, including increased frequency and severity of floods and droughts likely due to changes to regional weather systems arising from current global heating.

In continuing a collaborative project on pastoralist heritage in these regions, we are co-designing a combined archaeological, historical, and ethnographic study of the histories of well construction and water management with representatives from different local communities. Alongside the academic research, we are training a cohort of local heritage stewards in data collection and interpretation, equipping them with the necessary skills to monitor sites of heritage value and further record additional elements of the tangible and intangible heritage of the study areas.

Read more about the archaeological work that has happened to date, which is continuing with new funding, as well as the strategies developed with community trainees to create wider awareness of this heritage, and its implications for identifying ways to ”weather” climate change in the future.