PROF. MUTORO HENRY WANGUTUSI

Citation:

Mutoro HW, Wafula GK. Mizizi A Collection of Essays on Kenya's History. Nairobi: University of Nairobi Press; 2013.

Abstract:

The Development of Archaeology in Kenya Since the Early 1960's

The history of archeology in Kenya broadly parallels that of the broader East African Region. This, in part, is because the region shares a related cultural history and in part, because, socio-political and economic environments in the countries of the region are largely related. In addition, international trends in archaeology pertaining to method and theory, affected the region in a more or less similar manner. Despite this, and for purposes of this chapter, the discussion confines itself to historical developments that relate to Kenya, since the early 1960's.
Archaeological studies in Kenya, as in the East African countries, have been conducted in two major dimensions, one concerned with human origins, and the other concerned with aspects pf later prehistory (Robertshaw 1990:78). The chapter will shed light on the social, political and economic environments under which archaeology as a discipline has thrived; explain how international trends in archaeology in method and theory have influenced archaeological studies in the country were conducted and how their results were interpreted.