Lainyamok, a new middle pleistocene hominid site

It is generally believed that, during the middle Pleistocene in Africa, archaic Homo sapiens arose from Homo erectus and Acheulian tool industries were replaced by Middle Stone Age industries. The details of these transitions are poorly known because of the paucity of associated hominid, faunal and archaeological remains in datable contexts^1,2. We describe here Lainyamok, a new middle Pleistocene site. Fossil material includes three hominid teeth attributed to Homo sp. and a diverse fauna represented by unusually complete skeletal material. Acheulian artefacts are found both within bone clusters and thinly scattered throughout the site. The clustering of associated or articulated partial skeletons and artefacts suggests that Lainyamok may preserve evidence of the killing or butchering of individual, small- to medium-sized animals. Such sites have not previously been identified in the Pleistocene.