Climates of Change in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia: From Scientific Data to Applied Knowledge

This paper outlines the implementation and core results of a combined archaeological, historical and ethnographic study of the histories of well construction and water management among Boran, Gabra and Rendille pastoralists in arid and semi-arid areas of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. Co-developed with representatives from these different communities from the outset, the project sought initially to document the spatial distribution of different types of hand-dug wells found across the study area, their associated oral histories and, if possible, establish through archaeological means their likely date of initial construction. Concurrent with addressing these academic objectives, the project aimed to train a cohort of local heritage stewards in archaeological, historical and ethnographic 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. The paper describes these different stages in the evolution of the project, its main findings to date and their implications for identifying ways to weather climate change in the future.