First Online in The Holocene journal 29.04.2026
Three alumni researchers of the EU Marie Cure Action ITN funded ‘REAL project’ supported the analysis and dissemination of a new diatom, pollen and charcoal record from Erenderi, Marsabit, Kenya, led by Veronica Muruiri et al., 2026. The paleoenvironmental analysis was part of a multidisciplinary research programme to investigate human-environmental interactions during the Holocene to understand current environmental changes (M’Mbogori et al., 2022; Ochungo et al., 2022; Lane et al., 2025). “In common with other community archaeology aimed at knowledge co-production and landscape historical ecology projects, we employ a mixed-methods approach that combines standard archaeological field methods, ethnographic and oral historical research techniques, palaeoecological sampling, remote-sensing mapping, GIS analyses, and diverse forms of public engagement and empowerment strategies including exhibitions, photovoice methods, and the production of educational materials” (Lane et al., 2025).
Funding
Initial funding (2018–2022) for this project was provided by a grant (SDP2\100167) from the British Academy awarded to Freda Nkirote M’Mbogori (PI) and Paul Lane (Co-I) for a project on Wellbeing: Indigenous wells, pastoralist biocultural heritage, and community archaeology for sustainable development in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia, as part of its 2018 Sustainable Development Programme funded by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy, and Strategy (through the Global Challenges Research Fund) (see Lane et al., 2025 for further details).
References
Lane, P.J., M’Mbogori, F.N., Godana, H.W., Kuria, M.W., Kanyingi, J., Abduba, K. and Mohamed, A.A. 2025. Climates of Change in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia: From Scientific Data to Applied Knowledge. Heritage 8(9), 352.
M’Mbogori, F., Kinyua, M., Gufu, A. and Lane, P.J. 2022. Changes to Water Management and Declining Pastoral Economic Resilience in Northern Kenya: The Example of Gabra Wells. WIREs Water 9, e1609.
Muiruri V, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Marchant R, Nkirote M’Mbogori F, Minya A, Lane P. 2026. High resolution multi-proxy analyses document Mid to Late Holocene environmental change in arid Marsabit County, northern Kenya, East Africa. The Holocene. [© The Author(s) 2026]
Muiruri V, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Marchant R, Nkirote M’Mbogori F, Minya A, Lane P. 2026, Replication Data for: Muiruri V et al. 2026. “High resolution multi-proxy analyses document Mid to Late Holocene environmental change in arid Marsabit County, northern Kenya, East Africa” The Holocene. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/S3PBQG, Harvard Dataverse. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]
Ochungo, P.; Khalaf, N.; Merlo, S.; Beldados, A.; M’Mbogori, F.N.; Tiki, W.; Lane, P.J. 2022. Remote sensing for biocultural heritage preservation in an African semi-arid region: A case study of indigenous wells in northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia. Remote Sensing 14, 314.