Human remains linked to Neolithic pastoralists and the fossilised skull of an extinct giraffe that may belong to a previously unknown species are among a series of discoveries made by archaeologists during a major expedition to Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.
Polish and Tanzanian researchers have uncovered unexpectedly rich evidence of prehistoric life during the first season of a new archaeological project investigating the Serengeti, dramatically expanding the known archaeological record of the region.
The two-month expedition brought together researchers from the University of Wrocław and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, working in collaboration with scientists from the University of Dar es Salaam.
Their research is focused particularly on Middle Stone Age communities and the relationship between early humans, animals and the changing environment of East Africa.
“The scale of the discoveries and the archaeological richness of the Serengeti completely surprised us,” Professor Marta Osypińska of the University of Wrocław, who leads the university’s research, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Knowledge of the region’s archaeology has previously been relatively limited, she said, partly because the traces left behind by its ancient inhabitants can be extremely difficult to identify.
Unlike societies that built cities, temples and monumental tombs, prehistoric hunter-gatherers and pastoralists in the region left comparatively subtle traces in the landscape.
“We must learn to recognise them,” Osypińska said.
Human remains at Neolithic pastoralist settlement
One of the expedition’s most significant discoveries came from a settlement associated with Neolithic pastoralists.
Archaeologists recovered dozens of human remains, including numerous teeth, representing several individuals.
The find is particularly important because decades of archaeological research in the Serengeti had not previously identified human burials or cemeteries from any period.
Analysis of the remains could provide new information about how Neolithic pastoralists treated their dead and potentially reveal details about population history, migration, health and diet.
Researchers hope that scientific analysis of the bones and teeth will help reconstruct the lives of people who inhabited the East African landscape thousands of years ago.
Extinct giraffe skull could represent unknown species
Another exceptional discovery was a nearly complete fossilised skull and radius bone belonging to an extinct Pleistocene giraffe.
Researchers believe the remains could potentially represent a species previously unknown to science.
Further study will be necessary to establish the animal’s precise identity, but the exceptional preservation of the skull could make it particularly valuable for understanding the evolution and diversity of giraffes during the Pleistocene.
Osypińska, a zooarchaeologist, said identifying animal remains in the Serengeti presents particular challenges.
The region’s extraordinary biodiversity, combined with morphological similarities between the bones of different species, means researchers need considerable comparative knowledge and experience.
Studying bones while they are still within their original archaeological context is therefore especially important.
Middle Stone Age record increases by 300 per cent
The expedition also produced extensive evidence relating to much earlier human occupation.
Researchers had originally planned excavations at two Middle Stone Age sites but ultimately carried out rescue investigations at two additional locations associated with the same period.
According to the team, the work increased the number of known Middle Stone Age sites in this part of Tanzania by around 300 per cent in a single season.
Large-scale investigations were also undertaken at Loiyangalani, described by the researchers as the only known Pleistocene archaeological site in this part of the Serengeti.
Previous archaeological work in the region has frequently relied on very small excavation trenches, often measuring only one metre by one metre. Such trenches allow archaeologists to record finds with great precision but provide only a narrow window into the wider structure of a site.
The Polish team instead opened excavation areas measuring five by five metres and, in some cases, ten by ten metres.
Osypińska said the approach had already proved valuable during previous research in Egypt and Sudan because it allows archaeologists to examine artefacts within a much broader spatial context.
Larger excavation areas can reveal features such as hearths, pits and concentrations of artefacts that might otherwise be difficult to recognise.
‘Kiboko’ site reveals remarkable preservation
Researchers also investigated a previously unexplored site that they named Kiboko, meaning “hippopotamus” in Swahili.
The name was inspired by an encounter with a disgruntled hippo on the researchers’ first day at the site.
Kiboko subsequently proved to be one of the expedition’s most promising archaeological locations.
Excavations produced rich collections of stone artefacts and exceptionally well-preserved animal remains. Crucially, the site also retains clear stratigraphy — successive archaeological layers that allow researchers to reconstruct the chronological sequence of human activity.
Among the more intriguing discoveries is possible evidence that Pleistocene inhabitants were making objects from turtle shells that served purposes beyond everyday practical use.
Researchers suspect some could have been ornaments.
If confirmed, the objects could provide rare evidence for personal decoration and symbolic behaviour among the prehistoric inhabitants of the Serengeti.
“We will be able to study not only what our ancestors used in the Pleistocene, but also what they wanted to decorate their bodies with,” Osypińska said.
Such discoveries are important because personal ornaments can provide evidence for abstract thinking, identity and symbolic communication — behaviours that are central to understanding the development of the human mind.
Finds sent for laboratory analysis
Many of the questions raised by the first field season cannot yet be answered.
Material collected during the excavations has been sent to specialist laboratories in Europe and the United States for detailed scientific analysis.
Researchers hope the results will clarify the chronology of the sites and provide further information about the human and animal remains, stone artefacts and other discoveries.
The team is expected to resume work in Tanzania in February 2027, when researchers will conduct further analysis of stone artefacts and animal remains. Another archaeological field season in the Serengeti is planned for July.
The first season was conducted through two projects funded by Poland’s National Science Centre.
Researchers from the University of Wrocław and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences operate as separate missions but share accommodation and logistics while working in the Serengeti.
The research is supported by the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute and carried out in cooperation with Tanzania National Parks and the Frankfurt Zoological Society.
Searching for humanity’s past in the Serengeti
The Serengeti lies close to one of the most important regions in the study of human evolution.
Its plains extend across northern Tanzania near the East African Rift, while the internationally renowned Olduvai Gorge lies only several dozen kilometres away.
Olduvai has produced evidence of hominin activity extending back more than two million years and has played a central role in understanding early human evolution.
Yet the archaeology of the Serengeti itself remains comparatively poorly understood.
Research conducted around four decades ago under Professor John Bower, followed by work led by Professor Audax Mabulla approximately 20 years ago, demonstrated that the region held considerable potential, particularly for studying the Palaeolithic.
Despite this, relatively few archaeological projects have subsequently focused on the Serengeti, with much international research in Tanzania concentrated around Olduvai Gorge.
The discoveries made during the Polish-Tanzanian expedition suggest that the vast savannah still contains a largely unexplored record of prehistoric human and animal life.
After only one field season, researchers have uncovered human remains associated with Neolithic pastoralists, identified new Middle Stone Age sites, found possible evidence of prehistoric ornaments and recovered the remarkably complete skull of an extinct giraffe that could represent an unknown species.
For archaeologists attempting to reconstruct humanity’s deep past, the Serengeti may have considerably more evidence still waiting beneath its famous grasslands.
Sources : PAP