Dr Kaja Fenn
Quaternary Geochronologist, Geochemist, and Sedimentologist
Climatic and environmental drivers and forcings of Homo sapiens evolution and migration out of eastern Africa
Paleoenvironmental changes at Olduvai Gorge in collaboration with Stone Age Institute
Drivers of Homo sapiens evolution and migration out of eastern Africa are still relatively poorly understood. To help answer these questions Dr Rachel Smedley and I are working on developing high resolution luminescence chronologies and age-depth models to support research led by Stone Age Institute. This longstanding research organisation brings together brings together archaeologists, geologists, and geochronologists from UK, Germany, USA, and South Africa. The ongoing efforts including Olduvai Gorge Drilling Project bring us closer to providing context for human evolution.
Publications resulting from this research
Smedley, R. K., Fenn, K., Stanistreet, I. G., Stollhofen, H., Njau, J. K., Schick, K., Toth, N. (2023). Age-depth model for uppermost Ndutu Beds constrains Middle Stone Age technology and climate-induced paleoenvironmental changes at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). Journal of Human Evolution, 186, 103465. doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103465