Gogo Falls

Gogo Falls

Location in Kenya
Location	Kenya
Region	Migori County
Coordinates	0°54′S 34°35′E / 0.900°S 34.583°E / -0.900; 34.583Coordinates: 0°54′S 34°35′E / 0.900°S 34.583°E / -0.900; 34.583
Altitude	1,296 m (4,252 ft)
History
Periods	Neolithic
Cultures	Elmenteitan
Associated with	Palaeo-human herders
Site notes
Excavation dates	since 1983
Archaeologists	Karega-Munene, Samuel Kahinju

The Gogo Falls, is an archaeological site near a former and since 1956 dammed waterfall, located in the Lake Victoria Basin in Migori County, western Kenya. This site is important to archaeology as it includes some of the earliest appearances of artifacts and domestic animals in the area. The findings at the site help to reconstruct the later pre-history around Lake Victoria. Artifacts found at the site included pottery and iron artifacts. Through these artifacts some of the cultural traditions of the people who lived near Gogo Falls were discovered.

Gogo Falls is located in the Lake Victoria Basin in Kenya. Gogo Falls is precisely located on the Kanyamkago Hillside near the modern dam on the West bank of Gucha River (also known as Kuja River). The Kanyamkago Hills were formed out of Pre-Cambrian rocks. The modern dam is fairly close to Gogo Falls but it did not form any of the falls in the area, the falls were all formed naturally. The falls were a good place to collect fish because they offered easy access to those who resided in the area.

The first archaeologist to work in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya was Archdeacon W.E. Owen, he later enlisted the help of Louis Leakey. After their work, there were a few caves that were excavated but they did not present any important artifacts. That was the extent of the work done in the Lake Victoria Basin until 1980 when Peter Robertshaw started his work in Gogo Falls. Robertshaw and Collett visited Gogo Falls in 1981, they found that some of the ground had been disturbed due to work on the local dam. From the visible disturbance they found the ground had archaeological evidence that should be further examined . The items found were ash midden that included Oltome Pottery, faunal remains and stone artifacts. There were cattle teeth found in the area but through further research it appeared that the cattle and the pottery were not related. Robertshaw returned to Gogo Falls in 1983 to further excavate the site with new trenches located in different areas of the falls. In 1989, Karega-Munene excavated Gogo Falls on a larger scale using similar excavations techniques to Robertshaw’s in 1983.