Elmenteitan

Elmenteitan
Alternative namesElmenteitan Culture
Geographical rangeKenya, Africa
PeriodNeolithic
Datesc.3300-1200 BP
Type siteGamble's Cave
Major sitesGamble's Cave, Ngamuriak, Gogo Falls, Njoro River Cave
Preceded byLater Stone Age peoples
Followed byPastoral Iron Age peoples

The Elmenteitan culture was a prehistoric lithic industry and pottery tradition with a distinct pattern of land use, hunting and pastoralism that appeared and developed on the western plains of Kenya, East Africa during the Pastoral Neolithic c.3300-1200 BP. It was named by archaeologist Louis Leakey after Lake Elmenteita (also Elementaita), a soda lake located in the Great Rift Valley, about 120 km (75 mi) northwest of Nairobi.