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Dr. Erin Marie Williams collected pliance hand data on a variety of subjects this summer in Ileret Kenya. She is investigating early toolmaking. During this process, rocks of different hardness are banged together and the flakes which result become a primitive tool. Her previous lab research at GWU was recently published in the Journal of Human Evolution.

This series of pictures shows Dr. Williams, a few students/subjects, and a group of Daasanach (the native people of Ileret, Kenya). The subjects were making simple Oldowan choppers using ignimbrite and basalt, two raw materials found throughout Ileret and which our early human ancestors used for stone tool production and use.