Namoratunga II (Lothagam North Pillar Site)
Also known asLothagam North Pillar Site · Namoratunga II
Datedc. 2450–300 BCE*
No licensed photograph yetWe have no photograph we may publish for this site, so the interpretive 3D view leads instead.
Overview
About this site
What the sources say
The Nasura Pillar Site, registered as GcJh3 and also known as Namoratunga II, is an archaeological site on the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya dating to the Pastoral Neolithic. Namoratunga means "people of stone" in the Turkana language. The site was originally believed to have been created around 300 BC, but recent excavations have yielded an older radiocarbon sample dating to 2398 +/- 44 years BC.
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Age sources
Sources disagree on the age of this site
Sources do not agree on how old this site is. Each claim is listed with where it comes from; the mainstream reading is marked.
Range across all claimsc. 2450–300 BCE*
MeasuredWhat this badge means
A physical measurement of this site: a radiocarbon date, a tree-ring count, a luminescence date, or a record that can itself be dated.
- 2450–2350 BCERadiocarbon datingRadiocarbon sample ~2400 BCE; originally believed c. 300 BCE. The source gives one year, so it is shown as a 100-year window (D-08).Source: en.wikipedia.org
- 2400 BCEAtlas research notesRadiocarbon sample ~2400 BCE; originally believed c. 300 BCESource: en.wikipedia.org
- 300 BCEAtlas research notesRadiocarbon sample ~2400 BCE; originally believed c. 300 BCESource: en.wikipedia.org
Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
The full article
Namoratunga II (Lothagam North Pillar Site): the whole story
In briefSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kalokol Pillar SiteCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kalokol Pillar SiteCC BY-SA 4.0
The Nasura Pillar Site, registered as GcJh3 and also known as Namoratunga II, Kalokol Pillar Site or the Lothagam North Pillar Site, is an archaeological site on the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya, dating to the Pastoral Neolithic. Namoratunga means 'people of stone' in the Turkana language. The site is located 50 Kilometres off the Lodwar – Kalokol highway and is easily visible on 30 metres (98 ft) from the road.
The site contains 19 basalt pillars surrounded by a circular formation of stones. A number of other pillar sites around Lake Turkana date to the same period. Lothagam North and Manemanya, for example, are communal cemeteries. These sites were likely built by the region's earliest herders. Another burial site with stone cairns, Namoratunga I, also known as Lokori, has no stone pillars.
The site was originally believed to have been created around 300 BC, but recent excavations have yielded an older radiocarbon sample dating to 2398 +/- 44 years BC.
Archaeologists Mark Lynch and L.H. Robbins described the site in 1978 and identified it as a possible archaeoastronomical site. Lynch believed the basalt pillars tie constellations or stars to the 12-month 354-day lunar calendar of Cushitic speakers of southern Ethiopia. The pillars were said to align with seven star systems: Triangulum, Pleiades, Bellatrix, Aldebaran, Central Orion, Saiph and Sirius. Other archaeologists have reanalyzed the evidence, and the older radiocarbon date now calls these interpretations into question.
The site was formally submitted to UNESCO's World Heritage Center as part of a Tentative List Property on 30th of June 2023.
History and datingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kalokol Pillar SiteCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kalokol Pillar SiteCC BY-SA 4.0
The site is located 50 Kilometres off the Lodwar – Kalokol highway, and it is easily visible on 30 metres (98 ft) from the road. The Kalokol Pillar Site contains 19 basalt pillars which are surrounded by a circular formation of stones. A number of other pillar sites surround Lake Turkana as well and date to the same time period; Lothagam North and Manemanya, for example, are communal cemeteries. These sites were likely built by the region's earliest herders. Another burial site with stone cairns, Namoratunga I, also known as Lokori, does not have stone pillars.
Archaeologists Mark Lynch and L.H. Robbins described the Kalokol Pillar Site in 1978 and identified it as a possible archaeoastronomical site. Lynch believed the basalt pillars tie the constellations or stars to the 12-month 354-day lunar calendar of Cushitic speakers of southern Ethiopia. The pillars were said to align with seven star systems: Triangulum, Pleiades, Bellatrix, Aldebaran, Central Orion, Saiph, and Sirius. Other archaeologists have reanalyzed the archaeoastronomical evidence, and an older radiocarbon date from the Kalokol Pillar Site now calls into question these interpretations.
The site was formally submitted to UNESCO's World Heritage Center as part of Tentative List Property on 30th of June 2023.
How this page was madeSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kalokol Pillar SiteCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Kalokol Pillar SiteCC BY-SA 4.0
The summary at the top of this page was written by Claude Sonnet 5.5 (2026-11-06) from the cited Wikipedia article “Kalokol Pillar Site”. The numbers in it were checked automatically against the source text. The rest of the page is the article itself, the structured records and computed distances.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Recumbent stone circles and other stone arrangements
A recumbent stone circle is a type of stone circle with a large monolith, the recumbent, lying on its side. They are found in only two regions: Aberdeenshire in north-east Scotland, and the far south-west of Ireland in Cork and Kerry, where they are now more commonly called Cork-Kerry or axial stone circles. More than 70 have been definitively identified in Aberdeenshire, and they are believed to be linked to the Clava cairns of the Inverness area.
The recumbent is always laid horizontally with its long axis generally aligned with the perimeter of the ring, between the south and south-west. A flanker stone stands each side of it and these are typically the tallest stones in the circle, while the smallest is on the north-east side. They were built in the early Bronze Age. Aquhorthies near Portlethen in Aberdeenshire has a ring cairn and a recumbent stone circle which unusually has two rings.
Some archaeologists, such as Aubrey Burl, have associated recumbent circles with rituals in which moonlight played a central part, since they are aligned with the arc of the southern moon. Recent excavations at Tomnaverie stone circle have suggested that no alignment of the circle was intended, so the lunar idea is a hypothesis.
The Atlas also puts here a handful of other stone arrangements and single monoliths that do not fit its other types. Each has its own local meaning that this article cannot cover, and they are undated unless a source gives a date.
When visiting, look for the recumbent between the two tall flankers, and note which way it faces.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Recumbent stone circle, Wikipedia: Aquhorthies stone circle, Wikipedia: Stone circle · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 300 BCE
The site was originally believed to have been created around 300 BC, but recent excavations have yielded an older radiocarbon sample dating to 2398 +/- 44 years BC.
Source - 1978
Robbins described the Kalokol Pillar Site in 1978 and identified it as a possible archaeoastronomical site.
Source - 2023
The site was formally submitted to UNESCO's World Heritage Center as part of Tentative List Property on 30th of June 2023.
Source
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
2450–2350 BCEHow this date was established: Radiocarbon datingRadiocarbon sample ~2400 BCE; originally believed c. 300 BCE. The source gives one year, so it is shown as a 100-year window (D-08).Source for this date
Measured facts
- Alternative name
- Nasura Pillar SiteSource: Alternative name
- Registry code
- GcJh3Source: Registry code
- Location
- West side of Lake Turkana, KenyaSource: Location
- Period
- Pastoral NeolithicSource: Period
- Name meaning
- People of stone in the Turkana languageSource: Name meaning
- Excavation result
- A radiocarbon sample dated to 2398 +/- 44 years BCSource: Excavation result
Where it stands
Kenya
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 3°25′22″ N, 35°48′10″ EFor a GPS or map app: 3.42278, 35.80278
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Q1215326wikidata.org
- 02Kalokol_Pillar_Siteen.wikipedia.org
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Credit
Text, licence and sources
Text from the Wikipedia article "Kalokol Pillar Site" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): Kalokol Pillar SiteCC BY-SA 4.0
- Q1215326CC0