Namoratunga: the first archeoastronomical evidence in sub-saharan Africa by ancient Eastern Cushites

[Malaki]

Namoratunga, a megalithic site in northwestern Kenya, has an alignment of 19 basalt pillars that are non randomly oriented toward certain stars and constellations. The same stars and constellations are used by modern eastern Cushitic peoples to calculate an accurate calendar. The fact that Namoratunga dates to about 300 B.C. suggests that a prehistoric calendar based on detailed astronomical knowledge was in use in eastern Africa.

References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17743241

 

[Malaki]

Namoratunga is a possible archaeoastronomical site on the west side of Lake Turkana in Kenya, believed to have been founded around 300 BC. It is easily visible on the Lodwar – Kalokol roadside, 20 meters from the road. Namoratunga II (3°25′22″N 35°48′10″E) contains 19 basalt pillars, aligned with 7 star systems: Triangulum, Pleiades, Bellatrix, Aldebaran, Central Orion, Saiph, and Sirius. Namoratunga means "people of stone" in the Turkana language. Mark Lynch and L.H. Robbins discovered the site in 1978. Lynch believes the basalt pillars tie the constellations or stars to the 12-month 354-day lunar calendar of Cushitic speakers of southern Ethiopia. The pillars align with the movements of the 7 constellations corresponding to a 354-day calendar. The pillars are surrounded by a circular formation of stones. One grave with a pillar on top exists in the area. Namoratunga I (2°23′0.04″N 36°8′2.52″E)[1] contains a similar grave but no pillars.

1. Helaine, Seline (1997), Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (Springer), p. 755. ISBN 978-0-7923-4066-9
2. Krupp, Edwin C. (2003), Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations (Dover), pp. 170–172. ISBN 978-0-486-42882-6

 

[Malaki]

 

[Grant]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_E-V32

In human genetics, E-V32, also known as E1b1b1a1a1b[1] (Formerly E3b1a1a), is a Y DNA Chromosome haplogroup found primarily in the Horn of Africa, a descendant of the larger E-V68 branch of the macrohaplogroup E.

Haplogroup E-V32
Origins

"Cruciani et al. (2007) suggest that this sub-clade of E-V12 originated in North Africa, and then subsequently expanded further south into the Horn of Africa, where it is now prevalent.[Note 3] Before the discovery of V32, Cruciani et al. (2004)referred to the same lineages as the "gamma cluster", which was estimated to have arisen about 8,500 years ago. They stated that "the highest frequencies in the three Cushitic-speaking groups: the Borana from Kenya (71.4%), the Oromo from Ethiopia (32.0%), and the Somali (52.2%). Outside of eastern Africa, it was found in two subjects from Egypt (3.6%) and in one Arab from Morocco".

This is the group that migrated up the Nile to the Lake Turkana area and entered Somalia from the south..

T and J probably precede this group in Somalia by at least a thousand years and almost certainly entered from the north. There is a debate over whether T was in Somalia at 6-8 kya, or in the Red Sea hills then and moved south at 3kya.

My best guess: the Southern Cushites moved south also from this Lake Turkana area. V-32 only began moving north about the beginning of the Common Era. In Somalia, E-V-32 went north and then east and then south. The Hawiyya follow the Shabelli out of the Ogaden, arriving at Merka by about 1100 AD. The northern clans form in the 12th-13th centuries and begin to expand into the camel lands of the south, giving the illusion of a generally southern movement. Think about it: Except for pockets of Dir fleeing the Adal wars, those moving south were all Darood. T has been stable, right where they are today, for millenia. J also has an ancient history with the Warsangali, who have also not moved much.

Looks like E-V-32 were (are) major wanderers.

 

[Prince Abubu]

What does Namoratunga mean? What language is that? Sounds Samoan.

 

[Malaki]

@Prince Abubu

I think it means Stones or something according to the local Turkana people who now inhabit this former Cushitic territory.

 

[Malaki]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_E-V32

In human genetics, E-V32, also known as E1b1b1a1a1b[1] (Formerly E3b1a1a), is a Y DNA Chromosome haplogroup found primarily in the Horn of Africa, a descendant of the larger E-V68 branch of the macrohaplogroup E.

Haplogroup E-V32
Origins

"Cruciani et al. (2007) suggest that this sub-clade of E-V12 originated in North Africa, and then subsequently expanded further south into the Horn of Africa, where it is now prevalent.[Note 3] Before the discovery of V32, Cruciani et al. (2004)referred to the same lineages as the "gamma cluster", which was estimated to have arisen about 8,500 years ago. They stated that "the highest frequencies in the three Cushitic-speaking groups: the Borana from Kenya (71.4%), the Oromo from Ethiopia (32.0%), and the Somali (52.2%). Outside of eastern Africa, it was found in two subjects from Egypt (3.6%) and in one Arab from Morocco".

This is the group that migrated up the Nile to the Lake Turkana area and entered Somalia from the south..

T and J probably precede this group in Somalia by at least a thousand years and almost certainly entered from the north. There is a debate over whether T was in Somalia at 6-8 kya, or in the Red Sea hills then and moved south at 3kya.

My best guess: the Southern Cushites moved south also from this Lake Turkana area. V-32 only began moving north about the beginning of the Common Era. In Somalia, E-V-32 went north and then east and then south. The Hawiyya follow the Shabelli out of the Ogaden, arriving at Merka by about 1100 AD. The northern clans form in the 12th-13th centuries and begin to expand into the camel lands of the south, giving the illusion of a generally southern movement. Think about it: Except for pockets of Dir fleeing the Adal wars, those moving south were all Darood. T has been stable, right where they are today, for millenia. J also has an ancient history with the Warsangali, who have also not moved much.

Looks like E-V-32 were (are) major wanderers.

We, Dir have always been in the Horn. We are not newcomers. The entire North West Somali territories from Eritrea to Harar to Dire Dawa to near Hargeisa is Haplogroup T.

Our numbers were reduced by the Adal Wars and the Oromo Wars. But there is a resurgence.

 

[Deactivated]

All of the oldest ruins in Kenya have kushitic ties.

Thier oldest mosque was from the Geladi empire.

If you google search ancient ruins in Kenya, a mosque built by cushites pops up.