Mobile pastoralism is the earliest form of food production to develop in Africa, and for the past 5000 years has remained one of the most important subsistence strategies for people across the continent. Despite its importance, the technological infrastructures that facilitated the successful spread of stone-tool–using pastoralists through environmentally heterogenous and climatically unpredictable regions remain poorly understood. This study provides comprehensive analyses of the lithic technological organization of early herders in southern Kenya responsible for the distinct “Elmenteitan” material traditions. Quantitative data on blade production strategies from thirteen Elmenteitan sites demonstrate that this group represents the emergence of new technological strategies based on participation in long-distance obsidian exchange networks, and flexible and versatile blade blank production. Elmenteitan lithic technological patterns are interpreted in terms of preparation for different configurations of local and regional mobility, which helped early herders manage environmental unpredictability in eastern Africa. These data provide a foundation for future study of the role of lithic technologies in pastoralist economies and contribute a case study from mobile food-producer contexts to global debates on the organization of stone tool economies.

流动放牧是非洲发展粮食生产的最早形式，在过去的5000年中，它仍然是整个非洲大陆人民最重要的生存策略之一。尽管它很重要，但对于利用石器工具成功地传播牧民通过环境异质性和气候不可预测的地区的技术基础设施仍然知之甚少。这项研究提供了对肯尼亚南部早期牧民的石器技术组织的全面分析，这些组织负责独特的“ Elmenteitan”物质传统。来自13个Elmenteitan站点的叶片生产策略的定量数据表明，该群体代表了基于参与长距离黑曜石交换网络的新技术策略的出现，灵活多样的刀片坯料生产。Elmenteitan石器时代的技术模式是根据对当地和区域流动性不同配置的准备来解释的，这有助于早期牧民管理东部非洲的环境不可预测性。这些数据为将来研究石器技术在牧民经济中的作用提供了基础，并为从流动食品生产者的背景到有关石器工具经济组织的全球辩论提供了案例研究。