Tephra connections between environmental change and human prehistory in Ethiopia

Pleistocene volcanism associated with the MER produced colossal pyroclastic deposits found widely as tephra layers
within sedimentary archives such as lake sediments and fluvial terraces. Due to the prevalence of tephra in
archaeological sequences, their correlation and dating has become fundamental to the chronology of the hominin record
in Ethiopia (and in eastern Africa more generally). However, the record of past MER volcanism is far from complete and
recent work combining volcanic outcrop, archaeological, fluvial and lake sediment sequences, has shown that many
correlations require testing with new samples and state-of-the-art analytical protocols. In addition, there is now
demonstrated potential to use cryptotephra methods to fill critical gaps in the volcanological record and increase the
detection and correlation of tephra isochrons within sedimentary sequences.