Alexandre Livingstone Smith

High spatial resolution of late-Holocene human activities in the moist forests of Central Africa using soil charcoal and charred botanical remains

Palaeoecological and archaeological studies have demonstrated that human populations have long inhabited the moist forests of central Africa. However, spatial and temporal patterns of human activities have hardly been investigated with satisfactory accuracy. In this study, we propose to characterize past human activities at local scale by using a systematic quantitative and qualitative methodology based on soil charcoal and charred botanical remains. A total of 88 equidistant test-pits were excavated along six transects in two contrasting forest types in southern Cameroon. Charred botanical remains were collected by water-sieving and sorted by type (wood charcoals, oil palm endocarps and unidentified seeds). A total of 50 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry 14C dates were also obtained. Results showed that charred macroremains were found at multiple places in the forest, suggesting scattered human activities, which were distributed into two main periods (Phase A: 2300–1300 BP; Phase B: 580 BP to the present). Charred botanical remains indicated two types of land-use: (1) domestic, with oil palm endocarps most often associated with potsherds (villages) and (2) agricultural, with charcoal as probable remnant of slash-and-burn cultivation (fields). Oil palm endocarp abundance decreased with distance from the identified human settlements. Our methodology allowed documenting, at high resolution, the spatial and temporal patterns of human activities in central African moist forests and could be applied to other tropical contexts.

The settlement mound of Birnin Lafiya: New evidence from the eastern arc of the Niger River

Abstract The development of complex social organisation and trade networks during the first and second millennia AD in the Sahel region of West Africa has long been hampered by a paucity of reliable data. Investigations at Birnin Lafiya, a large settlement mound of this period on the eastern arc of the Niger River, help to fill this gap. The site can now be placed within its broader landscape, and discoveries of early mud architecture, circular structures, human burial remains, personal ornamentation and striking potsherd pavements can be contrasted with contemporary sites both within the inland Niger region and at Ife to the south.

Copper, Trade and Polities: Exchange Networks in Southern Central Africa in the 2nd Millennium CE

A rare, scattered resource in Central Africa, copper was produced in the Copperbelt since the 4th–7th centuries CE and traded over large distances from the 9th to the 19th centuries. It was exchanged mainly in the form of cross-shaped ingots, also called croisettes, varying in form and size over time and space. In this article, we explore and compare the spatial distribution of these ingots over time. This approach offers an opportunity to study pre-colonial trade. Indeed, during the 2nd millennium CE, the use of the same type of ingots is attested in distant regions, from the Great Zimbabwe area to the Upemba depression (north Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC]). Over the centuries, changes in geographic distribution patterns and styles indicate shifts in contacts and the appearance of new boundaries. These variations reflect changes in the regional distribution networks and suggest areas of exclusive political influence. Historical information available for the 19th century shows that it is possible to link the diffusion of copper with political entities, a hypothesis supported by evidence related to other kinds of production, such as ceramics and salt. For remote periods, confrontation of the croisettes’ distribution with other aspects of material culture suggests that such links between socio-political spaces and copper distribution may also have occurred in the distant past.

Un Néolithique ouest-africain. Cadre chrono-culturel, économique et environnemental de l'Holocène récent en pays dogon (Mali)

SHM-1 came from the hinterland west of the site. Knowledge of pottery making may have entered the Capsian core area through these contacts. In this sense, coastal sites could be considered as the starting point of pottery production within the eastern Maghreb, reinforcing the particular importance of SHM-1, though further research is, of course, needed to confirm this. The appearance of pottery poses the question of Neolithisation in general, usually defined by the presence of food production. At SHM-1 this question was answered with the help of pollen analysis and the study of faunal remains, including fish bones and marine and terrestrial molluscs. No remains of domesticated species were found. Instead, a hunter-gatherer-fisher economy exploiting a broad spectrum of wild terrestrial and marine resources is evident. However, results from stable isotope analysis of human and animal bones appear to contradict in part the studies of the faunal remains. While isotope analyses emphasise the use of terrestrial resources and show little evidence of food from the nearby lagoon, the faunal data include numerous remains of brackish fish species. All the analyses coalesce in developing a picture of a hunter-gatherer society with a substantial marine component to the diet. A final remarkable feature of the volume is the holistic approach embraced in the study of all the archaeological material. While the reconstruction of chaînes opératoires has become a standard procedure in studying lithic assemblages, this promising method is still rarely used in the analysis of other artefact categories. Here, this approach is also employed in the study of ostrich eggshell artefacts and especially in the study of the production of bone tools, such as points and cutting tools. To the best of my knowledge this is the first application of the chaîne opératoire approach to bone tool assemblages of the North African Epipalaeolithic and it has yielded very interesting insights. In summary, this volume represents a highly commendable archaeological excavation report. The uniform structure of all the contributions, including trilingual abstracts and informative graphics, enables the reader to comprehend the complex and comprehensive results of the project. This volume represents a milestone in North African archaeology and should be part of every archaeological library.