Pierre de Maret

Multidisciplinary perspectives on banana (Musa spp.) domestication

Original multidisciplinary research hereby clarifies the complex geodomestication pathways that generated the vast range of banana cultivars (cvs). Genetic analyses identify the wild ancestors of modern-day cvs and elucidate several key stages of domestication for different cv groups. Archaeology and linguistics shed light on the historical roles of people in the movement and cultivation of bananas from New Guinea to West Africa during the Holocene. The historical reconstruction of domestication processes is essential for breeding programs seeking to diversify and improve banana cvs for the future.

First archaeological evidence of banana cultivation in central Africa during the third millennium before present

Abstract. Phytoliths recovered from refuse pits excavated in central Cameroon and dated to ca 2500 B.P. have been positively identified for the first time in Africa as derived from Musa the cultivated banana, after a comparative study of Musa and Ensete phytoliths. This discovery provides archaeologists with unequivocal proof of early agriculture in central Africa. Furthermore, the presence of banana in Cameroon much earlier than previously assumed could explain how agriculture spread through the rain forest. Lastly, as Musa is of Asian origin, this study provides the first concrete evidence of contacts across the Indian Ocean a millennium earlier than currently accepted.

On the Argument From Ceramics to History: A Challenge Based on Evidence From Medieval Nubia [and Comments and Reply]

The assumption that major changes in pottery closely reflect change in other areas of culture has been widely accepted by prehistorians, but it has seldom been tested against independent historical or ethnographic evidence. It is here suggested, on the basis of dated pottery types and of independently dated historical developments, that there is not necessarily a close connection between the two. The evidence for this conclusion is derived from historically dated archaeological contexts in ancient and medieval Nubia.

Luba Roots: The First Complete Iron Age Sequence in Zaire

* The GYPsY LORE SOCIETY, founded in 1888 in Great Britain, has been reactivated, and renewed publication of its journal has commenced. Membership in the Society and submission of articles to the journal are solicited. The Society is international in scope and welcomes memberships from individuals and institutions interested in studies of Gypsies and Gypsy-like groups. Two regional chapters are being created, in North America and the United Kingdom, to foster closer communication and cooperation among scholars within a more limited geographical area through conferences and quarterly newsletters. Scholars in other regions are encouraged to establish their own local chapters. Coordination will be maintained by the international headquarters in the United Kingdom, which has association with the British Academy. Annual membership subscriptions (i4 or U.S.

From kinship to kingship : an African journey into complexity

10) should be sent to A. Guest, A.C.I.S., Hon. Treasurer, Gypsy Lore Society, 3 Birches Park Rd., Codsall, Wolverhampton, U.K. or to Sheila Salo, Treasurer, Gypsy Lore Society North American Chapter, 56 Sheridan Ave., Mount Vernon, N.Y. 19552, U.S.A. Manuscripts for consideration by the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society should be sent in triplicate to David H. Smith, Hon. Editor, 81 Narborough Rd., Cosby, Leicester, U.K. Every article undergoes referee review by at least two authorities in addition to the Editor. Authors are urged to consult a recent copy of the journal for the official format for articles and reviews. All other inquiries hould be addressed to Christopher Beresford-Webb, Hon. Secretary, Coutts House, Sandon, near Stafford, U.K.

Did human activity really trigger the late Holocene rainforest crisis in Central Africa

In Africa, where kinship provided the underlying structure of society, social networks and ritual power appear to be at the core of the notion of power and the emergence of political complexity. In studying those developments, and how African political systems challenged simplistic neo-evolutionary models as they kept moving back and forth from lineage to kingdom, it may be useful to focus first on understanding how egalitarian societies became centralised states with a king. Although many famous kingdoms of the continent have flourished in the past, little is known about their origins. In order to use archaeology to study those processes, we need a better understanding of the nature of kingship, and thus to find ways to identify the sacred dimension of power in the African archaeological record. In that perspective, we should focus on the remains of palaces and precolonial cities, as well as on burial centres and regalia.In Africa, where kinship provided the underlying structure of society, social networks and ritual power appear to be at the core of the notion of power and the emergence of political complexity. In studying those developments, and how African political systems challenged simplistic neo-evolutionary models as they kept moving back and forth from lineage to kingdom, it may be useful to focus first on understanding how egalitarian societies became centralised states with a king. Although many famous kingdoms of the continent have flourished in the past, little is known about their origins. In order to use archaeology to study those processes, we need a better understanding of the nature of kingship, and thus to find ways to identify the sacred dimension of power in the African archaeological record. In that perspective, we should focus on the remains of palaces and precolonial cities, as well as on burial centres and regalia.

Bones, sex, and dolls: Solving a mystery in Central Africa and beyond

In a paper by Garcin et al. in PNAS (1), it is assumed that a sharp increase in settlement activities in the Central African rainforest during the first millennium BC caused widespread deforestation between 2,600 and 2,020 cal y BP (the late Holocene rainforest crisis or LHRC) (2, 3). Archaeology was only marginally used in this new study by means of a newly compiled radiocarbon database containing 1,202 14C dates from 460 sites in Central Africa covering the past 10,500 y. Those dates must be critically evaluated, as not all of them are relevant for assessing the human factor in the LHRC. Not only the quantity of … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: bernardolivier.clist{at}ugent.be. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

An Interview With Luc de Heusch

Ethnographic parallels are used to explain the presence and significance of caprine or antelope metapodial bones principally in childrens graves in Iron Age contexts in the Congo. Beyond Africa, in the Neolithic in France and Italy, but also during the Bronze Age in the Levant, the same mysterious bones have often been collected in similar contexts. It is likely that the natural shape of these bones led them to be seen as human figures and to be used as dolls. This is an example of how natural objects may be construed in a similar way in various societies and which raises many issues regarding what a doll actually is, its various functions and how it blurs boundaries between play and ritual.Ethnographic parallels are used to explain the presence and significance of caprine or antelope metapodial bones principally in childrens graves in Iron Age contexts in the Congo. Beyond Africa, in the Neolithic in France and Italy, but also during the Bronze Age in the Levant, the same mysterious bones have often been collected in similar contexts. It is likely that the natural shape of these bones led them to be seen as human figures and to be used as dolls. This is an example of how natural objects may be construed in a similar way in various societies and which raises many issues regarding what a doll actually is, its various functions and how it blurs boundaries between play and ritual.

Tea party toys? Classical Kisalian grave goods from the Upemba (D.R. Congo)

Introduction [PM]: Luc de Heusch is distinguished as a film maker, an art critic, and a social anthropologist. His career has been made at the heart of some of the most interesting intellectual movements in modem Europe. As a young man he was associated with the major European avant-garde movement Cobra; as a social anthropologist he was a student of Griaule and became a close associate of Levi-Strauss. Born in 1927, he retired in i992 from the chair of social anthropology at the University of Brussels. In the same year he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Strasbourg and presented the inaugural address at the second meeting of the European Association of Social Anthropologists. He is the author of eight books (I958-87), three of which have been translated into English.

The Bologna Process - Towards the European Higher Education Area

The continuous Iron Age sequence that connects the 10th century Kisalian in central Africa to the present day inhabitants of the area, the Luba, provides a rare opportunity to link archaeological data to ethnographic observations. Numerous Kisalian graves reflect the elaborate rituals and beliefs and the complex socioeconomic organization of that period. One of its intriguing aspects is the extensive use of various miniature objects as grave goods, for children and adults. The widespread Luba practice of making miniature objects for their children, as well as in connection with the spiritual world, is thus likely to date back many centuries and testifies to the symbolic qualities of miniatures.