Journal of African Archaeology

Huysecom, Eric; Ozainne, Sylvain; Jeanbourquin, Chrystel; Mayor, Anne; Canetti, Marie; Loukou, Serge; Chaix, Louis; Eichhorn, Barbara; Lespez, Laurent; Le Drézen, Yann; Guindo, Nema

2015 Journal of African Archaeology

doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10266

In the Niger Bend, many studies have shown the existence of settlement mounds which mainly developed between the 1 st millennium BC and the 15 th century AD. While knowledge about tell-type sites in sub-Saharan Africa has advanced in recent years, many aspects of this topic remain poorly understood. Considering the vast geographic area and time span, there is very little accurate chronostratigraphic information available. This relative lack of long sequences strongly limits the diachronic integration of cultural, economic and environmental data, necessary to unravel the socio-economic mechanisms underlying the emergence and development of this type of site. In this paper, we present the results of the excavations we recently conducted on a group of settlement mounds at Sadia, on the Seno Plain (Dogon Country, Mali), which allow a precise chronological, cultural and environmental sequence to be defined. By combining this work and the results from an extensive approach applied throughout the Dogon Country for more than fifteen years, we provide a scenario for the Seno tells and an insight into the development of Sahelian rural societies, including considerations on their interactions with the early State polities of the Niger Bend, prior to AD 1400.

Robion-Brunner, Caroline; Haour, Anne; Coustures, Marie-Pierre; Champion, Louis; Béziat, Didier

2015 Journal of African Archaeology

doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10263

In the context of the “Crossroads of Empires” project led by Anne Haour, one strand of enquiry aims to understand the history of blacksmith groups and the development of iron production in Dendi country, in the northern Republic of Benin. Numerous remains of iron production have been discovered, showing a great variability in furnace design and waste assemblages. At least three smelting traditions can be distinguished. In this paper, we present the smelting site of Kompa Moussékoubou (10 th /11 th c. AD) which has been investigated by archaeological and archaeometric methods. Beyond the archaeometallurgical results, the excavation of a 1 x 2 m trench on a settlement mound nearby and survey work, which place the site within its wider context, are also discussed. In particular, we offer a detailed analysis of the ceramics recovered during test pitting and within one of the furnaces itself. This paper thus offers a rare opportunity to combine archaeometallurgical and ceramics data.

Berkani, Hayette; Zazzo, Antoine; Paris, François

2015 Journal of African Archaeology

doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10265

Among the countless funerary monuments present in the Sahara, the corridor and enclosure tumulus (CET) display particularly original architectural features. Their chronology is now well established for the Nigerien Sahara, but remains poorly known for the Tassili Azger in south-eastern Algeria, despite the abundance of monuments identified. This article presents the first results of direct AMS 14 C dating of the mineral fraction (bioapatite) of human bones from three CET excavated in different sites of the Tassili Fadnoun in 2011. The results indicate that these burials date from the late 4 th or early 3 rd mill BCE and are of similar age to the ones of the CET of Emi Lulu in northern Niger. Despite an extensive geographic distribution across the Sahara, it appears that CET share several common characteristics especially in terms of architecture, burial practices and chronology.

Mackay, Alex; Jacobs, Zenobia; Steele, Teresa E.

2015 Journal of African Archaeology

doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10267

We report on excavations of a small rock shelter — Putslaagte 8 (PL8) — located on the arid interior fringe of South Africa’s Fynbos biome. The shelter preserves a long sequence of Holocene and late Pleistocene occupation dating back beyond 75,000 years BP. This paper presents data on the technological, faunal and chronological sequence. Occupation is markedly pulsed and includes three late Pleistocene Later Stone Age (LSA) units (macrolithic, Robberg and early LSA), as well as several distinct Middle Stone Age (MSA) components from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3–5. Pulsing may reflect the arid and possibly marginal environments in which the shelter is situated, and to that end some elements of the sequence contrast with occupational patterns towards the coast. Viewed in a regional setting PL8 suggests: 1) complementarity of resource movements between the coast and interior in terminal MIS 2; 2) distinctions in material selection, and possibly technology, between the coast and interior in earlier MIS 2; 3) an MSA lasting to at least 40,000 years before present; 4) a weak Howiesons Poort and post-Howiesons Poort in the interior; 5) possibly distinct periods of denticulate manufacture within the MIS 5 MSA; 6) highly localised patterns of material acquisition in the earlier MSA.

Wayessa, Bula Sirika; Lyons, Diane; Kooyman, Brian

2015 Journal of African Archaeology

doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10268

In Wallaga, local beer (farso) is one of the most common alcoholic beverages. The beverage is prepared from cereals such as sorghum, millet, maize and barley and an additive plant known as gesho (Rhamnus prinoides). The beer is fermented in a ceramic jar known as huuroo. The brewing process causes pitting in the interior walls. Because most fermentation processes cause pitting of ceramic vessels, use alteration analysis cannot specifically identify past beer brewing practice. Ethnoarchaeological research of beer fermentation in Wallaga shows that in addition to erosion of interior walls of beer jars, the beer fermentation process results in the deposition of residues on the interior walls of the vessels. This residue from beer brewing is different from residue left by other processes because it includes ingredients not incorporated into other foods. As a result, plant microresidue analysis of archaeological ceramics can help to identify past brewing practices and major ingredients of indigenous beer.

Gillespie, Susan D.

2015 Journal of African Archaeology

doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10264

Pollard, E.J.D.

2015 Journal of African Archaeology

doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10269

Shea, John J.

2015 Journal of African Archaeology

doi: 10.3213/2191-5784-10271