ABSTRACT

One of the most intriguing problems concerning the Kanem-Borno sultanate of the central Sahel between the eighth and nineteenth centuries AD concerns its early intra-African connections. Apart from historically documented linkages with North and parts of West Africa, were there trade and other contacts with eastern regions such as Darfur, the Middle Nile Valley and areas beyond prior to the fifteenth century? Addressing the results of recent archaeological field research conducted in Kanem, Chad, this paper lays the foundations of an answer to that and other pressing questions concerning Kanem-Borno. Because the region concerned is a virtual archaeological blank, the first and foremost goal of fieldwork was securely to identify and describe locations once related to the sultanate. Based on previous studies as well as various new surveys, test-excavations and radiometric dating, archaeological sites undoubtedly associated with early Kanem-Borno were located and preliminarily investigated. Those sites consist of the ruins of fired brick enclosures encompassing fired brick buildings or groups thereof dated to the eleventh to fourteenth centuries. Taking into account the construction materials used and newly available absolute dates, as well as historical data, it is assumed that these sites were élite localities very probably founded and occupied by members of what would become the Sayfuwa aristocracy and related groups.

摘要

公元 8 世纪和 19 世纪之间，关于萨赫勒中部卡内姆-博尔诺苏丹国的最有趣的问题之一涉及其早期的非洲内部联系。除了历史上记录的与北非和西非部分地区的联系之外，在 15 世纪之前是否与东部地区（例如达尔富尔、尼罗河中游河谷和其他地区）有贸易和其他联系？本文针对最近在乍得卡内姆进行的考古实地研究的结果，为回答该问题和有关卡内姆博尔诺的其他紧迫问题奠定了基础。由于相关地区是一个虚拟的考古空白，实地考察的首要目标是安全地识别和描述曾经与苏丹国相关的地点。根据以往的研究以及各种新的调查，测试挖掘和放射性测年，无疑与早期卡内姆博尔诺相关的考古遗址被定位和初步调查。这些遗址由烧制砖围墙的废墟组成，包括可追溯到十一至十四世纪的烧制砖建筑或其建筑群。考虑到所使用的建筑材料和新获得的绝对日期以及历史数据，我们假设这些地点很可能是由后来成为Sayfuwa贵族和相关团体。