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Giants of the Sands: The Giraffe and its Place in Symbolic Vocabulary in the Kingdom of Kush, Sudan Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-12-19 Loretta Kilroe
The image of a giraffe was added to both wheelmade and handmade pottery, faience plaques, temple walls and rock art in the Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush (c.570 BC–AD550), located in modern-day Sudan. However, giraffes do not appear in contemporary royal and elite art and architecture. This article explores the giraffe motif in Kush and compares this to its use earlier in Sudanese history as
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Textiles in the Funerary chaîne opératoire. Perspectives from Meroitic and Postmeroitic Sudan and Nubia (c.350 BCE–550 CE) Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-12-19 Elsa Yvanez
This paper exploits the rich but little-studied corpus of archaeological textiles found in modern Sudan and Nubia and dated to the Meroitic and Postmeroitic periods (c.350 BCE–550 CE). It allies current approaches developed in the field of mortuary archaeology with an in-depth analysis of textile artefacts discovered in situ in the graves of the ancient Sudanese people. Going beyond the simple description
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Métallurgie Ancienne du site de Tamdûlt, Anti-Atlas Marocain : Contexte Géologique et Minier Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-12-11 Zoubair El ouad, Mustapha Souhassou, Moha Ikenne
Résumé Tamdûlt est une ville du Maroc présaharien médiéval qui était un endroit de forte activité commerciale et industrielle grâce à la richesse de son sous-sol et de sa situation sur l’une des voies commerciales reliant le Maroc avec l’Afrique sub-saharienne entre le IXe et le XIVe siècle. Ainsi, la frappe monétaire était l’un des piliers de son développement industriel durant l’époque médiévale
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Samba Yaye’s Tata: Archaeology and History of an Endogenous Fortification in Eastern Senegal Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-11-13 Jacques Aymeric-Nsangou, Yao Serge Bonaventure Loukou
In West Africa, research has brought to light the remains of endogenous fortifications, some of which are called tata, built by West African communities during the last centuries of our era. Despite their importance, tata are generally examined only from a historical perspective or approached as components of global facts rather than as an object of study by themselves. As a result, little is known
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Multi-Isotopic Investigation of Population Dynamics and Mobility among Rural Medieval Christian Communities at Ghazali, Northern Sudan Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-07-06 Joanna A. Ciesielska, Robert J. Stark, Artur Obłuski, Nicole Boivin, Mary Lucas, Petrus Le Roux, Patrick Roberts
The archaeological site of Ghazali (northern Sudan) provides a rare opportunity to investigate the dynamics of mixed economies and mobility on the fringes on the Nile valley at the time of Christian expansion in Nubia. Thanks to its particular hydrological conditions, Sudan has a long history of diverse groups pursuing different economic activities, with agricultural communities settled along the fertile
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Local Communities and Archaeological Sites in Tunisia: A Case Study at Dougga (Ancient Thugga) about Cultural Memory and Cultural Markers in the Longue Durée Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-06-28 John Whitehouse, Sami Harize
The experience and legends of local communities in Tunisia who lived within archaeological sites and shared long-standing connections with those sites has been poorly recognised and documented. The extent to which elements of the cultural memory of local communities refer back to the pre-Islamic period has often been hinted at, but rarely explored in detail. The aim of this paper is to examine the
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New Rock Art Sites in Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia, and Their Relevance to the Understanding of the Rock Art and Dating of Domesticates Elsewhere in Ethiopia Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-06-16 Agazi Negash, Gebretsadkan Mulubrhan, Ephrem Assefa, Kibrom Legesse, Asfawossen Asrat
Two new rock art sites in Irob district of eastern Tigrai, northern Ethiopia, are presented. One of the sites, Ra Bolo, contains images of domestic cattle and human figures while the other, Adhay Bolo, appears to contain only images of caprines, the only example of such a scene not just in the region but in all of Ethiopia. The sites fit well with the already established northern Ethiopian assemblage
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Obsidian Vessels and Eye Inlays from Naqada and Abydos in the Collection of the Garstang Museum, Liverpool, UK Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-05-24 Rebecca O’Sullivan
Nine unpublished obsidian artefacts (one cosmetics jar, two vessel fragments, and six eye inlays) from the Garstang Museum collection are presented, with the aim of patching gaps in the current record concerning their excavation contexts and material properties, which were presumably detailed in John Garstang’s now-lost excavation report/notes. The objects date to the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom
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New Holocene Radiocarbon Dates from the Heart of the Sangha River Interval, Southwestern Central African Republic Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-04-28 Dave N. Schmitt, Karen D. Lupo, Guy T. Amaye, Jean-Paul Ndanga, Lucien P. Nguerede, Henri Zana
Radiocarbon assay of charcoal from four sites in Nola, Central African Republic, provide new age estimates from the Sangha River Interval and doubles the number of radiocarbon dates from the center of this important and controversial biogeographical tract. The new age estimates mark the occupation of a village ~575 cal BP, two iron-smelting events about 1550 cal BP, and a ~2750–2520 cal BP iron production
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Kathu Pan 6: Observations on the First Known Buried High-Density Open-Air Holocene Occupation on the Southern Margin of the Kalahari Basin Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2023-04-03 Wendy Black, Precious Chiwara-Maenzanise, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Steven James Walker, Michael Chazan
This paper presents preliminary results from a newly excavated open-air Later Stone Age site attributed to the Wilton Industry at Kathu Pan 6 in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. Basic data on the lithics, fauna (including a large ivory fragment), and ostrich eggshell (including beads) recovered during two seasons of excavation (2016–2017) are presented and this material is contextualized
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“Oh, My Beloved, Great Bull!” An Interdisciplinary Approach to Cattle as a Marker of Economic and Political Status in Medieval Sub-Saharan Societies Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-12-13 Marta Osypinska, Bogdan Żurawski, Zdzislaw Belka, Piotr Osypinski, Roman Łopaciuk
The historical, zooarchaeological and isotopic data concerning cattle breeding and management in the medieval Middle Nile Valley are considered in this paper in the first such comprehensive research for the region. The main source of data are the nearly 10,300 animal remains. The archaeozoological analyses focused primarily on cattle morphology. Strontium isotope analyses were used to indicate the
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A Unique Twelfth- to Fourteenth-Century AD Iron Nail Assemblage from Kanem, Chad Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-11-14 Carlos Magnavita
Iron nails are still a poorly researched group of African archaeological artefacts. Probably because of preservation issues and their ordinary nature, archaeologists have in general not dealt analytically with such objects. A brief survey of the published evidence shows that, compared to North Africa and the Middle Nile Valley, iron nails are late occurrences in sites south of the Sahara, dating to
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Les traditions céramiques du mégalithisme du Sénégal et de Gambie : une nouvelle périodisation pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest aux Ier et IIe millénaires de notre ère Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-10-18 Adrien Delvoye
Résumé Cet article présente les fondements, la construction et les résultats d’un nouveau modèle de périodisation des productions céramiques provenant des sites mégalithiques du Sénégal et de Gambie (8e-16e siècles). Pour la première fois dans cette région, cette périodisation est basée sur des contextes stratigraphiques soigneusement renseignés, obtenus sur la nécropole de Wanar (Sénégal). Le croisement
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The Provenance of Ancient Cotton and Wool Textiles from Nubia: Insights from Technical Textile Analysis and Strontium Isotopes Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-08-12 Magdalena M. Wozniak, Zdzislaw Belka
Late antique and medieval cotton and wool textiles found in the middle Nile Valley (Nubia, northern Sudan) were analysed for their technical characteristics and strontium (Sr) isotope composition. All wool textiles exhibit Sr isotope signatures consistent with the isotopic background of the region studied and are considered to be of local origin. However, a medieval wool kilim from Meinarti shows technical
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Bone Tool Proxy Evidence for Coiled Basketry Production in the North African Palaeolithic Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-06-09 Abigail Desmond
Bone tools from Taforalt Cave constitute the largest North African Later Stone Age (LSA) bone tool technocomplex recovered to-date. Use-trace analyses show that the small, pointed forms which dominate the assemblage show microtopographic patterning consistent with ethnographic bone tools used to make coiled basketry. The presence of coiled basketry likely scaffolded emergent cultural forms reflected
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The Rock Arts of Metolong: Paintings, Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management in Western Lesotho Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-06-09 Lara Mallen, David Pearce, Charles Arthur, Peter Mitchell
Archaeological mitigation efforts in advance of Lesotho’s Metolong Dam involved comprehensive documentation of rock paintings in the area threatened with inundation, as well as pigment characterisation and direct dating. This paper gives an overview of the rock arts found and their key features. Four traditions are present. Most paintings belong to the fine-line San tradition, but there are also examples
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“A Crocodile Spirit, Crocodile-Faced”: Discovery of Crocodile Remains in the Early Middle Kingdom Tombs of the North Asasif Necropolis in Western Thebes (Egypt) Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-04-21 Patryk Chudzik, Urszula Iwaszczuk
The recent discovery of Nile crocodile remains in the mortuary complexes of two high-ranking courtiers of Nebhepetra Mentuhotep II, located in the early Middle Kingdom necropolis in the valley of North Asasif, opened the way to an exploration of the role of reptile remains in funerary contexts. The skeletal remains, which were not mummified, consisted of fragments of the skull and mandible, loose teeth
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An Early Islamic Rock Crystal Amulet Seal from Unguja Ukuu, Zanzibar Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-04-13 Akshay Sarathi, J. Mark Kenoyer, Jonathan R. Walz
Archaeological excavations at Unguja Ukuu recovered a rock crystal cabochon seal with the word lillāh (“for God”) inscribed in the Kufic script on its domed surface. The artifact is an intaglio amulet seal engraved in the negative. Microscopic examination of the seal surfaces reveals that a rotary tool was used to make the initial inscription. At some later point, a diagonal spall was removed across
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Research in Retrospect: The Animal Bones from Daima, Northeast Nigeria Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-04-04 Brian M. Fagan
This brief report describes the animal bones from the first millennium BC discovered during Graham Connah’s excavations at Daima Mound in northeastern Nigeria in 1965–66. The faunal research was completed by the author in 1973, but, owing to various circumstances, it has not been possible to publish the report until now. Eighty percent of the 657 positively identified bones come from domestic cattle
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Kansyore Fisher-Hunter-Gatherers Abandoned the Northeastern Lake Victoria Shoreline during an Arid Period in the Middle Holocene: A Reconsideration of Dates from Western Kenya with New Radiometric and Faunal Evidence from the Namundiri A Shell Midden, Eastern Uganda Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-02-08 Mica B. Jones, Ruth Tibesasa
Kansyore pottery-using groups of the northeastern Lake Victoria Basin represent one of only a few examples of ‘complex’ hunter-gatherers in Africa. Archaeologists link evidence of specialized fishing, a seasonal land-use cycle between lake and riverine sites, and intensive investment in ceramic production to behavioral complexity after 9 thousand years ago (ka). However, a gap in the Kansyore radiocarbon
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Archaeo-Geophysical Investigation of Ife City Grand Resort Iron Smelting Site at Ile-Ife, Southwest Nigeria Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-02-02 Ademakinwa George Oni, Martins Olusola Olorunfemi, Benjamin Adisa Ogunfolakan, Michael Olajide Okunubi
Ile-Ife in southwestern Nigeria is rich in art and craft traditions, most especially iron smelting. The town hosts hundreds of smelting sites with little or no archaeological record. Archaeo-geophysical prospection of a suspected smelting site in Ile-Ife involved the magnetic and electrical resistivity geophysical methods and archaeological excavation with the aim to identify its buried artefacts/features
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Excavations at the Iron Age Village Site of Fibobe II, Central Zambia Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-01-12 Steven T. Goldstein, Jeremy Farr, Martha Kayuni, Maggie Katongo, Ricardo Fernandes, Anneke Janzen, Brooke Markham, Andrea Kay, Alison Crowther, Nicole Boivin
The period from c. AD 900 to AD 1300 in southern Africa is characterized by transitions from small-scale Iron Age mixed economy communities to the beginnings of more intensive food production and eventually the emergence of complex polities. In Zambia, this coincides with the appearance of larger and more permanent agro-pastoralist villages that began participating in Indian Ocean trade networks. Unlike
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Human Resilience in the Face of Mid-Holocene Climate Change on the Central West Coast of South Africa Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2022-01-11 Antonieta Jerardino
After the Last Glacial Maximum, important yet milder climatic trends continued to characterise the Holocene. None of them was more challenging to forager groups in the central west coast of South Africa than the mid-Holocene Altithermal (8200–4200 cal BP). Hot and dry weather and 1–3 m higher sea levels were thought once to have barred local foragers from this region because of a lack of sites dating
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New Data on Plant Use in the Eastern Sahara: The Macro-Remain Assemblage from Sheikh el-Obeiyid Villages and Bir el-Obeiyid Playa, Farafra Oasis, Egyptian Western Desert Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-12-03 Elshafaey Abdellatif Elshafaey Attia, Claire Malleson, Ahmed G. Fahmy, Giulio Lucarini
This article discusses archaeobotanical evidence from two Sheikh el-Obeiyid villages and the Bir el-Obeiyid playa, which are located along the course of the Wadi el-Obeiyid and on the top and escarpment of the Northern Plateau, at the northern edge of the Farafra Oasis, Egypt. The villages and playa are both part of a settlement system which developed from the top of the plateau, through its various
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Horses and Habitations: Iron Age Rock Art from Fortified Hilltop Settlements in the Wadi Draa, Morocco Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-11-05 Youssef Bokbot, Corisande Fenwick, David J. Mattingly, Nichole Sheldrick, Martin Sterry
The article presents important results from the Middle Draa Project (MDP) in southern Morocco related to two mid-1st millennium CE hilltop settlements (hillforts) that were associated with significant rock art assemblages. The combination of detailed survey and radiocarbon dating of these remarkable sites provides a unique window on the Saharan world in which the pecked engravings, predominantly of
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New Dates for Megalithic Stele Monuments of Gedeo, South Ethiopia Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-11-09 Ashenafi G. Zena, Andrew I. Duff, Addisalem Melesse, John A. Wolff, Alemseged Beldados, M. Steven Shackley
This paper reports the results of an archaeological survey and test excavation conducted in one of the ancient megalithic stele sites in south Ethiopia, Sakaro Sodo. The Sakaro Sodo stele site is situated in Gedeo zone, which is known to have the largest number and highest concentration of megalithic stele monuments in Africa, with an estimate of more than 10,000 stelae in sixty or more sites. Prior
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Heritage Ontologies in Nigeria: An Analysis of How Heritage Connects and Disconnects People Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-08-25 J. Kelechi Ugwuanyi, Edmund I. Itanyi, Uchenna H. Obieluem
This paper examines the principles of cultural heritage conservation in pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial Nigeria. It uncovers how cultural heritage is used and cared for in pre-colonial time based on its ‘utilitarian values’ and the ways colonialism isolated and appropriated cultural heritage from utilitarian communities to create museums/secluded sites for exclusive national narrative. The
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Pictorial Graffiti from the Ghazali Northern Church, Sudan: An Overview Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-07-27 Artur Obłuski, Julia Maczuga
The aim of this paper is to present pictorial graffiti executed on the walls of the Northern Church of the Ghazali Monastery located in what is today the Northern Province of Sudan. The graffiti were recorded during research by the Polish-Sudanese mission at the monastic complex. This paper explores the symbolic meanings of the graffiti as well as possible rationales behind their locations. Some of
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A New Approach to Quantifying Raw Material Selectivity in the African Acheulean: Perspectives from Angola and South Africa Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-07-15 Isis Mesfin, Matt G. Lotter, Maria Helena Benjamim
In southern Africa, the use of gravel outcrops has been recorded at a range of Earlier Stone Age sites, and this raises questions about the diversity of raw material sourcing practices adopted by hominins. To assess the existence of sourcing strategies, this study details a new morphometric analysis method that investigates the influence of pebble and cobble shape at two Acheulean case-study sites:
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An Archaeological Investigation of Laloi East Molluscs Site at Kpone, Ghana Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-06-15 Fritz Biveridge
This article is a report of an archaeological investigation of the Laloi East Molluscs Site at Kpone, Greater Accra Region, Ghana. Although radiometric dates for this shell midden are currently unavailable, we believe that Laloi East dates to the Later Stone Age. If so, this site would be one of only two LSA sites in Ghana found and excavated along the coast rather than in the forested interior. This
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Multi-Directional Connectivity in Eastern and Southern Africa during the First and Early Second Millennia AD: Archaeological Evidence from Lupilo, Southern Tanzania Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-05-06 Thomas J. Biginagwa, Bertram B. Mapunda, Elgidius B. Ichumbaki
Archaeology of connectivity has attracted researchers since the beginning of the discipline when migration theories reigned in archaeological research. In East Africa, it started close to the mid-twentieth century with a strong emphasis on coastal archaeology, because that is where imported and datable materials such as glass beads and porcelain were plentiful. Apart from contributing to the chronology
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Foragers in the middle Limpopo Valley: trade, place-making, and social complexity, written by Tim Forssman Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-06-25 João Cascalheira
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Investigating Cattle Procurement at Great Zimbabwe Using 87Sr/86Sr Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-06-07 Michelle House, Judith Sealy, Shadreck Chirikure, Petrus le Roux
At the ancient Shona centre of Great Zimbabwe (1200–1700 CE), cattle (Bos taurus) were centrally important for economic, social, and symbolic purposes. 87Sr/86Sr for modern plants collected in southern Zimbabwe vary from 0.7054 to 0.8780 and ranges differ between some geological substrates. 87Sr/86Sr in serial samples of Bos taurus tooth enamel provides information on where animals consumed at Great
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Prehistoric Stone Tools of Eastern Africa: A Guide, written by John J. Shea Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-06-03 Tomos Proffitt
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For an Archaeology of Religious Identity in Adulis (Eritrea) and the Horn of Africa: Sources, Architecture, and Recent Archaeological Excavations Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-04-19 Gabriele Castiglia, Philippe Pergola, Marco Ciliberti, Božana Maletić, Matteo Pola, Omar Larentis
The aim of this paper is to present new archaeological data coming from the recent excavations in Adulis (Eritrea) in the so-called “Church of the British Museum”, discovered in 1868 by Captain Goodfellow. New excavations that began in 2018 have led to highlight the biggest church known so far in Adulis, probably the ecclesia episcopalis. It stands as a 30 meters long building, which follows the typical
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An Early Holocene Lithic Assemblage from Dibé Rockshelter, South-Central Ethiopia Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-04-14 Hila Ashkenazy, Yonatan Sahle
The dearth of securely dated assemblages in the Horn of Africa limits a comprehensive understanding of human adaptation across the Early Holocene. This paper presents results from initial analyses of lithic material from Dibé rockshelter in the Arsi lowlands, Ethiopia. Radiocarbon dates confirm occupation of Dibé rockshelter by hunter-gatherers directly following improved climatic conditions marking
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Gold Miners on the Trail of the Earliest Humans in Eastern Saharan Africa. Investigating the Acheulean and Middle Stone Age in Sudanese Nubia Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-04-14 Mirosław Masojć, Ahmed Nassr, Ju Yong Kim, Maciej Ehlert, Grzegorz Michalec, Joanna Krupa-Kurzynowska, Young Kwan Sohn, Eric Andrieux, Simon J. Armitage, Marcin Szmit, Jin Cheul Kim, Ji Sung Kim, Marzena Cendrowska, Ewa Dreczko, Piotr Moska, Kyeong Ja Kim, Yire Choi
This research note presents evidence for the oldest Middle Pleistocene Eastern Saharan human activity from the area referred to as the Eastern Desert Atbara River (EDAR), Sudan, which is currently threatened by gold mining. Preliminary results of multifaceted analyses indicate the activity of Homo sapiens during MIS 5 as well as Homo erectus during MIS 7–11 or earlier.
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Marine Shell Working at Harlaa, Ethiopia, and the Implications for Red Sea Trade Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2021-01-26 Timothy Insoll
Twelve species of marine shell were transported in significant quantities from the Red Sea to the trade centre of Harlaa in eastern Ethiopia between the eleventh and early fifteenth centuries AD. Initially, it was thought that species such as the cowries were imported from the Indian Ocean. Subsequent research has found that all were available from the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, c. 120 km east of
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Niyanpangu-bansu: An Important Archaeological Site for the Reconstitution of the History of Caravan Trade in Northern Benin Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-12-17 Barpougouni Mardjoua
Regarding the history of Borgu (North Benin), well-known events are the legend of Kisra, the war of Ilorin (1835-1836), and the destruction of the city named Niyanpangu. Referred to as Niyanpangu-bansu after its destruction, this archaeological site is known mostly from oral tradition and is located approximately three hundred kilometers west of Nikki (northeast Benin Republic). It has great historical
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Robberg Material Procurement and Transport in the Doring River Catchment: Evidence from the Open-Air Locality of Uitspankraal 9, Western Cape, South Africa Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-12-17 Sara Watson, Marika Low, Natasha Phillips, Corey O’Driscoll, Matthew Shaw, Chris Ames, Zenobia Jacobs, Alex Mackay
Decisions related to the production of lithic technology involve landscape-scale patterns of resource acquisition and transport that are not observable in assemblages from any one single site. In this study, we describe the stone artifacts from a discrete cluster of stone artifacts assigned to the Robberg technocomplex (22-16 ka) at the open-air locality of Uitspankraal 9 (UPK9), which is located near
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Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond, edited by M. Sterry and D. J. Mattingly Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-10-20 Thomas Soubira
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Finding Fossil Footprints in the Archival Record: Case Studies from the Archaeological Site of Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia) Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-10-01 Flavio Altamura
In this paper I discuss the potential of archival research (i.e. the reassessment of pictures and drawings) for the identification of hitherto overlooked fossil footprints. All of the most important sites of the Pleistocene sequence of Melka Kunture (Upper Awash Valley, Ethiopia) showed evidence of biogenic structures that had escaped attention during the archaeological investigations which started
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The Oldowan in the Egyptian Nile Valley Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-07-21 Aboualhassan Bakry, Ahmed Saied, Doaa Ibrahim
Although there is no good “Oldowan” record in the Egyptian Nile Valley, the presence of the “Pebble Tools Tradition” is confirmed by surface finds, scattered in the valley and the deserts, recorded through both early and recent excavations, and confirmed by three important stratified sites at Western Thebes, Nag el Amra and Abassieh. Evidence for the existence of the Oldowan complex in Egypt was found
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From Cambridge to Lake Chad: Life in Archaeology 1956-1971, written by Graham Connah Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-07-13 Merrick Posnansky
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Glass Beads from Medieval Gao (Mali): New Analytical Data on Chronology, Sources, and Trade Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-06-10 Susan Keech McIntosh, Marilee Wood, Laure Dussubieux, Peter Robertshaw, Timothy Insoll, Mamadou Cissé
Excavations at several archaeological sites in and around Gao have resulted in the recovery of thousands of glass beads presumed to have been acquired from glass bead-producing centers through trade. The bead assemblages cover the period from the eighth to the fourteenth century CE. Here we report on the results of compositional analysis by LA-ICP-MS of 100 beads, permitting comparison with the growing
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Regional Variability in Lithic Miniaturization and the Organization of Technology in Late Glacial Southern Africa (~18-11 kcal BP) Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Marika Low, Justin Pargeter
Miniaturized stone tools made by controlled fracture are reported from nearly every continent where archaeologists have systematically looked for them. While similarities in technology are acknowledged between regions, few detailed inter-regional comparative studies have been conducted. Our paper addresses this gap, presenting results of a comparative lithic technological study between Klipfonteinrand
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Animal Economies and Islamic Conversion in Eastern Ethiopia: Zooarchaeological Analyses from Harlaa, Harar and Ganda Harla Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-05-12 Jane S. Gaastra, Timothy Insoll
Excavations at three urban sites, Harlaa, Harar, and Ganda Harla, in eastern Ethiopia have recovered substantial assemblages of faunal remains. These, the first to be analysed from Islamic contexts in the country, were studied to reconstruct animal economies, and to assess if it was possible to identify Islamic conversion or the presence of Muslims in archaeological contexts through examining butchery
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AMS Dates and the Chronology of Great Zimbabwe Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-05-05 Thomas N. Huffman, Stephan Woodborne
Salvage excavations in the 1970s uncovered a sizeable commoner occupation at Great Zimbabwe, as well as evidence for the early construction of an elite stonewalled enclosure. As a result of these excavations, we can revise somewhat the chronology of Great Zimbabwe. The most important changes are the extension of Period IVa, lasting from AD 1285±10 to 1395±10, and the appearance of P, P/Q and Q-coursed
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Living Outside the Wall: the Quarter of Wattle-and-daub Houses in Old Dongola of the Funj Period Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-04-28 Maciej Wyżgoł, Agata Deptuła
Excavations at Old Dongola in 2018/2019 led to the discovery of a quarter of wattle-and-daub houses located outside the town walls. The houses, dated to the 17th − 18th century, are arranged in compounds and visibly differ from other dwellings. This paper aims to identify the functional and social organisation of domestic space, based primarily on the analysis of access and activity areas. It sheds
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Uncovering the Late Pleistocene LSA of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa: Early Results from Iron Pig Rock Shelter Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-04-28 Gregor D. Bader, Jörg Linstädter, Maria H. Schoeman
South Africa is one of the best-studied regions in terms of Stone Age research in the last few decades. Considerable progress has been made, especially for the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Recently the late Pleistocene Later Stone Age (LSA) has come back into focus. However, there are still large understudied areas such as northeastern South Africa. Here we present the first data from an archaeological
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A Technology of Multiple Smelting Furnaces per Termite Mound: Iron Production in Chongwe, Lusaka, Zambia Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-04-27 Edwinus C. Lyaya, Shadreck Chirikure, Philip E. Janney, Thilo Rehren
With exception of Maluma (1979) and Musambachime (2016, 2017), there have been no archaeometallurgical publications on the technology and culture of iron production in Zambia. This paper presents archaeological and archaeometallurgical evidence of a technology of iron production in Chongwe in terms of spatial organization, the process of metal production (either a three-stage process involving smelting
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An Introduction to the Stone Age Archaeology of the Polihali Dam Area, Mokhotlong District, Lesotho Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-02-05 Tim Forssman, Matt Lotter, John Parkington, Jeremy Hollmann, Jessica Angel, Wouter Fourie
Much of Lesotho’s cultural heritage has been studied as a result of dam developments. Where dams have been built, heritage studies have provided crucial data for improving our understanding of local archaeological sequences. Ahead of the construction of the Lesotho Highland Development Authority’s (LHDA) new Polihali Dam in Lesotho’s Mokhotlong District and following the recommendations of a heritage
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Community Based Heritage in Africa: Unravelling Local Research and Development Initiatives, written by Peter R. Schmidt Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2020-01-16 Elgidius B. Ichumbaki
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Pliocene Archaeology at Lomekwi 3? New Evidence Fuels More Skepticism Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2019-12-02 Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo,Luis Alcalá
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The Archaeology of Western Sahara: A Synthesis of Fieldwork, 2002 to 2009, edited by Joanne Clarke and Nick Brooks Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2019-12-02 Joshua Emmitt,Rebecca Phillipps
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Reluctant Landscapes: Historical Anthropologies of Political Experience in Siin, Senegal, written by Francois G. Richard Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2019-12-02 Alexandra Kelly
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The Middle Stone Age of Nigeria in its West African Context, written by Philip Allsworth-Jones Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2019-12-02 Sarah Wurz
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Reply to Domínguez-Rodrigo and Alcalá: Interpretation Without Accurate Evidence Is Fantasy Journal of African Archaeology Pub Date : 2019-12-02 Sonia Harmand,Jason E. Lewis,Nicholas Taylor,Craig S. Feibel,Xavier Boës,Sandrine Prat,Hélène Roche