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Recent Archaeological Research and Dates from West Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Susan Keech McIntosh
Affiliation:
Rice University, Texas
Roderick J. McIntosh
Affiliation:
Rice University, Texas

Extract

This article reports over 250 new radiocarbon dates relevant to recent archaeological research in West Africa. Thanks to the continuing trend towards series of dates from either single sites or groups of related sites, some major blanks on the archaeological map of West Africa have been replaced by well-dated regional sequences. An example is the Malian Sahara, where palaeoenvironmental and archaeological investigations at a large number of sites have clarified the relationship between Holocene climatic change and Late Stone Age occupation. Other areas that were largely archaeological unknowns until the research reported in this article was undertaken include the middle Senegal valley, the Inland Niger Delta, and the Bassar region in Togo. Other research included here reinterprets previously studied, ‘classic’ Late Stone Age sequences, such as Adrar Bous, Kintampo and Tichitt. There are also new dates and details for early copper in Niger and Mauritania which prompt a reconsideration of the true nature of this proposed ‘Copper Age’. Of particular significance to general reconstructions of West African prehistory is the documentation of regional and long-distance trade accompanying the emergence of complex societies along the Middle Senegal and Middle Niger in the first millennium A.D.

The article begins with a brief commentary on calibration, in view of the recent publication of high-precision calibration curves. Several prevalent misconceptions of what calibration is and what it ought to do are addressed. We suggest that archaeologists and historians should routinely make reference to calibration in order to avoid misinterpreting radiocarbon results.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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References

1 The two preceding articles were by Sutton, J. E. G., ‘Archaeology in West Africa: a review of recent work and a further list of radiocarbon dates’, J. Afr. Hist., xxiii (1982), 291313CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and by Calvocoressi, D. and David, N., ‘A new survey of radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates for West Africa’, J. Afr. Hist., xx (1979), 129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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4 Based on a half-life of 5570 years.

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44 Hugot, G., ‘Les lacs’, 269271Google Scholar, reports that Gif-2884 dates hearths with bones of hippopotamus, crocodile, silurid fish, and panther, associated with the remains of pottery and stone-working workshops on the baten.

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52 S-2370, 2371, 2373, 2376, 4-CX, 6-CX, SFU-390: see Appendix. We are grateful to Frank Kense for providing dates and extensive comments in advance of publication.

53 F. Kense, pers. comm.

54 F. Kense, pers. comm.

55 Relevant dates reported here are SFU-389, 273, 274, and Alpha 562 (a TL date). These dates support the previous results from related areas and levels (S-1855, 1858, GX-6133, 6134, SFU-12, 13) reported by Sutton, ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 298.

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60 Summarized in Chenorkian, R., ‘Ivory Coast prehistory: some recent developments’, Afr. Arch. Rev., 1 (1983), 127142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar This includes a number of unpublished 14C dates which are not reported here in view of the lack of even the most meagre detail on the dated samples.

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72 Grébenart, , ‘Les métallurgies’, 177.Google Scholar For precisely this reason, Bernus objects to considering this phenomenon as part of a ‘Copper Age’: Bernus, S., ‘Découvertes, hypothèses, reconstitution et preuves: le cuivre médiéval d'Azelik-Takedda (Niger)’, in Echard, Métallurgies, 168169.Google Scholar

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74 These dates are presented graphically only in Grébenart, D., ‘Les métallurgies’, 120.Google Scholar

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76 Roset, J. P., ‘Iwelen, un site archéologique de I'époque des chars dans l'Air septentrional, au Niger’, presented at UNESCO colloquium on Libya Antiqua (Paris, 1618 Jan., 1984). Adjacent to the habitation sites are rock engravings of chariots, animals and people portrayed in a ‘tulip-headed’ style.Google Scholar

77 Reported by Paris, F. in Le Programme Azawagh: rapport de mission 1984.Google Scholar

78 Diop, C. A., ‘Datations par la méthode du radiocarbone’, Bull. I.F.A.N., xxxix, sér. B (1977), 466.Google Scholar

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84 Vernet suggests in his thesis (p. 546) that what we are really seeing is a local facies of the Neolithic that was rapidly changed by local invention or outside influence.

85 The role of copper smelting in the development of the sophisticated pyrotechnology necessary for the reduction of iron ores is discussed in Wertime, T. and Muhly, J. D., (eds.), The Coming of the Age of Iron (New Haven, 1980).Google Scholar

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91 The following dates reported in the appendix are associated with pottery of this early period: RL-1574, 1575, 1576, 1580, 1581, 1619, 1620, 1621, 1622. Of these, only RL-1575 is anomalous. These dates agree very well with Phase I/II dates already reported: RL-807, P-2679, P-2742.

92 Relevant dates are RL-1573, 1577, 1578, 1618, which agree very well with previously reported dates RL-808 and P-2682.

93 Dates RL-1571 and 1617 agree with RL-806 and P-2772, previously reported. RL-1616 dates the most recent feature excavated, a house foundation lying just below the surface.

94 Detailed in McIntosh, and McIntosh, , Prehistoric Investigations, 451452.Google Scholar

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99 Ibid., 209. Although the charcoal samples from these sites were associated with fired clay features characteristic of funerary tumuli in the region, the authors describe these as ‘buttes tumuliformes’ rather than tumuli, leaving open the question of their function.

100 Person et al., ‘Prospection archéometrique’. A fifteenth century TL date on a surface sherd is also available for this site, although only limited significance can be claimed for a date on contextless, undescribed material.

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109 These sites include Kiffa and Kroufa in southern Mauritania, and Podor, 200 km downriver from Sinthiou Bara. Thilmans, G., ‘Sur les objets de parure trouvés à Podor (Sénégal) en 1958’, Bull, de l'I.F.A.N., xxxix, sér. B (1977), 687.Google Scholar

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111 Evin, et al. , ‘Lyon ix’, 90.Google Scholar A fourth date, Ly-2159, is too old, probably due to older organic matter incorporated into the burned wall material that was dated.

112 Ibid., 89.

113 Thilmans, and Ravisé, , Protohistoire, 134189.Google Scholar

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122 Gif-5331, 5332, 5333. This is the only information provided on these three dates in Saison, ibid., 74. These dates agree with Gif-5334 obtained on charcoal from a rubbish pit inside the citadel.

123 Gado, B., ‘Boura: une nécropole à inhumation secondaire dans des jarres anthropomorphes’, presented at the West Afr. Arch. Assoc. meetings (Nouakchott, 1984). We are grateful to Lisa Wayne for bringing this communication to our attention.Google Scholar

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129 Reported by Cressier, P., Bernus, S. and Bernus, E., in ‘Le Programme Azawagh’.Google ScholarBernus, S. considers the early date ‘doubtful’, and cautions that much more work is required to clarify the chronology of the site.Google Scholar

130 These dates are shown graphically in Grébenart, , ‘Les métallurgies’, 120Google Scholar, and are relevant to three dates already reported for the site by Posnansky, and McIntosh, , ‘New radiocarbon’, 183.Google Scholar All dates except the earliest were run on charcoal associated with crucibles.

131 Bourhis, J.-R., ‘Résultats des analyses d'objets en cuivre, bronze, laiton et des résidus de métallurgie antique d'Afrique’, in Echard, , Metallurgies, 133134.Google Scholar

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134 McIntosh, S. K., review of L'Ordela Volta Noire, J. Afr. Hist., xxvi (1985), 410412.Google Scholar

135 For a preliminary report on the 1981 excavations, see Agbaje-Williams, B. and Onyango-Abuje, J., ‘Recent archaeological work at Old Oyo: 1979–81’, Nyame Akuma (1981), 911.Google Scholar We are grateful to B. Agbaje-Williams for providing the dates in advance of publication.

136 HAR-1890 and 1891: Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 1920.Google Scholar

137 Information kindly provided in advance of publication by B. Agbaje-Williams.

138 Shaw, C. T., ‘Further light on Igbo-Ukwu, including new radiocarbon dates’, Proceedings, 9th Panafr. Cong. Prehist. Quat. Studs., Jos, 1983, in press.Google Scholar

139 I-2008 on wood from burial stool, Igbo Richard, and HV-1514–1516, I-1784, all on charcoal from Igbo Jonah: see Shaw, C. T., ‘Those Igbo-Ukwu radiocarbon dates: facts, fictions, and probabilities’, J. Afr. Hist., xvi (1975), 503517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

140 Ibid., 515.

141 Shaw, , ‘Further light’. Evidence from analysis of metals from Igbo Ukwu shows that the copper used was not from Azelik, nor from the north of the Sahara. Several reports of copper and tin deposits in Nigeria offer possibilities deserving investigation.Google Scholar

142 S-2372, Beta-7855, SFU-275, 392, Alpha-563, 3-CX.

143 Kense, F., ‘Daboya, A Gonja Frontier’ (unpub. Ph.D. thesis, Calgary, 1981), 280, 297.Google Scholar We are grateful to Frank Kense for sending us a copy of his thesis.

144 The last ten dates listed in the Appendix are relevant to this period. The most recent occupation encountered yielded iron cans and a 1919 West African penny. Kense, F., ‘1983 field report on Daboya’, Nyame Akuma, xxiii (1983), 10.Google Scholar

145 Agorsah, E. K., ‘An ethnoarchaeological study of settlement and behaviour patterns of a West African traditional society: the Nchumura of Ghana’ (unpub. Ph.D. diss., U.C.L.A., 1983).Google Scholar

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148 Ozanne, P., ‘Ghana’, in Shinnie, P. (ed), The African Iron Age (Oxford, 1971), 64.Google Scholar Ozanne's conclusion was based on his now-classic tobacco pipe sequence, and supported by traditional and documentary sources.

149 The same caveats apply to previously reported dates for nearby sites in Ghana, such as Ladoku and Ayawaso: Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 308.Google Scholar A modern date on shell from basal levels of the latter site (clearly datable to the seventeenth century by imports, tobacco pipes and historical documents) further illustrates the point.

150 Nzewunwa, N., A Sourcebookfor Nigerian Archaeology, Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments (1983), 107108.Google Scholar Two nineteenth century dates have previously been reported from Ogoloma: Posnansky, and McIntosh, , ‘New Radiocarbon dates’, 190.Google Scholar

151 Eluyemi, O., reporting in Nyame Akuma, xvii (1980), 41.Google Scholar

152 Eluyemi, O., ‘Egbejoda excavations, Nigeria, 1970’, West Afr.J. Arch., vi (1976), 101108.Google Scholar

153 Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 19.Google Scholar

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155 Ibid., 42–3.

156 Dates for Baha Mound were reported in this journal by Flight, , ‘A survey of recent results in the radiocarbon chronology of northern and western Africa’, J. Afr. Hist., xiv (1973). 548Google Scholar, and for Yelwa RS63/32 by Pagan, ibid., x (1969), 153.

157 Nzewunwa, , Sourcebook, 8788.Google Scholar

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159 De Barros, P., ‘The Iron Industry of Bassar’ (unpub. Ph.D. thesis, U.C.L.A., 1985).Google Scholar We are grateful to Phil de Barros for providing a comprehensive date list in advance of publication. In writing our comments on the 18 radiocarbon dates, we have relied upon Barros, De, ‘Les Bassar: producteurs du fer à grande échelle dans la savane ouest-africaine’, Proceedings, 9th Cong. Panafr. Prehist. Quat. Studs., in press.Google Scholar

160 Sutton, J. E. G., ‘Dawu – radiocarbon results’, Archaeology in Ghana, III (in press). We are grateful to John Sutton for sending comments in advance of publication.Google ScholarSutton, J. E. G., ‘New work at Dawu, southern Ghana’, Nyame Akuma, xviii (May 1981), 1113.Google Scholar

161 We are grateful to Jean Polet for communicating this date to us.

162 Ly-2817: Evin, et al. , ‘Lyon dates x’, 417.Google Scholar

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164 We thank Chris de Corse for providing details in advance of publication.

165 De Corse, C., ‘An archaeological survey of protohistoric defensive sites in Sierra Leone’, Nyame Akuma, xvii (1980), 4853Google Scholar; Atherton, J., ‘Protohistoric habitation sites in northeastern Sierra Leone’, Bull. Soc. Roy. Beige d'Anth. et Prehist., LXXXIII (1972), 517.Google Scholar