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The Nok culture in central Nigeria, dated 1500–1 cal bc, is known for its famous terracotta sculptures. We here present a study on > 11,000 botanical macro-remains from 50 sites, including 343 samples from Nok contexts and 22 samples dating between cal ad 100 and 400, after the end of the Nok culture. With 9,220 remains, pearl millet (Cenchrus americanus (L.) Morrone, syn. Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.) is dominant in the Nok samples, followed by cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), Canarium schweinfurthii Engl., Nauclea latifolia Sm. (syn. Sarcocephalus latifolius (Sm.) E.A.Bruce), wild fruit trees and wild Poaceae. The pearl millet remains consist exclusively of charred caryopses; chaff remains are completely absent. Because we studied all size fractions, including the small 0.5 mm fractions usually containing the involucres, bristles and husks, the absence of pearl millet chaff is real, excluding a methodological explanation, and distinguishes Nok from contemporary other West African sites. We propose that most excavated Nok sites were consumer sites where clean grain was brought in from outside and consumed in a ritual context connected with feasting. This is in line with the archaeological evidence from the larger excavated sites with stone-pot arrangements that are interpreted as ritual places related to mortuary practices. In addition to the known southward branches of pearl millet diffusion from the Sahara we propose a new, hitherto unknown branch directly from the central Sahara to the central Nigerian savannas.

West African cuisine has long been known for its distinct ingredients and flavours, often enhanced by the addition of a large and diverse range of plant foods. A traditional meal comprises a starchy staple cooked in a pot, served with a sauce prepared from vegetables, fish and/or meat, often accompanied by pulses. However, reconstructing the antiquity of the full range of plant use by ancient peoples, using archaeobotanical remains, in West Africa is challenging due to their somewhat fragile nature. Hence, there is a strong bias toward food plants that survive in charred condition, rendering invisible those that easily decompose, such as leafy plants and tubers. Here, we combine organic residue analysis of 458 prehistoric vessels, with archaeobotanical evidence from ten sites of the prehistoric Nok culture, Nigeria, spanning a period of around 1500 years, beginning around the middle of the second millennium BC and terminating in the last centuries BC. Our results reveal a range of highly diverse and complex lipid distributions denoting the preparation and processing of various plant types, including leafy vegetables or ‘greens’, cereals, pulses and underground storage organs, possibly yams. Here, we render previously unidentifiable leafy plant use visible and suggest an early origin for the plant component of modern-day West African cuisine.

Kola nut (Cola cf. nitida) and Safou fruit (Dacryodes edulis) remains have been discovered in eleventh- to fourteenth-century archaeological contexts at Togu Missiri near Ségou in Mali. These remains are evidence of early trade in perishable foodstuffs from the West African forest zone into the Middle Niger region. On the basis of these finds, this paper argues that long-distance trade links were well established by the end of the first millennium AD. It thereby supports the hypothesis that dates the inception of trade between the West African forest zone and the savanna regions to the first millennium AD. The circumstances of the find are discussed, as are the implications for our understanding of the wider exchange network based on the Niger River system in the late first and early second millennium CE. es fragments de noix de cola (Cola cf. nitida) et de fruits de Safou (Dacryodes edulis) ont été découverts dans des niveaux archéologiques du onzième au quatorzième siècle à Togu Missiri près de Ségou au Mali. Ces vestiges témoignent d'un commerce précoce des denrées périssables de la zone forestière d'Afrique occidentale vers la région du Moyen Niger. Sur la base de ces découvertes archéologique, cet article montre que les liens commerciaux à longue distance entre la zone forestière d'Afrique de l'Ouest et de la région des savanes étaient déjà bien établis dès la fin du premier millénaire AD. Les contextes et la nature de cette découverte sont discutés, ainsi que les implications sur notre compréhension du réseau d'échange basé sur le haut et moyen Niger à la fin du premier et au début du deuxième millénaire de notre ère. - Introduction - Kola Trade and Trade Networks in Middle Niger During the First and Second Millennia AD - The Maraka Settlement of Togu - The Site of Togu Missiri - What Was the Wider Trade Network and Who Were the Traders? - Conclusions: Early Kola Trade Into the Middle Niger

© 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. The nitrogen isotope compositions of charred wheat and barley grains reflect manuring intensity and have been used to reconstruct past manuring practices at archaeological sites across Europe and western Asia. To assess whether this analytical method can be applied to a staple crop in the West African Sahel, the nitrogen isotope values of Pennisetum glaucum grains in this region were determined and the effect of charring ascertained. Pennisetum glaucum ears were collected from fields in northeast Senegal, where the fertilisation histories of the plots (manure and/or household waste) were known. The nitrogen isotope values of these millet grains provide an insight into the values to expect for P. glaucum grains grown with low to moderate addition of manure/household waste in a semi-arid climate. Charring of P. glaucum grains by heating at 215–260 °C for 4–24 h increases their nitrogen isotope values by a maximum of 0.34‰. In light of these modern data, the nitrogen isotope values of millet grains recovered from the archaeological settlement mound of Tongo Maaré Diabal, Mali, can be interpreted as evidence for modest levels of manure/household waste input throughout the occupation of the site from cal ad 500–1150. This study demonstrates the potential for nitrogen isotope values of P. glaucum grains to shed light on past farming practices in West Africa.

While narratives of the spread of agriculture are central to interpretation of African history, hard evidence of past crops and cultivation practices are still few. This research aims at filling this gap and better understanding the evolution of agriculture and foodways in West Africa. It reports evidence from systematic flotation samples taken at the settlement mounds of Sadia (Mali), dating from 4 phases (phase 0=before first–third century AD; phase 1=mid eighth–tenth c. AD; phase 2=tenth–eleventh c. AD; phase 3=twelfth–late thirteenth c. AD). Flotation of 2200 l of soil provided plant macro-remains from 146 archaeological samples. As on most West African sites, the most dominant plant is pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum). But from the tenth century AD, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and African rice (Oryza glaberrima) appear in small quantities, and fonio (Digitaria exilis) and barnyard millet/hungry rice (Echinochloa sp.), sometimes considered weeds rather than staple crops, are found in large quantities. Some samples also show remains of tree fruits from savannah parklands, such as baobab (Adansonia digitata), marula (Sclerocarya birrea), jujube (Ziziphus sp.), shea butter (Vittelaria paradoxa) and African grapes (Lannea microcarpa). Fonio and Echinochloa sp. cultivation appears here to be a later addition that helped to diversify agriculture and buffer against failures that might affect the monoculture of pearl millet. This diversification at the end of the 1st millennium AD matches with other evidence found in West Africa. Introduction Archaeological background - Localisation and current environment - Chrono-stratigraphy - Important features Material and methods Results - Description of the main economic taxa at Sadia -- Pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., Poaceae -- Fonio, Digitaria exilis (Kippist.) Staph., Poaceae. -- Barnyard millet/hungry rice, Echinochloa sp., Poaceae -- Sorghum, Sorghum bicolor subsp. bicolor (L.) Moench., Poaceae. -- Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., Fabaceae -- Roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa Lin., Malvaceae -- Fruits, tree and bushes -- Weeds and/or wild gathered plants -- Indeterminate Poaceae species - Diachronic analysis -- Phase 0: ‘pre-tell phase’—before first–third century AD -- Phase 1: mid eighth–tenth c. AD -- Phase 2: tenth–eleventh c. AD -- Phase 3: twelfth–late thirteenth c. AD - Spatial distribution for phase 3 Discussion - Agricultural practices and food preparation -- Pearl millet and sorghum -- Cowpea -- African rice -- Weeds and/or gathered seeds -- Fonio -- Echinochloa -- Tree and shrubs - Sadia and the agricultural diversification of the Dogon Country - Sadia in its regional context Conclusion

International audience; Imprints of domesticated pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) spikelets, observed as temper in ceramics dating to the third millennium BC, provide the earliest evidence for the cultivation and domestication process of this crop in northern Mali. Additional sherds from the same region dating to the fifth and fourth millennium BC were examined and found to have pearl millet chaff with wild morphologies. In addition to studying sherds by stereo microscopy and subjecting surface casts to scanning electron microscopy (SEM), we also deployed X-ray micro-computed tomography (microCT) on eleven sherds. This significantly augmented the total data set of archaeological pearl millet chaff remains from which to document the use of the wild pearl millet as ceramic temper and the evolution of its morphology over time. Grain sizes were also estimated from spikelets preserved in the ceramics. Altogether, we are now able to chart the evolution of domesticated pearl millet in western Africa using three characteristics: the evolution of non shattering stalked involucres ; the appearance of multiple spikelet involucres, usually paired spikelets; and the increase in grain size. By the fourth millennium BC, average grain breadth had increased by 28%, although spikelet features otherwise resemble the wild type. In the third millennium BC, the average width of seeds is 38% greater than that of wild seeds, while other qualitative features of domestication are indicated by the presence of paired spikelets and the appearance of non dehiscent, stalked involucres. Non shattering spikelets had probably become fixed by around 2000 BC, while increases in average grain size continued into the second millennium BC. These data now provide a robust sequence for the morphological evolution of domesticated pearl millet, the first indigenous crop domesticated in western Africa.; Des empreintes d’épillets de mil domestiqué (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) observées dans des céramiques datées du 3e millénaire av. J.-C. provenant du nord du Mali constituent les plus anciens témoins de la mise en culture et de la domestication de cette céréale. Des tessons supplémentaires issus de la même région se rapportant aux 5e et 4e millénaires av. J.-C. ont été examinés et ont révélé des empreintes de balle de mil de morphologies sauvages. En plus de l’observation de leurs surfaces par stéréo-microscopie, et de l’observation des moulages d’empreintes au microscope à balayage, onze d’entre eux ont fait l’objet de microtomographies aux rayons X (microCT). Ces examens enrichissent considérablement l’ensemble des données archéologiques concernant l’utilisation du mil sauvage comme dégraissant végétal et son évolution morphologique à travers le temps. La taille des grains a aussi été estimée à partir des épillets conservés dans la céramique. En tenant compte des données enregistrées lors d’études antérieures, nous pouvons désormais retracer l’évolution du mil domestiqué en Afrique de l’Ouest à travers trois caractéristiques : l’évolution des involucres pédonculés à égrenage non-spontané; l’apparition d’involucres multiples par épillets, des épillets appariés le plus souvent; l’augmentation de la taille des grains au vu de leur largeur. Déjà au 4e millénaire avant J.-C., la largeur moyenne des grains a augmenté de 28% bien que les caractéristiques de l'épillet ressemblent au type sauvage. Au 3e millénaire avant J.-C., elle est 38% supérieure à celle du morphotype sauvage, tandis que des caractéristiques qualitatives de la domestication sont avérées par la présence d’épillets appariés et par celle d’involucres pédonculés à égrenage nonspontané. La non-déhiscence des épillets est un caractère de domesticité qui s’est probablement fixé vers 2000 avant J.-C. L’augmentation de la taille moyenne des grains s’est poursuivie tout au long du 2e millénaire av. J.-C. Ces données fournissent désormais une séquence robuste concernant l’évolution morphologique du mil, la première céréale indigène domestiquée en Afrique de l’Ouest.

Recent archaeobotanical analysis revealed that the botanical remains from the site of Tongo Maare Diabal (Mali) are composed primarily of pearl millet remains (up to 85%). Contemporaneous West African sites (500–1200 Cal AD) usually display more diverse patterns, especially by the end of this period. Indeed, contemporary urban sites of the West African Sahel often comprise combined and diversified farming systems of millet (Pennisetum glaucum), African rice (Oryza glaberrima), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), Echinochloa sp. and fonio (Digitatia exilis). This article seeks to explain the near-exclusive focus of Tongo Maare Diabal’s agricultural economy on millet, particularly with regard to the site’s status as a settlement of iron workers.

Since the 1970s, the quest for finding the origins of domesticated sorghum in Africa has remained elusive despite the fact that sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. sensu stricto) is one of the world’s most important cereals. Recognized as originating from wild populations in Africa (Sorghum arundinaceum (Desv.) Stapf), however, the date and cultural context of its domestication has been controversial, with many scholars inferring an early Holocene origin in parallel with better-known cereal domestications. This paper presents firm evidence that the process of domesticating sorghum was present in the far eastern Sahel in the southern Atbai at an archaeological site associated with the Butana Group. Ceramic sherds recovered from excavations undertaken by the Southern Methodist University Butana Project during the 1980s from the largest Butana Group site, KG23, near Kassala, eastern Sudan, were analyzed, and examination of the plant impressions in the pottery revealed diagnostic chaff in which both domesti...

Many societal and environmental changes occurred between the 2nd millennium BC and the middle of the 2nd millennium AD in western Africa. Key amongst these were changes in land use due to the spread and development of agricultural strategies, which may have had widespread consequences for the climate, hydrology, biodiversity, and ecosystem services of the region. Quantification of these land-use influences and potential feedbacks between human and natural systems is controversial, however, in part because the archaeological and historical record is highly fragmented in time and space. To improve our understanding of how humans contributed to the development of African landscapes, we developed an atlas of land-use practices in western Africa for nine time-windows over the period 1800 BC–AD 1500. The maps are based on a broad synthesis of archaeological, archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, historical, linguistic, genetic, and ethnographic data, and present land use in 12 basic categories. The main differences between categories is the relative reliance on, and variety of, domesticated plant and animal species utilized, and the energy invested in cultivating or keeping them. The maps highlight the irregular and frequently non-linear trajectory of land-use change in the prehistory of western Africa. Representing an original attempt to produce rigorous spatial synthesis from diverse sources, the atlas will be useful for a range of studies of human–environment interactions in the past, and highlight major spatial and temporal gaps in data that may guide future field studies., Open access funding provided by Max Planck Society. This work was supported by Grants to JOK from the European Research Council (COEVOLVE, 313797), the Swiss National Science Foundation (ACACIA, CR10I2_146314), and the Fondation Herbette (2016-2-E-16). JMR was funded by the Funds for Research Training in Industry and Agriculture (National Funds for Scientific Research, Belgium) and the Leopold II Funds (Belgium). Data were also acquired in the framework of the Era-Net BiodivERsA CoForChange project, funded by the French National Research Agency and National Environment Research Council (UK).

MicroCT visualisations of organic inclusions within pottery sherds from Khashm el Girba 23 (KG23), Sudan, reveal domesticated sorghum (Sorghum bicolor subsp. bicolor) at c. 3700–2900 BCE. The percentage of non-shattering spikelet bases was c. 73% of identifiable visualizations, with c. 27% representing wild types. These analyses demonstrate the domestication of sorghum is significantly earlier than suggested by previous archaeological research. These results also demonstrate that microCT scanning is a major qualitative and quantitative advance on pre-existing methods for the investigation of crop remains in pottery sherds, which hitherto have been reliant on surface impressions; it is non-destructive, provides higher resolution 3D imaging of organic inclusions, and enables greater archaeobotanical recovery of inclusions within a sherd. MicroCT analysis of ceramics, mudbrick and other building materials has considerable potential for improving the chronologies and resolution for the domestication of other cereals in the past.

Late prehistoric archaeological research in Myanmar is in a phase of rapid expansion. Recent work by the Mission Archeologique Francaise au Myanmar aims to establish a reliable Neolithic to Iron Age culture-historical sequence, which can then be compared to surrounding regions of Southeast Asia. Excavations at Nyaung'gan and Oakaie in central Myanmar have provided 52 new AMS dates, which allow the creation of Myanmar's first reliable prehistoric radiometric chronology. They have also identified the Neolithic to Bronze Age transition in central Myanmar, which is of critical importance in understanding long-range interactions at the national, regional and inter-regional level. This research provides the first significant step towards placing late prehistoric Myanmar in its global context.

International audience; 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 (10th/11th 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.; Dans le cadre du projet « Crossroads of Empires » dirigé par Anne Haour, un volet de paléométallurgie s’est donné pour but de comprendre l’histoire des forgerons et l’évolution de la sidérurgie dans le Dendi, au nord-Bénin. Un grand nombre de vestiges sidérurgiques a été découvert, montrant une grande variabilité dans la morphologie des fourneaux et des déchets. Au moins trois traditions sidérurgiques ont été distinguées. Dans cet article, nous présentons le site de réduction Kompa Moussékoubou (10ème/11ème siècle ap. notre ère) qui a fait l’objet d’opérations archéologiques et d’analyses archéométriques. De plus, la fouille d’un sondage de 1 x 2 m sur une butte d’habitat proche et le travail de prospection, qui per-mettent de placer le site dans un contexte plus large, sont également discutés. Cet article offre ainsi une occasion rare de combiner les données d’archéométallurgie avec l’analyse de la céramique