NYAME AKUMA

No. 20

June, 1982

Newsletter of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists in America.

Edited by Nicholas David and issued from the Department of Archaeology,
The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Editorial and Administrative Assistants: Scott McEachern and Peter
---Francis.

......................

Michael Bisson, Secretary of SAAAM, reports below on the exciting,

enjoyable and well-attended meeting held at Berkeley from May 6th
to 8th, 1982. This intercalated Editor will therefore confine his
remarks to matters that concern Nyame Akuma directly.
Professor Peter Shinnie, Nyame Akuma's 'onlie begetter' and
editor over eleven years and nineteen issues has now passed on his
editorial responsibilities. Our membership extended by acclamation
a well-deserved tribute to him and to Mrs. Ama Shinnie, who has
contributed so much and so generously on the production side. They
will be pleased to hear that at a meeting of the Society for Archaeological Sciences, Nyame Akuma was singled out as a model newletter.
We all wish Peter and Ama the very best in what can only in the most
administrative of senses be called his 'retirement', and look forward
to reading in these pages of the progress of his Daboya project in
Northern Ghana.
The future of Nyame Akuma, while not as we go to press yet signed
and sealed, also appears assured. Dr. David Lube11 has been invited by
SAAAM to take over as Editor and has indicated his willingness to serve.
He expects to have made the necessary arrangments with the University
of Alberta in time to produce No. 21 later this year. (Until further
notice, however, all correspondence should continue to be directed to
Calgary.) As one of the few archaeologists from the Anglophone
world--to which Western Canada if not the Confederation undoubtedly
belongs--to have worked extensively in 1'Afrique francophone, David
is in an excellent position to maintain the continued and essential
participation of our French-speaking colleagues. We wish him every
success.
Will those readers who subscribe in US dollars please note that
Sheryl Miller has now taken over from John Bower the responsibility
for collecting (in the intransitive mood) your subscriptions. Her
address is to be found inside the front cover. Those who subscribe
in f sterling through Stephen Green should be warned that changes in
exchange rates are likely to force an increase in their subscriptions.
Indeed it will be hard to escape a general increase, but that, I am
glad to say, will be the unpleasant responsibility of the Editor-elect.
Lastly, I should like to thank a11 those who responded to our
request for news. However dedicated the Editor and Editorial
Assistants, Nyame Akuma can be nothing without an active and contributing Readership.
Nicholas David

SOCIETY FOR AFRICANIST ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN AMERICA

Berkeley Conference
A b u s i n e s s meeting of t h e S o c i e t y was h e l d on t h e second day of
t h e r e c e n t meetings i n Berkeley. The d e l e g a t e s unanimously p a s s e d a
v o t e of thanks t o P r o f e s s o r P e t e r S h i n n i e , founder of Nyame Akuma,
and h i s w i f e Ama S h i n n i e . P r o f e s s o r S h i n n i e , who e d i t e d and p r o duced t h e f i r s t n i n e t e e n i s s u e s and was a d r i v i n g f o r c e behind t h e
development o f t h e S o c i e t y i s now r e t i r i n g . H i s e f f o r t s on b e h a l f
of a l l a f r i c a n i s t a r c h a e o l o g i s t s a r e g r e a t l y a p p r e c i a t e d .

A second v o t e o f thanks was p a s s e d t o Glyn I s a a c , Desmond Clark

and t h e many o t h e r s t a f f and s t u d e n t s o f t h e Department o f Anthropology a t Berkeley whose e f f o r t s made t h i s y e a r ' s conference a comp l e t e success.
The t h r e e i t e m s on t h e m e e t i n g ' s formal agenda were: t h e
f u t u r e o f Nyame Akuma, nominations f o r t h e S t e e r i n g Committee, and
o f f e r s o f venue f o r t h e n e x t meetings. A f t e r some d i s c u s s i o n , i t
was decided t h a t David Lubell o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f A l b e r t a w i l l
become e d i t o r b e g i n n i n g with No. 21. P r o f e s s o r Lubell s t a t e d t h a t
he i s i n v e s t i g a t i n g a number o f ways o f r e d u c i n g p r o d u c t i o n and
m a i l i n g c o s t s s o t h a t s u b s c r i p t i o n r a t e s can b e maintained a t t h e i r
present levels.
Newly nominated members o f t h e S t e e r i n g Committee a r e S h e r y l
M i l l e r and P e t e r Schmidt, w i t h Michael Bisson c o n t i n u i n g from t h e
p r e v i o u s Committee. A s e d i t o r of Nyame Akuma, David Lubell w i l l
a l s o s e r v e a s an e x - o f f i c i o member. Thanks were e x p r e s s e d t o John
Bower and Maxine K l e i n d i e n s t f o r t h e i r s e r v i c e on t h e Committee
f o r the p a s t f i v e years.
The venue and d a t e o f t h e n e x t S o c i e t y meeting i s p r e s e n t l y
b e i n g n e g o t i a t e d by t h e S t e e r i n g Committee. The two p o s s i b i l i t i e s
a r e Athens, Georgia, and Ames, Iowa. We hope t o announce t h e p l a c e
and a t l e a s t t e n t a t i v e d a t e s i n Nyame Akuma No. 22.
F i n a l l y , t h e membership unanimously expressed t h e i r r e g r e t s
a t t h e r e c e n t d e a t h o f Kenneth Oakley.
Michael S. Bisson
McGill U n i v e r s i t y .

Program for the 1982 SAAAM meetings in Berkeley

The program for the 1982 SAAAM meetings began with a lithic usewear
workshop given by Nick Toth (U.C. Berkeley) with the assistance of
Kathy Schick (U.C. Berkeley).
Papers were given as follows:Stone Age
Glen Cole (Field Museum, Chicago).
Isimila.

Raw material distribution at

John W.K. Harris (U. of W., Milw.).

Hadar

Early stone artifacts from

Nick Toth (U.C. Berkeley). Stone technology of early hominids at

Koobi Fora: a holistic approach.
Henry Bunn (U.C. Berkeley). Aspects of bone assemblages from Early
Stone Age sites in East Africa.
Pamela Willoughby (U.C.L.A.).
Nic David (Calgary).

Spheroids and battered stones.

Why bother to stude LSA vein quartz components?

Sheryl Miller (Pitzer College, Claremont).

Kenya: site GvJm 46

Recent work at Lukenya Hill,

Francis Musonda (U.C. Berkeley). A regional study of the LSA in

Zambia: preliminary report.
David Lube11 (U. of Alberta). Capsien typique et Capsien supgrieur:
is there really a difference?
Kathy Schick (U.C. Berkeley). Man vs. Nature:
of archaeological site contexts.

experimental studies

Quest for Fire

John W.K. Harris (U. of W., Milw.).

J. Desmond Clark (U.C. Berkeley).

Evidence from Chesowanja.

Evidence from the Middle Awash.

Iron Age
Merrick Posnansky (U.C.L.A.).
Archaeology, town walls and urban origins
in West Africa in the light of excavations at Notse, Togo.
Emmanuel Agorsah (U.C.L.A.).
isation.

Social identity and settlement organ-

B.K. Swartz (Ball State U.).

ern Togo.

Archaeological investigations in North-

Francois Kense (Calgary).

Candice Goucher (U.C.L.A.).

Terracotta figurine art from northern Ghana.

The iron industry of Bassar, Togo.

S. Terry Childs (Boston U.).

Irong Age ceramic technology in the
Kagera region, N.W. Tanzania.

Peter Schmidt (Boston U.).

Aspects of Irong Age studies in N.W. Tanzania: evidence of social and economic complexity.
C. DeCorse. Archaeology in north-eastern Sierra Leone.
Palaeoenvironments
CEGAL
Dan Livingstone (Duke U.).
of ancient lakes in Africa.

- Climate, evolution and geodynamics

Landscape archaeology, settlement patterns and spatial analysis

Garth Sampson (S.M.U.).

The spatial archaeology of the Zeekoe Valley San.

Glynn Isaac (U.C. Berkeley)

is informative.
Ellen Kroll (U.C. Berkeley).
sites.
Michael Bisson (McGi11).
Anthony Marks (S.M.U.).
study

&

John W.K. Harris (U. of W., Milw.).

Small

Aspects of the spatial archaeology of early

Prehistoric settlement patterns, Lwano, Zambia.

Recent work in the Butana, Sudan--a regional

Pastoralism, subsistence and ecology

Diane Gifford (U.C. Santa Cruz).
East Africa.
John Bower (Iowa State U.).
pastoralism.

Early patterns of livestock use in

Origins of diversity in East African

Mark Lynch (U. of Santa Clara). Rock art and socio-political boundaries
among East African pastoralists.
Jeanne Sept (U.C. Berkeley). Plants and early hominids:
gist in search of her roots.
Ann Stahl (U.C. Berkeley).

The role of fire in human dietary selection.

Ann B.L. Stemler (DeAnza College, CA).

*********

an archaeolo-

(Title not to hand).

NYAME AKUMA ON MICROFICHE

*********

In response to requests for back numbers of Nyame Akuma that are

out of print, Numbers 1 (Oct. 1972) to 17 (Nov. 1980) have been transferred to microfiche and are now available as a set from the Editor at
a price of $50.

*****

Please bring this offer to the attention of Librarians

***

OTHER
MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES
Fourth International Conference for Meroitic Studies
The 4th conference was held at Humboldt University, Berlin,
G.D.R., at the invitation of Prof. Dr. F. Hintze, then head of the
Institute of Egyptology and Sudan Archaeology - Meroitic Studies,
from November 24 to 29, 1980. Sixty-seven scholars and students
from 15 countries attended the conference, and a further 14 sent in
20 contributions.
As usual for ICMS conferences, the keynote papers had been
agreed on at the preceeding meeting. These were:
1.

Meroitic social stratification, by Prof. Dr. A.M. Abdalla,

Riyad-Khartoum.
2. Meroitic religion, by Dr. N.B. Millet, Toronto.
3. Meroitic chronology, by Dr. R.J. Bradley, Calgary and Cambridge.
4. Meroitic architecture, by Prof. W.Y. Adams, Lexington, Ky.
These papers were distributed between March and May, 1980, and 30
colleagues sent in their comments. For the newly inaugurated working
group Recent Research and New Discoveries, headed by Prof. P.L. Shinnie,
Calgary, 26 scholars sent in reports on excavations and other research.
These numerous contributions show clearly the increasing interest in
Meroitic research. The topics were well-chosen. Although problems of
Meroitic religion and architecture had been discussed at the 2nd ICMS
(1973) in Paris, the vivid and partly controversial discussions proved
that new treatment of these subjects with quite different approaches
was necessary and useful.
The importance of the working group Recent Research and New
Discoveries is reflected in the great number of reports. Excavation
reports were given on Qasr Ibrim (Adams), Meroe (Shinnie and Bradley),
Napata (Donadoni), Emir Abdallah (Fernandez), Sedeinga (Leclant),
el Kadada (Geus and Lenoble), and on the Czechoslovak excavations in
Nubia (Vachala). Special objects and new finds were treated by
Danneskiold-Samsoe (the Augustus head from Meroe), Hagg (on a new
Axumite inscription from Meroe), Hainsworth (new Meroitic texts
from Qasr Ibrim), Scholz (on the Atricia relief in Rome, with a reply
by Vlach), Vlach (on the Meroitic-Hellenistic sculpture from the
so-called Royal Baths at Meroe), and by Yellin (on an astronomical
text from Pyr. Beg. S. 503). Topics of wider range were presented
by Cervicek (on the chronology of rock drawings), Harting (classification of offering tables from Karanog), K.H. Priese (place-names in
the middle Nile Valley) and Vila (on Meroitic inhumation habits).
Hainsworth and Leclant gave a report on the present state of REM
and Hinkel presented his method of using a shaduf when rebuilding a
pyramid. Strouhal's report on social stratification at the Wadi
Qitna Cemetery reached the conference only post festum. Hofman

discussed problems of Meroitic Studies and Ethnoarchaeology, while

TGr6k refered to Old Discoveries and the Future of Meroitic Studies.
Two papers marginal to the field of Meroitic Studies were presented,
one by Kobishtshanov on 'Agricul~ureand economic-cultural types in
Medieval Nubia', and the other by Spaulding on a 'Demystification of the
Funj

The proceedings of the 4th ICMS will be published under the title
Meroitistische Forschungen 1980 as volume 7 of the series Meroitica,
edited by the Institute of.Egyptology and Sudan Archaeology - Meroitic
Studies.
Prof. S. Donadoni invited the audience to Rome for the Fifth ICMS,
which will be organized in spring 1984. The program is as follows:
1.

Ethnoarchaeology in the field of Meroitic studies, by B.G. Trigger,

Montreal.
2. Application of mathematical methods in Meroitic studies, by
S. Daniels, O.U./U.K. and F. Hintze, ~erlin/G.~.R.
3. Linguistic and philological problems, by R. Thelwall Ulster.
4. Meroe and external relations, by L. TGrbk, Budapest.

There will be three working groups: Napatan-Meroitic relations

(A.M. Abdalla, Riyad-Khartoum), Meroitic art (L. ~ C r 6 kin connection
with his keynote paper), and Recent research and new discoveries
(P.L. Shinnie, Calgary). J. Leclant, Paris, will prepare a 'Unified
report on archaeological activities in the Sudan'.

Third Colloquium of the West African Archaeological Association

(The editor has prepared the following account from information kindly
supplied by Cyr Descamps.)
The Third Colloquium was held at Dakar from 8 - 12 December, 1981.
There were 56 participants from seven West African, one other African
and two European countries. These included seven from the Ivory Coast
and nine from Mauritania.
The following papers (and others not listed on the program) were
delivered:
N. Nzewunwa,

Reflections on West African Archaeology

Y. Fall,

Les catggories extrinssques dans la problzmatique

arch6ologique en Afrique Noire

A. Lebeuf,

La recherche archgologique en Afrique centrale:

projet de coordination

G. Metinhque,

La recherche archgologique au ~ 6 n i n

J Rivallain,

~thnoarch6ologieet civilisation lagunaire de

llAfrique occidentale

A. Smith,

Ethnoarchaeology and pastoralism in the west Sahel

A. Diop,

Une datation de 11Acheu16en en Afrique de llOuest:

implications m~thodologiques

C. Barbey,

Nouvelles observations sur la stratigraphie de

llAt&ien

R. Vernet,

Le site ngolithique de Khatt Lemaiteg (Mauritanie

occidentale)

S. Amblard,

Architecture et madriel lithique des villages du

Dhar Tichitt

M. Bathily,

L'industrie osseuse du Dhar Tichitt

B. Saison,

Azougui, premisres fouilles profondes

S. Robert,

Recherches sur les monuments rgligieux musulmans

des sites archgologiques mauritaniens: les
mosqukes de Tegdaoust et de Koumbi Saleh

D. Robert,

Chaleix, flames 2 huile importges d6couvertes 2

Tegdaoust:
premier essai de classification

S. Berthier,

Fouille d'une maison d'habitation du quartier de

la grande mosqu6e de Koumbi Saleh

M. Raimbault,

Les tumulus du plateau de Ntondomo, prBs de

Diarrabugu (cercle de Kulikoro, Mali)

The following officers were elected at a general meeting held

on the 10th of December 1981.
Jean Baptiste Kiethega
Secrgtaire GEn6ral de la Recherche Scientifique
D6pt dlHistoire de 11Universit6de Ouagadougou
B.P. 4278 OUAGADOUGOU (~aute-~olta)
Jiyd Ould Aboi
Directeur de llInstitutMauritanien de
Recherche Scientifique
B.P. 196 NOUAKCHOTT (Mauritanie)
Nwanna Nzewunwa
Dept. of Archaeology, University of
Port-Harcourt
PORT-HARCOURT (~igeria)
Massamba Lame
~ 6 p tde Prghistoire-protohistoire
IFAN B/P/ 206 DAKAR (sgnggal)
Mouhamedou Bathily
Ecole Normale Supgrieur
B.P. 396 NOUAKCHOTT (Mauritanie)
Adama Diop
D6pt dlHistoire
~niversitgde Dakar
DAKAR-FANN (sgnggal)

Responsable Publication

Abi Derefaka
Dept of Archaeology, University of Ibadan
IBADAN (~igeria)

~kdacteuren Chef

Bassey Andah
Dept of Archaeology, University of Ibadan
IBADAN (~igeria)

Membres 6lus

Marie-Amy Mbow
~ i t kClaude1 Bat B2 ch. 119
~ i t kUniversitaire
DAKAR-FANN (~6n6gal)
Klena Sanogo
Directeur de llInstitut des Sciences Humaines
B.P. 159 BAMAKO (~ali)

African Studies Association (USA) Meetings

At the ASA meetings to be held in Washington, D.C. from November 4 7

1982, Roderick J. McIntosh will chair a session tentatively titled "Complex
Societies of West Africa: their archaeology and early history." For
further information write to Dr. McIntosh at the Dept. of Anthropology,
Rice University, Houstoq Texas, 77001,USA.

9th Pan African Congess on Prehistory and Related Studies

Dr. Ekpo Eyo was recently in Calgary on the track of the Nok
terracotta allegedly illegally imported into Canada and now in the hands
of the R.C.M.P. pending a trial scheduled for October. He informed the
Editor that various difficulties had forced a postponement of the
Pan-African Congress to Easter, 1983. A circular giving the exact dates
will be sent to all members in the very near future. This will also
include information about the tours, one to southeastern, one to southwestern and one to northern and central Nigeria, that will follow the
meetings.
Colleagues who have not received the previous notices and who wish
to attend the 9th PAC should write requesting information to:Dr. Ekpo Eyo, Director-General
National Commission for Museums and Monuments
P.M.B. 12556
Onikan
Lagos
Nigeria

Meeting of Africanist archaeologists in the U.K.

The African Studies Centre of the University of Cambridge
(Director: A.T. Grove) hosted a meeting on the 7th and 8th of May,
1982.
After an introductory session devoted to general news, reports
on conferences, forthcoming events, etc., there were a number of
short reports on recent excavations, surveys and field visits. These
included:Tripolitania (G. Barker); Qasr Ibrim, Egyptian Nubia
(J. Alexander); Chesowanja, Kenya (J. Gowlett); Namibian Palaeolithic (M. Shackley); Shanga Swahili town (M. Horton); Calabar
terracottas (V.I. Ekpo); central Nigerian hilltowns (R. Blench);
Dawu, Ghana (J. Sutton); Daboya, Ghana (P. Shinnie); Jenne, Mali
(R. & S. McIntosh).
Presentations, followed by discussion, were also given on the
following topics:I. Hodder

K. Ray
W.Y. Adams

K. Ray
P. Lane
L. Donley
K. Nicklin

R. Blench
A. Mawson
N.
H.
M.
L.

Adams
Moore
Alexander
Pole

The Material and the Social in Africa: Symbols in

Act ion
Material assemblages and material culture in African
Archaeology
Ceramic distributions and social interactions in early
Nubia
Some temporal and material features of Hausa political
culture
Settlements as the Dogonised use of space
Three centuries of Swahili symbolic house codes
Cross River Bronzes: cire-perdue copper alloy castings
of S.E. Nigeria
The implications for the archaeology of West-Central
Africa of recent advances in Ethnobotany and
Ethnomusicalogy
Community, change, and the use of space amongst the
Agar Dinka
Socio-cultural implications of the Qasr Ibrim Textiles
Marakwet ethnoarchaeology
Material collections as the archaeology of colonialism
Technology and Oral Tradition: iron-working in the
Togo Hills.

ALGERIA
Zbigniew Szafrafiski writes that:
Prof. Andrzej ~iercifiskiis planning a multidisciplinary
expeditionunder the auspices of the Department of Historical
Anthropology, Warsaw University, to investigate stone structures in
the Awiet region. Scientific investigation of these monuments, which
seem to be connected with 'megalithic' ideas, has scarcely begun. The
expedition is expected to throw light on the dating and significance
of the V-shape and key-hole types. Fieldwork will include excavation,
on site study of human skeletal remains and an ethnographic survey of
the beliefs of the present day inhabitants concerning the structures.

Radiocarbon

Offers?

The British Institute in Eastern Africa has a complete set of the

Journal Radiocarbon which it wishes to sell. It runs from Volume I
(1959) to Volume 23 (1981). Offers in the region of $1400 will be
acceptable for the complete set. We are not prepared to sell
individual volumes.

CAMEROON
BELGIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT I N CAMEROON
(July-August 1981 f i e l d w o r k )

P i e r r e de Maret
Following some i n i t i a l p r o s p e c t i o n and an e x c a v a t i o n c a r r i e d o u t
i n 1980 ( c f . Nyame A b a No. l 7 ) , a new a r c h a e o l o g i c a l m i s s i o n took
p l a c e i n July-August 1981. The l a t t e r was f i n a n c e d by t h e C a s s e l Found a t i o n of B r u s s e l s Free U n i v e r s i t y , by t h e Committee f o r Belgian Excav a t i o n s i n C e n t r a l A f r i c a and by t h e Belgian Foundation f o r Anthropolog i c a l Research. Fieldwork was c a r r i e d o u t w i t h t h e c o o p e r a t i o n of t h e
Center f o r Anthropological Research and t h e S o c i a l S c i e n c e s I n s t i t u t e
of t h e General Delegation f o r S c i e n t i f i c and T e c h n i c a l Research of t h e
United Republic of Cameroon, a s w e l l a s w i t h M r . J . M . Essomba of t h e
U n i v e r s i t y of Cameroon.
I n o r d e r t o allow young Cameroonese r e s e a r c h e r s t o be exposed t o
a r c h a e o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h i n t h e i r c o u n t r y , t h e main e x c a v a t i o n which
took p l a c e i n Obobogo i n t h e south-west suburbs of Yaounde was used a s
a t r a i n i n g s i t e . The p a r t i c i p a n t s were : M r . Raymond Assombang (London
U n i v e r s i t y ) , M i s s C. Atangana ( U n i v e r s i t y o f P a r i s I ) , M r . C. Digara
( U n i v e r s i t y of P a r i s X) , M r . M. Elouga ( U n i v e r s i t y of Yaounde), and M r .
C. Mbida Mindzi6 ( U n i v e r s i t y of B r u s s e l s ) .
The e n t i r e m i s s i o n was devoted t o e x c a v a t i n g t h e s i t e of Obobogo
which had been surveyed t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r . The p r e l i m i n a r y a n a l y s i s of
m a t e r i a l found d u r i n g t h i s f i r s t e x c a v a t i o n had r e v e a l e d two d i s t i n c t
periods :
1) One s p a r s e occupation from t h e L a t e Stone Age, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a microl i t h i c i n d u s t r y of q u a r t z . Some c h a r c o a l from a h e a r t h a s s o c i a t e d w i t h
t h e s e a r t i f a c t s found between 90-100 cm deep was d a t e d a t t h e end of t h e
f i f t h millenium b. c. (Hv-10581 : 6020 + 505 b.p.).
These r e s u l t s coinc i d e p e r f e c t l y w i t h d a t e s o b t a i n e d for-similar i n d u s t r i e s i n n e i g h b o r i n g
countries.
2 ) F a r more i m p o r t a n t , t h e 1980 survey h i g h l i g h t e d a t h i c k occupation l a y e r .
I n t h i s l a y e r was t h e beginning of s e v e r a l s h a f t s . P a r t i a l e x c a v a t i o n
o f t h e s e s t r u c t u r e s y i e l d e d numerous r i c h l y d e c o r a t e d p o t s h e r d s , f r a g ments of g r i n d s t o n e s and grooved s t o n e s , p i e c e s o f palm n u t s and c h a r c o a l .
I n t r e n c h A, c h a r c o a l t a k e n from a l e v e l of 40-50 cm. deep was d a t e d a t
t h e end of t h e second c e n t u r y (Hv-I0580 : 2055 + 70 b.p.) whereas charc o a l found i n the same t r e n c h b u t a t a l e v e l o f 130- 140 an. deep was dated
a t t h e v e r y beginning of t h e f i r s t millenium b.c. (Hv-10582 : 2900 + 110
b.p. ). These r e s u l t s a g r e e w i t h t h o s e o b t a i n e d from c h a r c o a l taken-f rom
t h e top of a n o t h e r t r e n c h , ( t r e n c h B , 40-50 cm. deep) d a t e d a t t h e end of
The more r e c e n t
t h e second millenium b.c. (Hv-10583 : 3070 + 95 b.p.).
d a t e was r e j e c t e d a s t h e sample was p r o b a b l y contaminated by modem d i s turbances. On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e coincidence between t h e two o l d e r d a t e s
confirms t h a t t h i s phase of occupation goes back a s f a r a s 1000 y e a r s before present.

I n view of t h e above r e s u l t s , t h e 1981 m i s s i o n was devoted t o

e x c a v a t i n g t h i s important s i t e . The l a r g e s h a f t o f t r e n c h B was excav a t e d by means of t h r e e new t r e n c h e s , B2, B3 and B4. I n t h e n o r t h e a s t
c o m e r of B3, a new s h a f t appeared and was p a r t i a l l y emptied. A t r e n c h
D was opened between A and B, a l l o w i n g a new s h a f t t o be emptied down
t o 220 cm. deep. A s i n t h e previous y e a r , t h e s h a f t s y i e l d e d numerous
decorated p o t s h e r d s . Thus f a r , i t h a s been p o s s i b l e t o r e c o n s t r u c t
s e v e r a l flat-based pots.
Grooved and g r i n d i n g s t o n e s were a l s o c o l l e c t e d a s w e l l a s a small completely p o l i s h e d s t o n e adze and s e v e r a l f r a g ments of p o l i s h e d axes. Charcoal a n a l y s i s i s i n p r o g r e s s , t h u s f a r onl y f o r e s t s p e c i e s have been determined. Numerous e d i b l e n u t s of EZaets
guineensis (palm t r e e ) and Canariwn Schweinf m t h i i were a l s o c o l l e c t e d .
Judging from t h e d i s p e r s i o n o f t h e remains, t h e v i l l a g e covered an a r e a
of approximately 2,500 square meters. The c o n c e n t r a t i o n of t h e d e p o s i t s
i n d i c a t e s a permanent occupation o v e r s e v e r a l y e a r s .
The technology i s
c l e a r l y of t h e n e o l i t h i c type, t h e r e i s s o f a r no d i r e c t proof of cult i v a t i o n although t h e palm t r e e must have been domesticated o r was i n
t h e process of b e i n g so.
The e x c a v a t i o n s of Obobogo i n d i c a t e f o r t h e f i r s t time t h a t a t
t h e t u r n of t h e second t o t h e f i r s t m i l l e n i u m b . c . , t h e northwest p a r t
of t h e t r o p i c a l f o r e s t was a l r e a d y i n h a b i t e d by s e d e n t a r y people who
used p o l i s h e d t o o l s and p o t t e r y and who p r a c t i c e d v e g e c u l t u r e , i f n o t
a g r i c u l t u r e . T h i s c l e a r l y c a l l s f o r a r e - e v a l u a t i o n of t h e complete LSAE I A sequence i n C e n t r a l A f r i c a . The a f f i n i t i e s between t h e Obobogo Indus t r y and t h e Kintampo I n d u s t r y i n Ghana must a l s o be s t r e s s e d .
Apart from fieldwork a t Obobogo, a week was s p e n t w i t h M r . Assombang v i s i t i n g s i t e s of t h e northwest province t e s t e d i n 1980, a s M r .
Assombang p l a n s t o do a d o c t o r a l t h e s i s on t h e archaeology o f t h i s region.
During t h e e x c a v a t i o n s a t Obobogo, o t h e r surveys were b e i n g c a r r i e d
o u t i n t h e a r e a . F u r t h e r South, i n t h e f o r e s t j u s t t o t h e r i g h t of t h e
church a t Akono a c o n c e n t r a t i o n of m i c r o l i t h i s q u a r t z was found i n an
e r o s i o n g u l l y . There w e r e no a r c h a e o l o g i c a l v e s t i g e s uncovered a t t h e
famous Akok Bekoe s h e l t e r . Following t h e work a t Obobogo, a new s i t e of
a n c i e n t p o t t e r y was found i n Mimboman i n t h e suburbs e a s t o f Yaounde.
I t w i l l be excavated i n t h e coming y e a r s .

GHANA

14th-15th Century Syrio-Egyptian Brassware i n Ghana

Located i n t h e Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions o f Ghana a r e a number of Arabic i n s c r i b e d brass bowls and basins. Once o b j e c t s of g r e a t
beauty, t h e y now l i e i n v a r y i n g stages o f d e t e r i o r a t i o n . The vessels
are o f l a t e medieval Middle Eastern manufacture. They a r e today maint a i n e d by Akan owners as sacred o b j e c t s . The presence o f these o b j e c t s
i n c e n t r a l Ghana r a i s e s a number o f i n t e r e s t i n g questions. How d i d
t h e vessels a r r i v e among t h e Akan? When and why were t h e y imported?
How and why were t h e y a s s i m i l a t e d i n t o Akan s o c i e t y as sacred o b j e c t s ?
And, what i n f l u e n c e s have t h e y had on t h e e v o l u t i o n o f Akan c u l t u r e ?
Answers t o these questions would undoubtedly enhance our understanding
o f e a r l y Akan c o n t a c t s w i t h t h e Western Sudan as w e l l as p r o v i d e us
w i t h new i n s i g h t s i n t o t h e n a t u r e o f t h e a s s i m i l a t i v e process among
t h e Akan.
Several years ago I became i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e h i s t o r i c a l and c u l t u r a l problems posed by these Arabic i n s c r i b e d vessels and s e l e c t e d
t h e i r study as a d i s s e r t a t i o n t o p i c . These vessels and t h e t r a d i t i o n s
w i t h which t h e y are associated were t h e focus o f a r t h i s t o r i c a l research
c a r r i e d o u t i n Ghana and Europe d u r i n g 1979-80. ( 1 ) The f o l 1owing is
a b r i e f summary o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n c o l l e c t e d i n t h e f i e l d and some o f
t h e conclusions drawn from i t s a n a l y s i s .
There are numerous references t o these Arabic i n s c r i b e d vessels
found i n b o t h p u b l i s h e d and unpublished d e s c r i p t i o n s o f Ashanti and
Brong Ahafo. The e a r l i e s t r e f e r e n c e dates from t h e l a t e n i n e t e e n t h
century. I n 1886 t h e Swiss m i s s i o n a r y F r i e d r i c h Ramseyer p u b l i s h e d
an account o f h i s journey t o Salaga (performed i n March-Apri 1 1884)
i n which he mentions examining a 1arge brass b a s i n a t Atebubu (Brong
Ahafo). ( 2 ) T h i s same b a s i n a t t r a c t e d t h e a t t e n t i o n o f several l a t e
n i neteenth-century and e a r l y t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y v i s i t o r s t o Atebubu. ( 3 )

( 1 ) F i n a n c i a l support f o r t h i s research was p r o v i d e d by t h e U.S. O f f i c e

o f Education (Dept. o f H.E.W. ) , Soci a1 Science Research Counci 1 and
Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
( 2 ) F. Ramseyer, "Eine Reise i m Norden von Asante and i m Osten vom
Volta, von Okwawu nach Bron, Krakye un Boem", M i t t e i l u n g e n der Geograp h i schen G e s e l l s c h a f t ( f u r Thuringen) zu Jena, IV:3 (18861, p. 19.
( 3 ) I n 1890: George E. Ferguson i n P.R.O. C.O. 96/215 (1890); p u b l i s h e d
i n K. A r h i n (ed.), The Papers o f George Ekem Ferguson (Leiden, l 9 7 4 ) ,
p. 10. I n 1894: Colonel F . C . S c o t t , " S t a t t D i a r y andGenera1 Report
on E x p e d i t i o n t o Atebubu, 24th March 1894", Correspondence r e s p e c t i n g
t h e A f f a i r s o f Ashanti i n P.R.O. C.O. 879/39 (no. 4581, p. 133. I n
1 9 1 / : L. Boyle, D i a r y o f a C o l o n i a l O f f i c e r ' s Wife (Oxford, 19681,
pp. 113-14. I n 1910s: R.S. R a t t r a y , Ashanti (Oxford, 1923), p. 315.
I n 1933: R.E. Walker, " A Short Hi s t o r v e Atebubus", Ghana N a t i o n a l
Archives (Kumasi), F i l e D.358; p u b l i s h e d i n K. A r h i n (ed. ) , Ashanti
and t h e Northeast (Legon, 1970), p. 30.

A1 1 n o t e d i t s " e x o t i c " appearance. Some speculated as t o i t s o r i g i n s .

I t was n o t u n t i l 1922 t h a t another vessel, t h e l a r g e b a s i n a t Nsoko
(Brong Ahafo) was documented by Capt. R.S. R a t t r a y . ( 4 ) These two
b a s i n s a r e i n f a c t t h e b e s t known o f t h e group. ( 5 ) Several o t h e r s i t e s ,
i n c l u d i n g Adoi (Brong Ahafo) , Amoaman ( A s h a n t i ) , Eji su ( A s h a n t i 1, Kranka
(Brong Ahafo) , Maaso (Brong Ahafo) , Nkoranza (Brong Ahafo) , Nsuta (Brong
Ahafo) and Timponem (Brong Ahafo) , have appeared i n t h e 1 it e r a t u r e .
However, i n q u i r i e s made a t each o f t h e s e v i l l a g e s r e s u l t e d i n t h e documentation o f o n l y f o u r o t h e r A r a b i c i n s c r i b e d vessels. ( 6 ) Another
two vessels, a b a s i n and w a i s t e d bowl, were examined a t t h e v i l l a g e
o f Nsoko. ( 7 ) The two r e m a i n i n g v e s s e l s a r e a bowl i n t h e small v i 1l a g e o f Timponem i n Tekyiman s t a t e and a b a d l y damaged b a s i n found a t
t h e Asante v i l l a g e o f Amoaman. It i s a l s o l i k e l y t h a t a seventh A r a b i c
i n s c r i b e d vessel i s m a i n t a i n e d i n Nkoranza. O r a l t r a d i t i o n s were c o l l e c t e d f o r two a d d i t i o n a l vessels t h a t have disappeared f r o m t h e i r
r e s p e c t i v e v i l l a g e s . A b a s i n t h a t was l o c a t e d i n t h e i m p o r t a n t Asante
town o f E j i s u was a p p a r e n t l y s t o l e n i n t h e e a r l y 1960s. The Bron v i l l a g e o f Kranka had a l a r g e b r a s s vessel t h a t supposedly "sunk i n t o t h e
e a r t h " l o n g ago. I n sum, s i x A r a b i c i n s c r i b e d b r a s s bowls and b a s i n s
were documented. A l l , except t h e b a s i n a t Amoaman, a r e l o c a t e d i n t h e
Brong Ahafo Region.
The i n s c r i p t i o n s on t h e s e v e s s e l s a l l o w f o r f a i r l y a c c u r a t e a t t r i b u t i o n s . A l l a r e S y r i o - E g y p t i a n manufactures. With t h e e x c e p t i o n o f
t h e w a i s t e d bowl a t Nsoko, a1 1 were made i n t h e m i d d l e o r second h a l f
o f t h e f o u r t e e n t h c e n t u r y . The Nsoko bowl d a t e s f r o m t h e m i d - f i f t e e n t h
c e n t u r y . They may, i n o t h e r words, be d e s c r i b e d as Mamluk brassware.
Over time, t h e t r a d i t i o n s r e l a t i n g t o t h e o r i g i n s o f t h e v e s s e l s
evolved i n t o h i s t o r i c a l myths a s s o c i a t e d w i t h a n c i e n t ancestors, o f t e n
t h e founders o f t h e s t a t e . S p e c i f i c i n f o r m a t i o n about how and when
t h e v e s s e l s a c t u a l l y a r r i v e d i n c e n t r a l Ghana i s no l o n g e r i n c l u d e d
i n t h e s e t r a d i t i o n s . I t i s , however, f e a s i b l e t o p o s t u l a t e f r o m an
a n a l y s i s o f c u r r e n t o r a l t r a d i t i o n s and t h e c o n t e x t s i n which t h e vess e l s operate, t h a t t h e bowls and b a s i n s were i m p o r t e d as r i t u a l o b j e c t s

(4)

R a t t r a y , Ashanti, pp. 314-15.

( 5 ) Photographs o f t h e Nsoko b a s i n have been p u b l i s h e d i n R a t t r a y ,

Ashanti, f i g . 137; R.A. Bravmann, Open F r o n t i e r s : The M o b i l i t y of A r t
i
n
k A f r i c a (Oxford, 1973), p. 13; and most r e c e n t l y i n P. Garlake,
The Kingdoms o f A f r i c a (Oxford, l 9 7 8 ) , p. 120. The Atebubu b a s i n has
n o t been published.
( 6 ) European brass vessels serve as t h e f o c u s o f i m p o r t a n t r i t u a l s
i n a number o f these v i l l a g e s ( i.e., Maaso).
( 7 ) The b a s i n i s p a r t o f t h e s t o o l p r o p e r t y o f Nsoko's Queenmother.
The w a i s t e d bowl i s i n c l u d e d i n a group o f b r a s s o b j e c t s c a l l e d Nkuruwa
( i .e., "cups") t h a t belongs t o t h e Nsoko t r a d i t i o n a l s t a t e . T h i s waist e d bowl i s b r i e f l y discussed and reproduced i n Bravmann, Open F r o n t i e r s ,
p. 13.

associated w i t h Islam. It i s important t o p o i n t o u t t h a t w i t h t h e exc e p t i o n o f Amoaman, t h e v i l l a g e s of Nsoko, Atebubu and Timponem each
m a i n t a i n s t r o n g h i s t o r i c a l t r a d i t i o n s o f having been i n v o l v e d i n t r a d e
w i t h t h e North and/or Muslims. ( 8 ) It i s l i k e l y then t h a t these vessels
were c a r r i e d across t h e Sahara and Western Sudan by Muslim t r a d e r s
(i.e., t h e Dyula) who used them f o r performing r i t u a l a b l u t i o n s and
when t h e bowls and basins were no longer o f any use t o t h e i r Muslim
owners t h e y were s o l d o r given t o t h e Bron ( i .e., non-Muslim Akan).
Having observed t h e i r f u n c t i o n as r i t u a l o b j e c t s among these Muslim
t r a d e r s , t h e Akan i n t e g r a t e d t h e vessels i n t o t h e i r own r e l i g i o u s system. I t i s impossible t o know e x a c t l y when t h e vessels were f i r s t i m p o r t e d i n t o c e n t r a l Ghana. However, if we f o l l o w t h e l i n e of argument
p o s i t e d above, i t would be f a i r l y safe t o suggest t h a t t h e y have been
i n Ghana f o r a t l e a s t t h r e e o r f o u r hundred years.
There i s l i t t l e doubt t h a t many o t h e r vessels s i m i l a r t o t h e s i x
examined i n s i t u were imported and have s i n c e perished -- perhaps having
been r e w o ~ t oot h e r brass o b j e c t s by l o c a l a r t i s a n s . I n 1967,
Roy Sieber i d e n t i f i e d some o f t h e s t y l i s t i c a f f i n i t i e s c e r t a i n I s l a m i c
bowls, basins and boxes have w i t h t h e Akan c a s t vessels c a l l e d kuduo. ( 9 )
My examination o f several hundred kuduo and I s 1amic brass v e s s e ~
European, Ameri can and Ghanai an mu'3TGTand p r i vate c o l 1e c t i ons has conf i r m e d t h a t imported brass items from t h e Middle East served as p r o t o types f o r t h e e a r l i e s t Akan kuduo forms. Several o t h e r problems r e l a t i n g t o t h e impact o f these vsupon Akan c u l t u r e were persued. There
i s a good p o s s i b i l i t y , f o r instance, t h a t t h e i m p o r t a t i o n o f brassware
from t h e North was r e l a t e d t o t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f c i r e perdue c a s t i n g
technology i n t h e Akan area. (10) I t i s a l s o l i k e l y t h a t imported
Mamluk vessels were among t h e f i r s t brass o b j e c t s present i n c e n t r a l

( 8 ) I n t h e case o f Amoaman, i t i s probable t h a t t h e b a s i n was acquired

as a s p o i l o f war from one o f t h e n o r t h e r n Akan s t a t e s . It i s l i k e l y
t h a t t h e l o s t E j i s u b a s i n was a l s o acquired i n t h i s manner.
( 9 ) R. Sieber, " I s l a m i c C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s i n Akan Metalwork", paper presented a t t h e Tenth Annual A f r i c a n Studies A s s o c i a t i o n Meeting, New
York, 1967 (mimeographed).
(10) Tim Garrard has r e c e n t l y suggested t h a t t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h i s
c a s t i n g technology was i n t i m a t e l y associated w i t h t h e e a r l y ( i .e., l a t e
fourteenth - e a r l y f i f t e e n t h c e n t u r y ) Mande t r a d e [ t h a t brought Mamluk
brassware i n t o t h e Bron r e g i o n o f c e n t r a l Ghana]; "Akan Metal Arts",
A f r i c a n Arts, X I 1 I : I (1979), p. 41. I t i s n o t p o s s i b l e t o develop t h e
argument w i t h i n t h e framework o f t h i s s h o r t note. I would, however,
j u s t l i k e t o add t h a t i t was p o s s i b l y t h e Lorho, a people whose presence
i n t h e Cercle de Bonduku ( I v o r y Coast) dates back (according t o one
a u t h o r i t y ) t o t h e f o u r t e e n t h o r f i f t e e n t h century, who introduced l o s t
wax c a s t i n g t o t h e Akan. One may f i n d support f o r t h i s t h e o r y i n t h e
l i t e r a t u r e on Mande and Senufo brass-casting; see A . Glaze, A r t and
Death i n a Senufo V i 11age (Bloomington, 1981 ) , pp. 34-40; Y
"Un cas de d i f f u s i o n , les forgerons de Samori e t l a f o n t e i l a c i r e
perdue", Revue F r a n ~ asi d ' H i s t o i r e dlOutre-Mer, LIV ( l 9 6 7 ) , pp. 219-26.

.my

Ghana. Anyone f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e c u l t u r e h i s t o r y of t h i s r e g i o n i s
aware o f t h e important r o l e copper and i t s a l l o y s have played i n t h e
a e s t h e t i c , economic and r e l i g i o u s t r a d i t i o n s of t h e Akan. The Arabic
i n s c r i b e d bowls and basins as t h e " o r i g i n a l ancestors" provided t h e
i n i t i a l s t i m u l u s f o r several important Akan i n s t i t u t i o n s .
The r e l a t i v e a n t i q u i t y o f t h e bowls and basins and t h e l i v i n g t r a d i t i o n s surrounding them make t h i s group o f o b j e c t s unique and o f i n t e r e s t n o t o n l y t o a r t h i s t o r i a n s b u t t o a r c h a e o l o g i s t s and h i s t o r i a n s
as w e l l . The issues d e a l t w i t h i n t h i s note w i l l be considered a t
l e n g t h i n t h e d i s s e r t a t i o n t h a t w i l l be completed and a v a i l a b l e from
U n i v e r s i t y M i c r o f i l m w i t h i n t h e n e x t year. I n t h e meantime, f u r t h e r
questions and requests f o r a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n may be addressed t o
me a t t h e f o l l o w i n g address.
Raymond A. S i 1verman
Division o f A r t History
School o f A r t DM-10
U n i v e r s i t y o f Washington
S e a t t l e , WA 98195

Dr. F.B. Duah, an Assistant Keeper of the Museums & Monuments

Board, has returned from India after 3% years study at the
Department of African Studies, University of Delhi, India. His
thesis was entitled African cultural heritage & problems of
museums & monuments i n Sub-Saharan Africa - Ghana case study.

KENYA
Excavations in the Kapthurin Formation
F. Van Noten, Tervuren
Excavations in the Kapthurin Formation (West Baringo) organized
by the Leakey family in 1966, had shown the excellent potential of
this area. In 1980 a preliminary survey had again shown the immense
richness of this region.
In June 1981 we tested four sites, three near the top of the
Formation (A, B and C) and one near the base (D). The excavations
at the A-site were directed by Jo Gysels, at the B-site by P.-L.
van Berg, at the C-site by J. Kimengech and myself, and at the
D-site by W. Van Neer. Sites A and B are located on the edge of the
plateau partly covered by the Bedded Tuff on the northern side of
the Bartekero river. Site C was situated to the south of the
Kapthurin river, more precisely on the south bank of one of its
unnamed tributaries. Site D is near the lowest part of the Formation.
Numerous soil-samples for dating, geomorphological and palynological analysis were taken from the Bedded Tuff and from the archaeological layers.
The A-site
At the A-locality a series of places had yielded promising
evidence for a test-excavation. A trial trench was put in where
the erosion showed clear evidence of a prehistoric occupation level
situated at 1.2 to 1.5 m below the top of the Bedded Tuff. This
tuff had previously been dated at 0.23 m.y. The removal of the tuff
layer was not much of a problem. Even if the first square meters did
not show a high artifact concentration, the in situ character of the
industry soon became obvious, as the uppermost artifacts showed up
right under the Bedded Tuff. This made its very careful removal
essential. The artifacts were associated with a layer containing
numerous calcite nodules. The first 6 to 8 cms produced few artifacts,
the real concentration starting below. Here, we excavated numerous
lithic artifacts as well as many bone fragments and some 25 pieces of
ostrich eggshell.
The horizontal distribution of artifacts guided the successive
expansions of the excavated area. In total, 24 square meters were
fully and 16 only partly excavated. In all 1666 objects were collected and labelled. These included relatively few tools, but
large quantities of waste material (cores, flakes and blades), together with very small bone fragments and ostrich eggshell fragments,
indicated that we were dealing with a living site.

Four different types of stone were used. Among the bones, large
as well as small bovids were recognized. The in situ aspect of the
assemblage is obvious and emphasizes the archaeological value of this
site. Its undisturbed aspect will make research approaches like
refitting and microwear highly rewarding.
The "locally pumicious" Bedded Tuff consisted here of two layers
(buff-green) separated by a thin whitish horizon.
The B-site
The area of this site is limited just as site A, to the south
by the scarp of the Bartekero, to the west by a tributary of the river,
and to the west by an erosion network. There was no tuff to be seen at
this spot. It looks as if it had been washed away long ago, leaving a
surface covered with volcanic materials (pebbles and gravel) associated
with numerous lava and a few chert artifacts, possibly belonging to
different occupation periods. Some fragments of fossilized bone and
Neolithic 1:)otsherds have been found at a short distance away. This
hererogeneousseries appears to be the result of surface erosion.
After a series of fruitless trial trenches, we found a small area
where an archaeological horizon was still capped by a sterile layer.
In square E6 there were sixteen lava artifacts of which three could
be fitted together, ensuring that at least part of the industry might
well be in situ. In all 28 m2 were excavated. Four levels were
observed.
- Surface: buff colored humic soil containing very fine gravel.
- Homogeneous fine gravel, locally hardened at the base and
containing small lenses of fine gravel. Its thickness varies
from 10 cm to the west, to 35 cm to the east.
- A layer containing gravel (5 to 15 cm, some blocks up to 30 cm
thick) in a sandy matrix. It contains the main part of the
prehistoric industry. This archaeological layer has an
average thickness of 3 to 5 cm. To the west it rests on a
layer of larger pebbles of fluviatile origin and slopes gently
eastwards.
- The fourth layer exhibits white calcareous concretions in a
sandy matrix similar to that of the second layer.
The industry consists of up to 1000 artifacts (phonolite); some
were made of chert. Only 3 small bone fragments were found. The
artifacts were mainly flakes, blades, and cores with few tools and
retouched flakes. Some were fresh, others weathered to differing
extents. The refitting of several series of blades and flakes showed
that stone knapping had been done on the spot, suggesting that prehistoric man used the pebble layer as a source of raw material. The
assemblage contains very few diagnostic specimens. Some flakes probably
result from the preparation of a bifacial tool.
The C-site
At this spot, a
which many beautiful
out from one or more
not reveal clear and

test grid was laid out near an erosion slope on

Late Acheulean artifacts appeared to have eroded
occupation horizons. The test excavations did
distinct archaeological horizons. The artifacts

seemed to come from undefined or diffuse layers which could not be

traced back to separate units. It now appears as if this site was
an occupation area close to the border of a lake. Another explanation would be a succession of erosion facies laid down prior to
the deposit of the Bedded Tuff. We rather think that the site is
to be seen as the result of gradual and occasional covering of a
number of undefined artifact scatters, in one case showing a workshop character. This horizon could however not be correlated with
others situated above and below.
The D-site
This site consisted of a small test pit in the green clays,located at a spot where many fossil bone fragmentsoccurred. However,
no bone was discovered below the topsoil. This indicated that the
soil layer found on the surface and containing the fossils must
have come from a higher horizon.
Generally speaking,the industry found at the sites A, B and C
confirm the presence of a rich, very evolved Acheulean with a high
frequency of Levallois technique, nice blades and extremely fine
handaxes and cleavers. In Europe this would be termed Mousterian of
Acheulean tradition. Further excavations planned for 1982 will
concentrate on site A.

The excavations were organized by the Belgian Centre for

Excavation in Africa and the Belgian N.S.F. in collaboration with
the National Museums of Kenya. We thank in particular Mr. R.
Leakey for inviting us to undertake this project and for his
assistance.

Preliminary Results of Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental

Research in Northern Kenya
Daniel Stiles, Maison des Sciences de llHomme, Paris, France
This report presents preliminary results of a research project
in northern Kenya involving an investigation of the interrelationships
between a changing climate and environment and changes in human demography, economy, and culture. The project has been funded by the Ford
Foundation and the Kenya National Council for Science and Technology.
Support of Kenyan students in the field was assisted by a Baldwin Fellowship from the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation. A total of six research
field trips have been made to the East ~urkanal~halbi
area between
August 1979 and August 1981 (Nyame Akuma 17 and 18). I report here only
on the archaeological and paleoenvironmental results.

Archaeology
Five sites have been excavated in the area of North Horr (Fig. I),
all of them located in sand dunes. The first two were exca~atedby D.W.
Phillipson (1977,1979) in 1974 and named by him North Horr I and 11. I
have used the SASE System and the sites have been designated GcJm 1 and
2. I reexcavated GcJm 2 and excavated GcJm 3-5 in 1979, assisted by Mr.
John Ogolla.
Dating - GcJm 1: 4405f130 b.p., 3330k130 b.p. (Maggs 1977).
GcJm 2: 1525f155 b.p.,
748k140 b.p. (Maggs 1977).
GcJm 3: 1150f110 b.p.
The latter date was made on charcoal taken from the bottom of a
hearth at 95 cm below tlie surface. Bone was recovered from GcJm 4 and
5, but since it was found diffusely scattered throughout the sediments it
was thought unwise to use it for dating purposes.
Economy - Animal bone was in a highly comminuted and weathered state
rendering identification difficult.
GcJm 1- No reported domestic animals.
GcJm 2- Definite ovicaprid in spit 1 (0-20 cms), possible cow and
ovicaprid below.
GcJm 3- Possible cow in spit 2.
GcJm 4- Possible cow in spit 4, definite cow on surface. Definite
ovicaprid in spit 2.
GcJm 5- No identified domestic animal remains.
The above suggests that herding was part of the subsistence base
of the North Horr inhabitants. To mitigate the poor quality of faunal
remains it is hoped in the future to collect much larger samples of
bone. A few large bovids, zebra and gazelle were also identified, but
the numbers were too few to make valid percentage calculations. No
evidence of fish or other aquatic life was found. Mr. John Kimengitch
of the National Museum kindly made the analysis.
Cultural material - Mr. John Ogolla has presented an analysis of the
North Horr material as a B.A. dissertation in Archaeology at the University of Nairobi. He also included in the study Phillipson's North Horr
sites and a sample from Barthelme's (1977) East Turkana sites (GaJi 4
and FwJj 5). One of the most striking features of the North Horr
assemblages is the great variety of ceramic decorative motifs seen at
each site. I believe this to be indicative of the mixing of remains
from more than one occupation period in the unconsolidated sand deposits
of the dunes. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the dates
are separated by 1075 years at GcJm 1 and 777 years at GcJm 2.
Similarities discerned between the assemblages are:
1) GcJm 1, 2, and 3 and FwJj 5 (Ileret) - A technique of applying short,
oblique incisions in linear fashion resulting in design motifs that can
be herring bone, parallel lines, or lines intersecting at a right or
slightly acute angle.
2) GcJm 3 and 5 and FwJj 5 - A very distinct design motif consisting of
an incised line parallel with the rim with incised oblique crosshatching
immediately below the line.
3) GcJm 1 and GaJi 4 - Small punctates arranged in parallel lines.
4) GcJm 1 and 3 and GaJi 4 - Internal scoring (the so-called Nderit Ware
of Barthelme (1977)).

5) GcJm 1, 2, 4, and 5 and FwJj 5 -Stonevessels, all surface finds.

There were many sherds that displayed distinct features of rim
and decoration attributes and paste texture that were unique. Much
work remains to be done before ceramic traditions can be defined for
East Turkana and a culture historic sequence constructed. Larger
ceramic assemblages are needed and sites that represent unambiguous
single occupation periods must be located, excavated, and dated. The
above results are only preliminary and a more detailed study of the
current collections is envisaged.
Ten stone cairns were excavated at Kokurmatakore hill (originally reported as Kalacha Bule) near the village of Kalacha (Fig. 1). The
site complex has been designated as GdJn. Nine of the ten stone
structures contained human burials. The following two tables
summarize the results:
Table 1.
GdJn Cairn Type
Lab. No. Date
1
Platform
GX-7395
Too small
2 Platform
GX-7396A
960f190 b.p.
3 Ring
GX-7420A
585k115 b.p.
4
Small mound
GX-7421A 3460k155 b.p.
5 Ring
GX-7423A
125f120 b.p.
510f115 b.p.
6 Ring (attached to 3)GX-7422A
7 Platform
8
Small mound
9
Small mound
10 Ring

&

Sex
-

Adult
Adult
20-24
35-50
18-25
16-20
Adult
?

Adult

? (fragments)
?

Male
Male
Male
Male
Female
- (Empty)
? (fragments)
Male

Samples from cairns GdJn 7, 9 and 10 will be sent for C-14

dating if funds become available. A preliminary skeletal study was
conducted by Ms. Lynne Schepartz of the University of Michigan. A more
detailed discussion of the research can be found in Stiles and MunroHay (in press).
Table 2.
GdJn :
Body position
Side
Headpointing
Face pointing
Tooth evulsion
Stone pillow

FBRL-

2
-

3
B
F
R
R
N
ENE
NW
W
No M-4
No ?

F
L
SE
SW
No
No

flexed
legs bent, body straight
right side
left side

6
-

F
R
NE
W
M-2
Yes

MT

F
R
E
N
M-4
Yes

7
F

L
NE
SE
No
No

F
R
W?
S?

10
B
R
N

MZ$

No

Yes

number of central upper teeth missing

number of central lower teeth missing

Full argumentation will be presented elsewhere, but the C-14

dates, historical linguistics, and burial data suggest the following:
1) Cairns GdJn 3, 5, 6, and iO belong to the same cultural group.
They date from about the 14th century up to recent times. The mixture
of Eastern Cushitic (stone ring burials) and Nilotic (incisor evulsion)
traits suggests an Eastern Cushitic population who had close contacts
with Nilotes. The best candidate is the Rendille. It appears that

a transformation of the custom of lower incisor evulsion from four to two

teeth took place between the 15th and 19th centuries A.D. The Rendille
today remove the two lower central incisors, as seen in GdJn 5. No occupation sites in the region'have been dated this late.
2) Cairns GdJn 1, 2, and 7 almost certainly belong to the same cultural
group,and one different from the ring group. The three platform cairns
on Kokurmatakore are the only ones of this type yet seen in northern Kenya,
in spite of widespread survey. GdJn 2 was dated to about the 10th century
A.D. and is thus broadly contemporaneous with GcJm 2 and 3 of North Horr.
The most likely people to have constructed the cairns and lived in North
Horr were early Oromo-speakers, possibly ancestors of the cattle herding
Wardai of Boran and Gabbra traditions.
3) It is not known if the two mound cairns, GdJn 4 and 9, belong to
the same cultural group. Not enough bone of 9 remained to compare to 4,
9 remains undated, and mound cairns are a very common style and were
probably used by more than one cultural group. GdJn 4 was probably built
by Southern Cushiticspeaking pastoralists. The association of a stone
vessel and obsidian artifacts with the mound and goat bones found within
the mound stones resembles mounds found further south in Kenya and assigned to the Pastoral Neolithic Industrial Complex. Dating and cultural
material also suggest that there are cultural relationships between GdJn
4, GcJm 1 at North Horr, FwJj 5 (dated to 4000f140 b.p.) at Ileret, and
the Unit 1 burials at Lowasera (Phillipson 1977a). The above suggestions
will be used as working hypotheses in future research and are not intended as final conclusions.
An analysis of the ethnoarchaeological research, i.e. the material
culture inventory of the Gabbra and excavation of their abandoned settlements, has revealed that almost nothing of traditional Gabbra culture
would remain in the archaeological record. The Gabbra and other camel
pastoralists usually move camp more often than cattle pastoralists because they live in a less productive environment. Pottery is relatively
fragile and cumbersome and is thus not suited to a nomadic way of life.
Prehistoric camel pastoralists may not have needed cooking vessels since
tea and maize meal were not then available in the region, there might not
have been agriculturalists nearby with whom to trade for grain, and milk,
blood, and meat do not have to be boiled. If early camel pastoralists did
not use pottery, that would help to explain why no early camel pastoralist sites have yet been found. The sites are of very low archaeological
visibility, and the people may be those buried in the ring style burials.
Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction
The results of the pollen analysis of the pits dug into the Chalbi
paleolake flats near North Horr (marked in Fig. I), conducted by Ms. Annie
Vincens of the CNRS palynological laboratory in Marseille, indicate that
Podocarpus forests on nearby mountains were significantly larger in the
past and that palm groves around North Horr were more developed than
Prevailing winds would indicate
today (Table 3, Stiles and Vincens n.d.).

Fig. 1

Table 3.
Taxa Type

Recent
S7 %
S8

Highland Forest
1.4
Palm
0.0
Sub-desertic scrub 46.1
Cosmopolitan
49.9
Pteridophyte spores 0.6
Indeterminate
1.8
Total pollens
501
Diversity of Taxa

33

Holocene
120 cm
2
160 cm

3.1
0.4
37.8
56.7
0.0
1.9
259
28

that the Podcarpus pollen came from Marsabit or the Huri Hills,
neither of which have Podocarpus today (Synott 1979). The Huri Hills
is called Bada Huri in Borana, meaning 'Forest Hills', and oral traditions indicate that forests once existed there. Today forests are

limited to east-facing canyons and the rest of the hills are kept a grassland by firing by the pastoralists. If the Podocarpus did originate from
the Huris and Marsabit, the period of deposition might correlate with a
similar extension of Podocarpus forests seen about 500 km to the north
around Lake Abiyata and dated to between 6500 and 4800 B.P. (Lezine 1981).
It is not certain whether Podocarpus exists today on Mt. Kulal (Synott
1979), but if it did in the past it could have been a source for some or
all of the pollens found at North Horr. Podocarpus is seen on Mt. Nyiru
and the Ndotos today, a minimum of 120 km south of North Horr. Wind and
drainage patterns make it unlikely that the forest pollens originated
there.
A tree branch in the form of powder was uncovered at a depth of about
80 cm in GdJn 3 at Kokurmatakore in sediments of hard, dark brown silty
clay containing numerous calcium carbonate pebble concretions. This
horizon indicates that the Chalbi lake at that time extended this far, a
distance of about 5 km from the present shoreline. The wood powder has
been C-14 dated to 1110f155 b.p., or about the 9th century A.D., indicating a humid period as recently as that. Water has not covered the area
since at least 585k115 b.p., the date of the GdJn 3 stone ring. The
stratigraphy in GdJn 3 indicates that permanent water conditions prevailed for a short time after the deposition of the tree branch (10 cm of
sediments).
Between about 30 and 70 cm depth the sediments are a dark brown,
fine-grained silt with clay pockets and numerous dense lenses of calcified root casts. The shell of a fresh water gastropod was found at 45 cm.
This seems to indicate a rapidly fluctuating lake margin environment,
sometimes flooded and at other times dry. This swampy environment persisted until perhaps as late as the 12th century, based on a calculated
average sedimentation rate of 1 cm every 6.5 years between 1110 and 585
b.p. (525 years, 80 cm of deposits). This would be consistent with a
picture of increasing dessication in the region eventually prompting
autochthonous pastoralists to adopt camels (the Rendille ?) and also
invitingthe immigration of camel pastoralists from the northeast to occupy
the lowland grazing areas no longer optimal for cattle.
Above the lake margin sediments are found soft, brown sandy silts
containing an occasional lava pebble,a combination of colluvial and
aeolian deposits indicative of a semi-arid environment not unlike that
of the present time. This reconstruction is consistent with the
results of work conducted by Butzer (1974) in the Omo delta north of Lake
Turkana, by Gasse -et. a1.(1979) in the Ethiopian rift valley lakes, and
by Rognon (1974) in the Awash valley in Ethiopia. The process of cattle
pastoralists adopting camels in the face of deteriorating environmental
conditions can be seen today among the Samburu north of the Uaso Nyiro
river and the Pokot and Njemps in the Baringo valley of Kenya.
If funds are forthcoming this research project will be continued
in the summer of 1982.
Barthelme, J. 1977. Holocene sites northeast of Lake Turkana. Azania
12:33-42
Butzer, K.W. 1974. Recent history of an Ethiopian delta. Univ. Chicago
Geogr. Dept. Res. Papers 136:123-130.

Gasse, F., P. Rognon, and F.A. Street. 1979. Quaternary history of the
Afar and Ethiopian Rift lakes. in The Sahara and the Nile, (Eds.)
M.A.J. Williams and H. Faure. Rotterdam:Balkema.
Lezine, A.M. 1981. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Bordeaux I.
Phillipson, D.W. 1977. The Later Prehistory of Eastern and Southern
Africa. London:Heineman.
1977a. Lowasera. Azania 12:l-32.
1979. The origins of prehistoric farming in East Africa. in
Ecology and History in East Africa, (Ed.) B.A. Ogot. Nairobi:Kenya
Literature Bureau.
Rognon, P. 1974. Modifications naturelles du cycle hydromdt~orologiques
depuis 10,000 ans. C.R. ~ourne'esde 1'~ydraulique Soc. Hydrotech.12.
Stiles, D.N. and S. Munro-Hay 1981. Stone cairn burials at Kokurmatakore, northern Kenya. Azania 16, in press.
Stiles, D.N. and A. Vincens. n.d. Late Quaternary pollen studies in
northern Kenya. ms.
Synott, T.J. 1979. Report on the status, importance and protection of
the mountain forests. IPAL Technical Report D-2a. Nairobi:UNESCO.

Archaeological survey of Bungoma District: preliminary report

Simiya Wandibba, Research Archaeologist, National Museum of Kenya
The purpose of this survey was to determine the nature and quantity of archaeological sites in the District. Previous work had
tended to be rather sporadic and on a very small scale, and was
therefore, the first systematic archaeological work to be undertaken.
Since the aim of the research was to document sites over a very
2
large area, about 3074 km , a sampling strategy had to be employed.
The sampling procedure involved putting grid squares over the map of
the entire district and then randomly selecting areas to be walked.
Irt the first leg of the survey four grij squares were walked. Since
each grid represe ts an area of 100 km on the ground, the total area
9
covered was 400 km

Casual observations in the past had indicated that most of the

sites would be either caves or rock shelters. Thus hills and rock
outcrops in the sampled areas constituted a particular target. In
addition to these types of features, road cuttings, erosion gullies,
and river valleys were also searched. In all 49 sites were found and
recorded. All but two were either caves or rock shelters. The
exceptions are open sites in imbedded river sediments on R. Sirare.
These two sites have a typical MSA lithic technology. On the other
hand, nearly all the caves and rock shelters appear to be of a late
Iron Age. A few LSA sites also appear to be represented.
All the sites located were recorded in a systematic manner using
standardized forms drawn up for the purpose. The first thing was to
plot the sites on 1:50,000 topographical maps and then give them a
six-figure grid-reference using map co-ordinates. Each site was
then given a local name and a SASES number in accordance with the

system designed by Nelson. The functional type of the site and its
cultural identity, as well as its location in terms of stratigraphy and
the surroundings,were also recorded.
Whereas all the sites were recorded in a uniform manner, methods of
surface collection varied with circumstances. In some cases only diagnostic material was collected, but in others both diagnostic and nondiagnostic material. Faunal remains were in general, left undisturbed.
Most of the artifacts collected in the survey consist of ceramic
finds, mainly pottery. Nearly all the potsherds appear to have come
from necked vessels. Some of the rims of these necked vessels have
ledges, indicating that they most probably had lids. A bowl and a gourdshaped vessel also appear to be represented. The decoration invariably
includes roulette impressions made with a plaited cord. Twisted cord
impressions are also represented. In some case impressions made with a
plaited roulette combine with punctations or with carved roulette impressions.
The second main group of the finds consists of stone artifacts. Some
of these belong to the MSA whilst others appear to be LSA. The MSA artifacts consist of typical Levallois cores as well as MSA points. On the
other hand, the LSA artifacts are dominated by various types of microlith.
This survey has revealed that it is possible to reconstruct the
culture history of Bungoma District from at least the MSA to fairly recent
times. Although most of the sites located so far appear to be situated
in hills and rock outcrops, a more systematic search of the river courses
is likely to reveal more open sites. In general, the archaeological
survey ignored nineteenth century walled villages as these are being
covered in the ethnoarchaeological aspect of the survey.

MALI
Recherches archdologiques conduites au Mali en 1981
M. Raimbault
Importante mission des Macintosh sur le vaste tertre de
~enng-Jeno (dans le Delta intgrieur du Niger) au cours du premier
semestre 1981, pour prgciser la chronologie des ddp6ts d'occupation
et les intdressantes donndes 6conomiques reconnues en 1977 sur ce site
qui apparart ddsormais comme une des premisres citgs dlAfrique
occidentale. Le dgbut de la campagne cokcida avec la tenue 2 Jenng
(l'actuelle) d'un premier Sgminaire culture1 sur cette ville, joyau de
l'architecture soudanienne, organisd par la Direction du Patrimoine du
Mali. Ouvert largement 2 la population, il permit de sensibiliser
celle-ci aux questions dlHistoire et Archgologie.
~r&e mission 2 la fin de juin 1981 sur la ngcropole protohistorique du plateau de Ntondomo, en aval de Kulikoro, en collaboration
gtroite avec llInstitutdes Sciences Humaines de Bamako. Fouille
fine d'un 4e tumulus $ cercle de pierres et tombe mgdiane apparente
qui donna l'occasion de prglever le premier tdmoin matgriel en place,
dans le remplissage de la fosse, sous forme d'une pointe de flzche en
mgtal. Pas le moindre ossement.
IIIe et IVe mission pluridisciplinaire dans le Sahara malien, sous
la direction de Mme Petit-Maire, martre de recherches au C.N.R.S. Laboratoire de Ggologie du Quaternaire, Marseille, du 20 fgvrier au 16
mars et du 3 au 30 novembre 1981. Etude sur les palgolacs du NW du
Mali (entre les 19O et 22O N) et les oscillations climatiques au cours
du Quaternaire rgcent, avec un volet de Pal6oanthropologie et Pr6histoire. Deux pgriodes lacustres (9 000 - 6 500 B.P. et 5 000 - 4 000 B.P.
environ) avec remont6e des faunes et flores furent mises en valeur.
La premigre a laissg des sites exceptionnels, surtout dans les dgpressions du Foum el Alba, avec un matgriel 3 la lisisre de llEpipalgolithique et du Ngolithique, riche en grattoirs et longues pointes.

THE 1981 F l ELD SEASON AT JENNE-JENO: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

R o d e r i c k J. M c l n t o s h
Susan Keech Mcl n t o s h
R i c e U n i v e r s i t y , Houston, Texas

From January t o J u l y 1981, we c o n d u c t e d a second f i e l d season o f

e x c a v a t i o n and s u r v e y i n and around Jenne-jeno, M a l i . Our g o a l was t o
expand and r e f i n e c u r r e n t knowledge, based on o u r 1977 r e s e a r c h , o f s i t e
c h r o n o l o g y and r e g i o n a l u r b a n development. We were a b l e t o i n c r e a s e
c o n s i d e r a b l y t h e scope o f t h e e x c a v a t i o n s o v e r t h e f o u r 3 x 3 m t e s t
p i t s sunk i n 1977, thanks t o t h e generous f u n d i n g o f t h e N a t i o n a l S c i e n c e
F o u n d a t i o n . T h r e e g r a d u a t e a s s i s t a n t s accompanied us and s e r v e d a s s i t e
supervisors.
( A l t h o u g h t h e r e s e a r c h program o r i g i n a l l y c a l l e d f o r s i x
f i e l d a s s i s t a n t s , t h r e e American and t h r e e M a l i a n , no M a l i a n s t u d e n t s
c o u l d be f o u n d t o f i l l t h e s e p o s i t i o n s , o w i n g t o t h e c l o s u r e o f t h e E c o l e
Norma 1 e sup;r i e u r e i n Bamako d u r i n g t h e 1980-81 academic y e a r )
F i v e e x c a v a t i o n u n i t s were opened on Jenne-jeno i n 1981: f o u r o f
t h e s e ( l a b e l l e d CTR, ALS, HK, and WFL on Map 1 ) measured 3 x 3 m o r
t h e f i f t h was a l a r g e exposure (LX) 10 x 6 m i n s i z e w h i c h was
2 x 2 m;
d i v i d e d i n t o two p a r t s (LXN and LXS) s e p a r a t e d b y a 50 cm w i d e b a u l k .
A d d i t i o n a l l y , a s e c t i o n was c u t a c r o s s a n exposure o f t h e c i t y w a l l on
Two s i t e s o t h e r t h a n Jenne-jeno
t h e n o r t h e r n edge o f t h e mound (NwS).
were a l s o excavated: we sunk 2 x 2 m t e s t p i t s a t Hambarketolo, a s i t e
l y i n g a d j a c e n t t o Jenne-jeno on t h e n o r t h and c o n n e c t e d t o i t b y a n
e a r t h e n causeway, and Kaniana, a l a r g e (41 ha) b u t s h a l l o w mound n e i g h b o r i n g Jenne on t h e n o r t h w e s t .
An i m p o r t a n t goal o f t h e e x c a v a t i o n s was t o c r o s s - c h e c k and r e f i n e
t h e 1977 c e r a m i c sequence f o r J e n n e - j e n o ( d e s c r i b e d i n M c l n t o s h and
M c l n t o s h 1980). A l t h o u g h t h e a n a l y s i s o f a l l t h e computer-coded r i m
sherds has y e t t o be completed, c a l c u l a t i o n o f r e l a t i v e f r e q u e n c i e s o f
t i m e - s e n s i t i v e a t t r i b u t e s on e x c a v a t e d body sherds was u n d e r t a k e n b e f o r e
l e a v i n g t h e f i e l d i n 1981. T h i s p e r m i t t e d us t o a r r a n g e t h e e x c a v a t e d
l e v e l s i n t e n t a t i v e c h r o n o l o g i c a l o r d e r and t o i d e n t i f y t e m p o r a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s among t h e v a r i o u s e x c a v a t i o n u n i t s . These p o s t u l a t e d r e l a t i o n s h i p s f u n c t i o n e d a s hypotheses t o be c o n f i r m e d o r r e f u t e d b y t h e r e s u l t s
o f r a d i o c a r b o n d a t i n g . A t p r e s e n t , 17 r e d i o c a r b o n d a t e s have been comp l e t e d f o r t h e 1981 e x c a v a t i o n s (see T a b l e l ) , b r i n g i n g t o 2 6 t h e t o t a l
number o f d e t e r m i n a t i o n s a v a i l a b l e f r o m Jenne-jeno and n e i g h b o r i n g s i t e s .
O v e r a l l , t h e c h r o n o l o g y o f o c c u p a t i o n a t J e n n e - j e n o o u t l i n e d on t h e
b a s i s o f t h e 1977 r e s e a r c h has been e m p h a t i c a l l y c o n f i r m e d and a l s o
r e f i n e d i n s i g n i f i c a n t ways. The l o w e s t l e v e l s , c o n t a i n i n g what we have
i d e n t i f i e d a s Phase I p o t t e r y , c o n s i s t e n t l y d a t e t o t h e second and t h i r d
c e n t u r i e s BC (RL-1619, 1620, 1622 i n T a b l e 1 ; a d a t e o f 210+180 BC was
o b t a i n e d i n 1977). A t t h i s t i m e , t h e o c c u p a t i o n o f ~ e n n e - j e n owas a p p a r e n t l y l i m i t e d t o t h e s m a l l c e n t r a l a r e a c o v e r e d by u n i t s MND 1 , MND 2 and

TABLE

L i s t o f 1981 Season Radiocarbon Determinations

LAB NUMBER
Jenne-jeno,

LX-N:

Jenne-jeno,

CTR:

Jenne-jeno,

ALS:

Hambarketol o:

Kani ana:

UNCORRECTED DATE BP.

MASCA CORRECTED AD/BC

DATE

LX ( ~ a p1 ) . Remains of b u r n t daub from pole-and-daub h u t s have been

recovered from these e a r l i e s t l e v e l s .
By AD 250, Jenne-jeno had expanded t o cover a minimum o f 12 h e c t a r e s ,
as evidenced by d e p o s i t i o n a t t h a t t i m e i n ALS (RL-1581) and CTR (RL-1574,
1576).
Hambarketolo was a l s o occupied by t h i s p o i n t (RL-1580).
According
t o t h e combined r e s u l t s o f r a d i o c a r b o n d a t i n g and t h e r e f i n e d p o t t e r y
chronology, t h e p e r i o d from AD 300-800 marked t h e f l o r u i t o f Jenne-jeno.
By t h e end o f t h i s p e r i o d , Jenne-jeno and Hambarketolo had a t t a i n e d t h e i r
maximum a r e a l e x t e n t o f 41 hectares, and a 3.3 m wide c i t y w a l l o f c y l i n d r i c a l mud b r i c k e n c i r c l e s Jenne-jeno over a c i r c u i t o f almost two k i l o meters.
Jenne-jeno d e c l i n e d s l o w l y a f t e r c.AD 1000. Hambraketolo and Kaniana
a r e b o t h abandoned a t t h i s t i m e . S e t t l e m e n t on Jenne-jeno c o n t r a c t e d t o
cover o n l y t h e c e n t r a l - n o r t h e a s t q u a r t e r o f t h e mound ( t h e a r e a o f LX,
MND 1 and MND 2 ) .
I t may be s i g n i f i c a n t t h a t t h i s d e c l i n e corresponds
w i t h t h e appearance o f t h e f i r s t evidence o f c o n t a c t w i t h I s l a m i c N o r t h
A f r i c a : g l a s s beads, S p i n d l e whorls, and t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f r e c t i l i n e a r
house p l a n s . Abandonment o f Jenne-jeno was completed by AD 1400, as
i n d i c a t e d by t h e d a t e o f AD 1360+70 (RL-1616) from t h e d e p o s i t s i n t h e
most r e c e n t house i n LX.
The e x c a v a t i o n s sought a d d i t i o n a l l y t o p r o v i d e d e t a i l e d i n f o r m a t i o n
on t h e s u b s i s t e n c e economy t h r o u g h t i m e and t h e t h e development o f r e g i o n a l
and l o n g - d i s t a n c e t r a d e . The abundant f a u n a l and f l o r a l remains recovered
a r e c u r r e n t l y b e i n g analysed by K. Cruz-Uribe (under t h e d i r e c t i o n o f
R . ~ l e i n ) , J. Scheuring, and P r o f e s s o r J. H a r l a n . Samples o f i r o n and t h e
v a r i o u s forms o f s l a g found even i n t h e e a r l i e s t l e v e l s a t Jenne-jeno a r e
i n t h e hands o f P r o f e s s o r T y l e c o t e , who i s a n a l y s i n g them t o determine i f
o r e was imported and then smelted a t t h e s i t e , o r i f Jenne-jeno smiths
worked imported bloomery i r o n . We have suggested ( ~ c l n t o s hand M c l n t o s h
1981) t h a t from an e a r l y r e g i o n a l t r a d e i n i r o n and stone, t r a d e networks
grew t o embrace d i s t a n t Saharan sources o f s a l t and copper by t h e f i f t h
c e n t u r y AD, as w e l l as savanna-forest g o l d sources. A l t h o u g h h i s t o r i a n s
have remained s k e p t i c a l o f t h i s l a s t p o s s i b i l i t y , p r e f e r r i n g t o see t h e
g o l d t r a d e i n t o t h e I n l a n d N i g e r D e l t a as a v e r y l a t e , p o s t - c o n v e r s i o n
phenomenon, evidence t h a t g o l d was r e a c h i n g Jenne-jeno by AD 800 presented
i t s e l f i n 1981 i n t h e form o f a g o l d e a r r i n g recovered f r o m d e p o s i t s
beneath t h e c i t y w a l l . These d e p o s i t s c o n t a i n e d p o t t e r y o f a t y p e p r o duced b e f o r e AD 800.
I n 1977 we conducted s i t e survey and a geomorphological s t u d y o f an
area o f Jenne-jeno's h i n t e r l a n d measuring 1100 km2. We i d e n t i f i e d 404
s i t e s and s u r f a c e - c o l l e c t e d a sample o f these, b u t c o n c l u s i o n s about
r e g i o n a l development were l i m i t e d by t h e crudeness o f our d a t i n g t e c h niques. The 1981 season f e a t u r e d an improved methodology, i n c l u d i n g :
T e s t e x c a v a t i o n s a t Hambarketolo and Kaniana, whose p o t t e r y sequences
agree p r e c i s e l y w i t h t h a t a t Jenne-jeno as v e r i f i e d by independent r a d i o carbon d a t e s ; and a research focus on t h e r e g i o n w i t h i n a f o u r - k i l o m e t e r
r a d i u s ( o f t h e Jenne mosque). T h i s a 1 lowed us t o s e l e c t f o r s u r f a c e
c o l l e c t i o n and r e c o r d i n g a 50"L sample o f t h e 65 s i t e s w i t h i n t h a t r a d i u s .
As i n 1977, we used a randomized sampling t e c h n i q u e t o s e l e c t s i t e s f o r
observation.

JENNE- JENO, MAL I

CONTOUR INTERVAL 0.5 m.

#'

+'

0.25m. CONTOUR

J E N N ~ Ic. 3km.l

1981 Uni t s I n d i c a t e d by Sol i d T r i a n g l e s

The 1981 survey supported s e v e r a l of the t e n t a t i v e c o n c l u s i o n s from

the 1977 season. The g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f the s i t e s near Jenne-jeno were
abandoned between AD 1000 and 1400. To judge from Hambarketolo, many o f
these n e a r - h i n t e r l a n d s i t e s were founded soon a f t e r Jenne-jeno.
By conc e n t r a t i n g on t h e n e a r - h i n t e r l a n d , we were a b l e t o say more about a t r e n d
n o t i c e d i n 1977, namely t h a t a s t a b l e , f i r s t m i l l e n n i u m AD s e t t l e m e n t
p a t t e r n o f s i t e s dispersed throughout the best r i c e - g r o w i n g land ended
e a r l y i n t h e second m i l l e n n i u m w i t h an implosion o f p o p u l a t i o n around
modern Jenne. We have n o t y e t begun t h e f i n a l a n a l y s i s o f t h e 1981
survey data, b u t we expect t h a t these h o l d t h e answer t o why s e t t l e m e n t
p a t t e r n s were s u b s t a n t i a l l y a l t e r e d a t about t h e time o f Jenne-jenois
abandonment. A n a l y s i s w i l l a l s o shed l i g h t on the c l u s t e r i n g problem.
Why does s e t t l e m e n t i n t h e r e g i o n tend t o have c l u s t e r e d i n g r o u p s d s m a l l
s i t e s separated by o n l y a s h o r t s t r e t c h o f f l o o d p l a i n ? From p r e l i m i n a r y
analyses o f surface c o l l e c t i o n s o f p o t t e r y , these do n o t appear t o represent s e q u e n t i a l h a b i t a t i o n s ; f u n c t i o n a l o r e t h n i c a l t e r n a t i v e s w i l l be
exp 1 ored

Cited i n t e x t :
1980

Mclntosh, S.K. and R.J. Mclntosh, P r e h i s t o r i c I n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n

Cambridge Monographs i n A f r i c a n Archt h e Region o f Jenne, Ma1 i
aeology 2. Oxford: B.A.R.

1981

Mclntosh R.J.and S.K. Mclntosh "The I n l a n d N i g e r D e l t a b e f o r e

Journal o f A f r i c a n
t h e Empi r e of Ma1 i : Evidence from Jenne-jeno",
H i s t o r y 22:l-22.

Other recent p u b l i c a t i o n s :
1980

Mclntosh, R.J. and S.K. Mclntosh, " P r e l i m i n a r y R e s u l t s o f t h e

1977 Excavations a t Jenne-jeno, Ma1 iti, i n R.E.F.
Leakey (ed.)'
Proceedings o f the E i g h t h P a n a f r i c a n Congress o f P r e h i s t o r y and
Quaternary Studies :369-372

1981

Mclntosh, S.K.,
"A Reconsideration o f Wangara/Palolus,
o f Goldu,
Journal o f A f r i c a n H i s t o r y 22:145-158.

1981

Mclntosh, S.K. and R.J. Mclntosh,

American S c i e n t i s t 69:602-613.

in
press

Island

IiWest A f r i c a n P r e h i s t o r y i 1 ,

Mclntosh, R.J. and S.K. Mclntosh, " C i t i e s w i t h o u t C i t a d e l s :

Understanding West A f r i c a n Urbanism", i n D. Brokensha and M.
Posnans ky (eds ) The I nd i genous A f r ican Town,

NIGERIA
1981 Excavations at Koroama, Yenagoa Local Government Area,
RIVERS STATE: a preliminary report
Abi A. Derefaka, University of Ibadan, and Dr. Nwanna Nzewunwa,
University of Port Harcourt
Koroama (50 02'N, 6O 18'E) is an inhabited settlement of the
Gbaran who live along what is now known as Taylor Creek in the Central
Niger Delta. It is the second site to be excavated in the fresh-water
delta (see Nyame Akuma No. 18, pp. 23-25). Two types of open site
were identified and excavated at Koroama. One is an industrial or
factory site, while the other is a midden site. During reconnaissance
in March 1981, it was partly the existence of industrial sites, which
tied in with oral traditions collected earlier, that led to the choice
of Koroama as the next place for excavations. The second type of site
was identified when we were conducted to a place where digging ('for
mud to wall a house') had exposed an impressive array of artifacts.
Excavations
The author6 assisted by students in post-primary institutions and
teachers (all indigenes of Koroama), worked at Koroama from 28th August
to 8th September, 1981.
Local weather conditions (rainy season) and limited resources
were the major factors that guided our decision to sample the two
mounds chosen by test-pitting. Accordingly, two test pits (2m. x 2m.
each) were sunk on each mound.
On Mound I (the industrial site) the two test pits were located
on the western slope of the half that river erosion had left of the
original mound, with Pit 1 nearer the apex. Pit 2 was one meter away
but aligned west of Pit 1 such that the 1 m. 'baulk' could have been
taken down to join the two pits if necessary. We obtained a clear
picture of the natural and cultural stratigraphy. The mound had
resulted from successive pottery-firing activities.
On Mound I1 (the midden site) Pit 1 was marked out south-east of
Mr. Orumokumo's new mud-walled house in the area undisturbed by the
builders. Pit 2 was marked out to the north-east of Pit 1 but parallel
to it and in the undisturbed area east of the new house and nearer the
Taylor Creek water front.
Whereas Mound I provides some record of the nature of a now almost
extinct indigenous ceramic industry, Mound I1 provides a record of a
seemingly ceramic (local) phase and European contact phases. The major
finds from Mound I are potsherds (about 30,000). Other finds include

bones (to be identified), locally made smoking pipes, and burnt palm
nuts. The most numerous class of finds from Mound I1 is pottery but
there is also a lot (compared to Mound I) of bone (fish and mammalian).
Snail shells, some iron implements, gun flints, European factory-made
smoking pipes, fragments of J.J.W. Peters gin bottles, glass beads,
porcelain pieces, cowries, and palm nuts were also recovered.
Soil and charcoal samples were collected for laboratory analysis.
Analysis of all the material recovered from the excavation is in progress.
A more detailed report will follow.
The excavations were sponsored by the University of Ibadan, and
major equipment was provided by the School of Humanities, University of
Port Harcourt. Our gratitude also goes to Chief B.P. Saiyou, the head of
Koroama, his deputy, Chief I.B. Kwokwo, their council and the people of
Koroama for their hospitality, interest, and permission to excavate on
their land.

Prospecting t h e 3000 BP b a r r i e r :

Borno 1981

Graham Connah
(Department o f P r e h i s t o r y 6 Archaeology,
U n i v e r s i t y o f New England, A u s t r a l i a )
and
Joseph Jemkur
(Centre f o r Nigerian C u l t u r a l S t u d i e s ,
Ahmadu B e l l o University, Nigeria)
The book Three thousand y e a r s i n A f r i c a , w r i t t e n by one o f us (G.C.) and
published by Cambridge U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s i n 1981, attempted t o e x p l a i n t h e
r e l a t i o n s h i p o f Man and h i s environment i n t h e Lake Chad region o f N i g e r i a
over t h e l a s t 3000 y e a r s . I n t h a t book t h e r e was some d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e
v i r t u a l lack o f archaeological evidence i n t h a t a r e a o f Borno S t a t e ,
N i g e r i a , p r i o r t o about 3000 y e a r s ago. On pages 82-3 an h y p o t h e s i s was
advanced concerning t h e p r e h i s t o r y o f t h e a r e a p r i o r t o t h i s apparent time
b a r r i e r . B r i e f l y , it was suggested t h a t h u n t e r - g a t h e r e r s must have been
e x p l o i t i n g t h e margins o f Lake Chad from an e a r l y d a t e and t h a t t h e most
l i k e l y s t r a t e g y o f such groups, during t h e p e r i o d s o f c l i m a t i c s t r e s s which
a r e known t o have e x i s t e d from time t o time, would have been t o r e t r e a t
i n t o t h e Mandara Mountains and t h e a d j a c e n t uplands t o t h e s o u t h of Lake Chad.
I n a d d i t i o n i t was suggested t h a t food production, i n v o l v i n g both c e r e a l
c u l t i v a t i o n and p a s t o r a l i s m , must have developed o r been adopted i n t h e Lake
Chad a r e a a t some time p r i o r t o 3000 y e a r s ago. A number of ways were
suggested f o r t e s t i n g t h i s hypothesis and i n p a r t i c u l a r t h e p o t e n t i a l
importance o f t h e n o r t h e r n end o f t h e Mandara Mountains and t h e a d j a c e n t
p a r t s o f t h e Bama Ridge was mentioned.
I n January and February 1981 occurred an o p p o r t u n i t y t o conduct
archaeological fieldwork i n t h i s very a r e a . The w r i t e r s s p e n t 25 days i n
Borno of which 15 days were devoted t o a s e a r c h f o r a r c h a e o l o g i c a l s i t e s i n
t h e a r e a shown i n Figures 2 and 3. Most o f our e f f o r t s were concentrated on
t h e r e c t a n g l e bounded by t h e roads from Ngurosoyeto Dar-el-Jamal t o Kirawa
t o Pulka t o Ngurosoye (Figure 3) but t h e f l a n k s o f t h e n o r t h e r n end o f t h e
Mandara Mountains were a l s o examined and one journey was made (on f o o t ) i n t o
t h e h e a r t o f t h e Mountains themselves. The fieldwork was organized from
t h e Centre f o r Nigerian C u l t u r a l S t u d i e s , a t Ahmadu B e l l o U n i v e r s i t y , Z a r i a .
The Centre provided a v e h i c l e and d r i v e r , f i e l d equipment, a t e c h n i c a l o f f i c e r
(Mr. Mathias Opuana) and funding f o r t h e p r o j e c t . One o f us ( J . J . ) , from
t h a t Centre, d i d a l l t h e p r e p a r a t o r y work and c o l l a b o r a t e d w i t h t h e o t h e r
(G.C.) i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e a c t u a l fieldwork.
The fieldwork was conducted a s a s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d s e a r c h f o r s i t e s , w i t h
a r b i t r a r i l y organized s u r f a c e c o l l e c t i o n and a small t e s t excavation o f one
of t h e newly discovered s i t e s . S i t e s were l o c a t e d i n two ways: 1) S u r f a c e
searches were conducted a t random s p o t s b u t p a r t i c u l a r l y along i n c i s e d
stream and r i v e r beds and on s e l e c t e d a r e a s of t h e Bama Ridge. 2) Local
knowledge was used by t a l k i n g (through an i n t e r p r e t e r ) t o farmers and o t h e r s
i n most o f t h e modern s e t t l e m e n t s shown i n Figure 3 . Of t h e two methods,

NIGER

0
DAMATURU

area
GWOZA

#SITE

WITH STONE INDUSTRY

Figure 1 :

-1

LAND OVER 610 METRES

( 2 0 0 0 FEET)

Archaeological s i t e s i n the Lake Chad region of Nigeria,

as known p r i o r t o 1981. Based on Connah (1981: 46).
The only addition i s Ala, a newly discovered s i t e outside
of t h e area of t h e 1981 survey, which i s not discussed i n
t h i s paper.

Figure 2 :

Physiographic map o f t h e 1981 survey a r e a . Based on N i g e r i a

1:50,000 Gwoza NW, NE, SW, SE (Sheet 114), E d i t i o n 1. Contours
a r e a t 50 f e e t i n t e r v a l s . Note t h e a r e a s l i a b l e t o f l o o d i n g
south of t h e Bama Ridge.

t h e second produced t h e g r e a t e r number o f s i t e s but most of t h e s e w e r e .

settlement mounds t h a t probably a l l dated t o within t h e l a s t 3000 years.
I n c o n t r a s t , t h e first method produced fewer s i t e s but amongst them was
t h e only s i t e . with a convincing s t o n e a r t e f a c t i n d u s t r y (B117: s e e
Figure 3). I t seems t h a t l o c a l information tended t o lead us t o t h e
l a t e r more o b v i o u s . s i t e s and t h a t t o discover more o f t h e e a r l i e r s i t e s
would r e q u i r e a f a r more i n t e n s i v e search, over a more l i m i t e d a r e a but
extended over a g r e a t e r time.
The Bama Ridge i s thought t o mark t h e s h o r e l i n e o f a formerly l a r g e r
Lake Chad during t h e period between about 12,000 and about 7000 years ago
(Connah 1981: 21-2). Between t h e Ridge and t h e abruptly r i s i n g Mandara
Mountains, which a r e mainly o f g r a n i t e , lies a p l a i n t h a t Bawden (1972:
Map 2) mapped a s a pediment of s c h i s t , gneiss and migmatite with some
Older Granite. The a r e a s e l e c t e d f o r t h e 1981 fieldwork was d e l i b e r a t e l y
chosen because t h i s apparent r e l a t i o n s h i p o f mountains, pediment and o l d
s h o r e l i n e seemed t o o f f e r a p a r t i c u l a r l y good chance o f t e s t i n g t h e
hypothesis concerning t h e p r e h i s t o r y o f t h e Lake Chad region p r i o r t o
3000 years ago. Figure 1 shows t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f t h e 1981 survey a r e a
t o t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f s i t e s known p r i o r t o t h i s new work. A s shown i n
Figure 2, however, t h e 1981 work produced some s u r p r i s e s concerning t h e
environment o f t h e a r e a . I t was found t h a t south o f t h e Bama Ridge, which
c o n s i s t s of coarse sands and i s flanked on each s i d e by sandy p l a i n s , l i e s
an extensive a r e a o f f i r k i comparable with t h e archaeologically known a r e a s
t o t h e north-east (Figure 1 ) . As t h e contours i n Figure 2 show, t h e r e i s
a s l i g h t f a l l i n t h e l e v e l of t h e a r e a , from south t o n o r t h , a f a l l o f
about 150-200 f e e t (46-61 metres) over a d i s t a n c e o f about 20 kilometres.
Nevertheless, t h e a r e a i s s u b s t a n t i a l l y one o f f i r k i c l a y p l a i n s , although
with l o c a l sand admixture and with r a t h e r more Acacia scrub than i s found
on t h e more open f i r k i p l a i n s f u r t h e r t o t h e n o r t h - e a s t , where t h e
majority o f t h e Borno settlement mounds previously known a r e s i t u a t e d .
I n s h o r t , although we a r e not geomorphologists, we would suggest t h a t
Bawden's map i s i n c o r r e c t i n i t s d e t a i l e d r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , i f not i n i t s
b a s i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . The expected pediment appears t o be l a r g e l y masked
by l a c u s t r i n e o r lagoonal deposits formed only during t h e l a s t 5000 t o
7000 years and a v a i l a b l e f o r human settlement only during t h e l a s t 3000
years (Connah 1981: 22).
Thus, i n s t e a d o f f i n d i n g a stony pediment on which l a y e a r l y s i t e s
with stone i n d u s t r i e s , we found a s t o n e l e s s f i r k i p l a i n with settlement
mounds (some o f them very large) comparable i n type and d a t e with those
f u r t h e r north-east o f which Daima i s t h e b e s t known. This i n i t s e l f i s
an important discovery because it had n o t been appreciated previously j u s t
how f a r south mounds o f t h i s type were located. A s Figure 3 shows, we now
know of mounds of Daima type s i t u a t e d on t h e p l a i n s a t t h e very f o o t o f t h e
Mandara Mountains (B118, B119, B123). One of t h e s e , B119, known l o c a l l y
a s Gagava Nawayanda Amthe, was t e s t excavated over a period o f two and a
h a l f days. The s e c t i o n through t h e occupation deposits shown i n Figure 4
confirms t h e s i m i l a r i t y of t h e mound t o o t h e r f i r k i type settlement
mounds such a s Daima. Wood charcoal s c a t t e r e d throughout S p i t 4 has given
a radiocarbon d a t e o f 1110 + 70 BP (Beta 3510) and wood charcoal s c a t t e r e d
throughout S p i t 2 has given a radiocarbon d a t e o f 1240 +- 80 Bp (Beta-3917).
I n s p i t e o f t h e apparent inversion of t h e s e d a t e s , they l i e within one
standard e r r o r of one another and a t - t e s t ( c r i t i c a l value of t a t t.05)
i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e r e i s no significant d i f f e r e n c e between t h e two d a t e s

*B 107

Firki

Firk~

Figure 3 :

Archaeological s i t e s discovered during t h e 1981 survey.

Collection P o i n t s and t h e more s i g n i f i c a n t of o t h e r l o c a l i t i e s
examined a r e a l s o shown, a s a r e modern s e t t l e m e n t s and roads.
Basis of map a s Figure 2 . I t proved impossible t o p e n e t r a t e
t h e a r e a immediately t o t h e west and south o f Zonga.

SPIT
1

Figure 4 : E a s t s e c t i o n o f t e s t excavation a t Gagava Nawayanda Amthe (B119)

S t r a t i g r a p h y a s follows: 1: Brown/grey sand and g r a v e l , with s h e r d s
( c u l t i v a t e d s o i l ) . 2: Grey sand and g r a v e l , w i t h sherds. 3: Brown/
grey sand and g r a v e l , fewer s h e r d s . 4: P a l e grey l e n s e s . 5: Black/
brown e a r t h , flecked with charcoal. 6: Brown/grey sand and g r a v e l ,
flecked with c h a r c o a l , some f i n e banding. 7: P a l e grey sand and f i n e
g r a v e l , f l e c k e d with c h a r c o a l , some f i n e banding. 8: Brown/grey sand
and g r a v e l , f l e c k e d with c h a r c o a l , sherds and bones; jumbled m a t e r i a l .
9: Brown sand and g r a v e l , f l e c k e d with charcoal. 10: Black/brown
e a r t h , flecked with charcoal and sherds. 11: P a l e grey ashy sand and
f i n e g r a v e l . 12: Light brown sandy f i n e g r a v e l , probably merging i n t o
n a t u r a l below l i m i t s o f excavation.

(Thomas 1979: 206-8). The b e s t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e s e d a t e s i s t h a t they

i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e d e p o s i t s of S p i t s 2-4 i n c l u s i v e were probably forming
during t h e second h a l f of t h e 1st millennium AD. No sample m a t e r i a l
s u i t a b l e f o r radiocarbon d a t i n g was a v i l a b l e from t h e lowest p a r t s o f t h e
d e p o s i t s excavated. Excavation was discontinued a t a depth o f 3.50 metres
and t h e deposits beneath sounded with a trowel t o 3.70 metres but i n t h e
time a v a i l a b l e it was not p o s s i b l e t o confirm whether t h e n a t u r a l d e p o s i t s
beneath t h e mound had been reached. I t seems probable, however, t h a t t h e
mound i s about 4.0 metres high.
A cursory a n a l y s i s of t h e decoration and form o f t h e p o t t e r y excavated
from Gagava Nawayanda Amthe suggests a time-span somewhere within t h e Daima
sequence, although t h e r e a r e some d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e p o t t e r y t h a t may
r e p r e s e n t e i t h e r regional v a r i a t i o n i n s t y l e o r d i f f e r e n c e o f time. The
excavated c u t t i n g , which was put i n t o t h e highest p a r t o f t h e mound,
produced no o b j e c t s of metal nor any metal s l a g , although t h r e e fragments
of what may have been c r u c i b l e s were recovered. On t h e o t h e r hand, although
p i e c e s o f s t o n e were moderately common i n t h e d e p o s i t s , p a r t i c u l a r l y q u a r t z
and g r a n i t e , t h e r e were v i r t u a l l y none t h a t showed c l e a r evidence o f a
flaked stone industry. Nevertheless, t h e butt-end o f a s t o n e axe was
found i n a disturbance h o l e i n t h e s u r f a c e o f t h e mound, although t h e
fragment showed s i g n s o f l a t e r reuse. An economy comparable with t h a t of
Daima was suggested by t h e presence of grindstone fragments and grinder/
pounders within t h e d e p o s i t s and by t h e presence o f animal bone fragments
throughout t h e deposits, amongst which were i d e n t i f i e d (from S p i t s 1-4
i n c l u s i v e ) 7 cow t e e t h and 1 3 t e e t h o f sheep o r goat. However, t h e r e were
some marked d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e m a t e r i a l c u l t u r e o f t h i s s i t e compared with
t h a t o f Daima.

The o v e r a l l impression gained from t h e t e s t excavation a t Gagava

Nawayanda Amthe, and from t h e comparable s u r f a c e c o l l e c t i o n s from o t h e r f i r k i
type mounds discovered i n t h e 1981 survey, i s t h a t t h e s e s e t t l e m e n t mounds
belonged t o mixed farmers who were e x p l o i t i n g t h i s a r e a within t h e l a s t
3000 years.
During t h e 1981 fieldwork we examined a t o t a l o f 56 l o c a l i t i e s , made
surface c o l l e c t i o n s a t 42 o f them ( r e f e r r e d t o a s 'Collection Points' i n
Figure 3) and accepted 27 o f t h e s e 42 a s being o f s u f f i c i e n t s i g n i f i c a n c e
t o be l i s t e d a s d i s t i n c t archaeological s i t e s . These sites were a l l o c a t e d
t h e numbers B97 t o B123, continuing t h e Borno s i t e numbers used previously
(Connah 1981: 47) and a r e shown accordingly i n Figure 3 . Of t h e s e 27 s i t e s ,
21 a r e f i r k i type settlement mounds comparable with Gagava Nawayanda Amthe.
Apart from t h e s e mounds, which occur on t h e p l a i n s n o r t h of t h e Bama Ridge
a s well as t o t h e south, t h e r e a r e s i x o t h e r s i t e s of s i g n i f i c a n c e . Two
o f them a r e f l a t s i t e s . O f t h e s e , B97 comprises an extensive s c a t t e r o f
sherds and o t h e r c u l t u r a l m a t e r i a l a t t h e foot o f t h e Mandara Mountains
and i s probably of 2nd millennium AD d a t e . B114, however, i s p o s s i b l y o f
a s l i g h t l y e a r l i e r d a t e and i s t h e only d e f i n i t e s i t e l o c a t e d on top o f
t h e Bama Ridge proper. I t c o n s i s t s of a t h i n s c a t t e r of sherds i n d i s t u r b e d
e a r t h from a group o f ground-squirrel holes. Another s i t e (B122) i s a
quarry s i t e i n g r a n i t e on t h e northern s i d e o f Kirawa Mountain, t h a t was
probably used f o r producing grindstones a t some time i n t h e l a s t 3000 years.
Finally, t h e r e a r e t h r e e p o t e n t i a l l y e a r l y s i t e s . Two of t h e s e (B115 and
B116) a r e rock s h e l t e r s i n g r a n i t e a t Guduf Bubaya-Gawa, n e a r l y 3000 f e e t

(900 metres) up t h e Mandara Mountains, and both of t h e s e a r e s t r o n g l y

a s s o c i a t e d i n t h e l o c a l t r a d i t i o n s w i t h BUM, a legendary h e r o - f i g u r e who
introduced iron-working i n t o t h e Mountains. Both o f t h e s e rock s h e l t e r s
c o n t a i n d e p o s i t s and t h e s u r f a c e of t h o s e d e p o s i t s i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e
s h e l t e r s have indeed been used f o r iron-working. Although it i s p o s s i b l e
t h a t p r e - i r o n d e p o s i t s e i t h e r never e x i s t e d o r have been subsequently
d i s t u r b e d , excavation a t t h e s e s i t e s might a t l e a s t g i v e an e a r l y d a t e
f o r iron-working i n t h e Mountains. C e r t a i n l y , t h e e x i s t e n c e of t h e s e
rock s h e l t e r s with f l o o r d e p o s i t s s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e Mountains should be
c a r e f u l l y searched f o r more such s i t e s .
The remaining s i t e , o f t h e 27 which were recognized d u r i n g t h e 1981
survey, seems t o be t h e o n l y d e f i n i t e example o f what we were r e a l l y
looking f o r . B117 c o n s i s t s of a c o n c e n t r a t i o n of q u a r t z a r t e f a c t s on
t h e s u r f a c e o f a f l a t c u l t i v a t e d f i e l d . Surface c o l l e c t i o n a t t h i s s i t e
produced 25 primary f l a k e s ; 2 primary f l a k e s with secondary working;
2 c o r e s ; 6 p i e c e s o f f l a k i n g waste; 1 p i e c e with p e r c u s s i o n wear. A l l
except one item (of chalcedony) a r e o f white q u a r t z and t h e y a r e mostly
f r e s h , not r o l l e d . From CP2, which f o r p r a c t i c a l purposes can be cons i d e r e d a s p a r t o f s i t e B117, came 1 c o r e and 1 p i e c e o f f l a k i n g waste.
S i t e B117 i s not t h e same a s s i t e B61 found by Robert Soper i n 1964
(Connah 1981: 80) but it i s s i m i l a r l y s i t u a t e d on an e r o s i o n s u r f a c e
n e a r t h e f o o t of t h e Mountains. A s w i l l be seen from Figure 3 , c o l l e c t i o n s
along i n c i s e d stream and r i v e r beds a t CP29, CP30/CP31, CP32/CP33 and
CP34 f a i l e d t o r e v e a l any o t h e r c e r t a i n s i t e s with s t o n e i n d u s t r i e s ,
although s c a t t e r e d s t o n e a r t e f a c t s were recovered from most o f t h e s e p l a c e s .
Nevertheless, t h e s e searches covered p a r t s o f only f o u r watercourses and
between Gwoza on t h e west o f t h e Mountains and a p o i n t e a s t o f i t on t h e
e a s t e r n s i d e of t h e Mountains t h e r e a r e a t l e a s t 25 such watercourses
shown on t h e a p p r o p r i a t e 1:50,000 survey maps.
I n conclusion, t h e hypothesis concerning human s e t t l e m e n t i n t h i s
p a r t o f Nigeria p r i o r t o 3000 y e a r s ago i s n e i t h e r supported nor i n v a l i d a t e d by t h e newly discovered s i t e s although it r e c e i v e s some support
from t h e 3117 s t o n e i n d u s t r y s i t e . The means of t e s t i n g t h a t h y p o t h e s i s
has, however, been considerably narrowed. There can be l i t t l e o r no
e x p e c t a t i o n o f s i t e s e a r l i e r than 3000 BP on t h e f i r k i t h a t s t r e t c h e s
from t h e Bama Ridge almost t o t h e base o f t h e Mandara Mountains. The
s e a r c h f o r e a r l i e r s i t e s , when it i s resumed, must be concentrated more
c l o s e l y : 1) On t h e Bama Ridge proper. 2) On t h e d e p o s i t s immediately
a d j a c e n t t o t h e base of t h e Mandara Mountains. 3) On p o t e n t i a l rock
s h e l t e r s amongst g r a n i t e boulders on t h e Mountains themselves. Our
impression o f t h e Bama Ridge i s t h a t t h e r e could be a lengthy s e a r c h
b e f o r e i t y i e l d s anything. A s an o l d Lake Chad s h o r e l i n e t h e r e must
s u r e l y have been f i s h i n g - h u n t i n g - g a t h e r i n g s e t t l e m e n t s along it a t an
e a r l y d a t e but t h e problem i s how t o f i n d them, f o r no exposures have y e t
been found on t h e Ridge. Also, some o f t h e most l i k e l y c u l t u r a l evidence
i n t h i s s t o n e l e s s a r e a would probably break down q u i c k l y , once eroded
onto t h e s u r f a c e , even i f it had survived p r e v i o u s l y i n t h e d e p o s i t s .
Sand from B114 gave a pH r e a d i n g of 5.54 when t e s t e d l a t e r i n Z a r i a , s o
t h a t it i s p o s s i b l e t h a t bone and s h e l l , f o r i n s t a n c e , may not have
survived i n t h e Bama Ridge d e p o s i t s . I n our opinion, it would be b e t t e r
t o c o n c e n t r a t e fieldwork e f f o r t on t h e Mandara Mountains and on t h e
d e p o s i t s a t t h e i r base.

We have t o acknowledge t h e h e l p o f t h e Centre f o r

Acknowledgements.
Nigerian Cultural S t u d i e s , Ahmadu Bello University, Z a r i a ; t h e University
o f New England, Armidale, Australia; t h e Borno S t a t e Government; t h e
Bama Local Government; t h e Gwoza Local Government; and t h e Borno S t a t e
A r t s Council. We s p e c i f i c a l l y acknowledge t h e personal h e l p given b y
Alhaji Abba Tor, Commissioner f o r Home A f f a i r s , Information and Culture i n
t h e Borno S t a t e Government; Alhaji Bukar Magu, Permanent S e c r e t a r y f o r
Home A f f a i r s , Information and Culture i n t h e Borno S t a t e Government;
M r . M.D. Lawan, Cultural Officer, Ministry o f Home A f f a i r s , Information and
Culture i n t h e Borno S t a t e Government; A l i Kellu Biu, Acting Deputy
Director o f t h e Borno S t a t e Arts Council; and D r . Salad Abubakr, formerly
Head of t h e Department of History, University of Maiduguri. The whole
fieldwork p r o j e c t was made possible by t h e i n t e r e s t o f D r . Mahdi Adamu,
formerly Director o f t h e Centre f o r Nigerian Cultural S t u d i e s a t Ahmadu
Bello University and now Professor and Head o f t h e Department o f H i s t o r y i n
t h a t University. We would a l s o p a r t i c u l a r l y l i k e t o acknowledge h e l p i n t h e
f i e l d from Alamin Bello, headmaster a t Bama, and Ishaka Zadva, headmaster
a t Pulka, who a c t e d a s guides and i n t e r p r e t e r s during d i f f e r e n t p a r t s of t h e
survey, which covered an a r e a where a t l e a s t 5 d i f f e r e n t languages were
spoken. F i n a l l y , we a r e endebted t o Ahmadu Adamu, who drove t h e v e h i c l e and
kept us a l i v e ; Mathias Opuana, who d i d s o much of t h e hard work on t h e
s i t e s and on t h e i r m a t e r i a l ; Nan and Bob Wedderburn, whose h o s p i t a b l e
Maiduguri house we were s o g r a t e f u l t o s e e on a number of occasions; and
Douglas Hobbs and Wendy Chappell of t h e Department of P r e h i s t o r y and Archaeology,
University of New England, who, r e s p e c t i v e l y , drew Figures 2 and 3 and
typed t h i s paper.
References
Bawden, M.G.
Connah, G.
Thomas, D.H.

1972.
Geomorphology. I n The land resources of North East
Nigeria, ed. P. Tuley, vol. 1, 60-70 E Map 2. Surbiton.
1981.
1979.

Three thousand years i n Africa.

Archaeology. New York.

Cambridge.

A f r i c a n Archaeology a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a , Los Angeles

M e r r i c k Posnansky, Professor o f H i s t o r y and Anthropology a t UCLA has sent
t h e f o l l o w i n g l i s t o f graduate students who a r e p r e s e n t l y undertaking research
f o r higher degrees on t o p i c s o f archaeological i n t e r e s t i n the departments
of Anthropology , A r t , H i s t o r y and the Archaeol ogy Program
Emmanuel K. Agorsah (Archaeology Program): an ethnoarchaeological study o f
a Nchumuru v i l l a g e i n t h e V o l t a Region o f Ghana
Marla Berns ( A r t ) : a study o f ceramic h i s t o r y and ceramic d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n
i n the Gongola Basin, N i g e r i a
Barbara Blackmun ( A r t ) : i s studying the f i g u r a t e d i v o r y t u s k s from Benin,
Nigeria
P h i l i p L. F. de Barros (Anthropology) : i r o n working and s i t e - s e t t l e m e n t
r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n t h e Bassar area o f Togo
Christopher de Corse (Archaeology Program): the l a t e Stone Age and t h e ethnoethnoarchaeology o f hunters i n S i e r r a Leone
Timothy Garrard ( H i s t o r y ) : brass c a s t i n g among the Fra Fra i n n o r t h e r n Ghana
Candice Goucher (Hi s t o r y ) : h i s t o r i c a l process i n West A f r i c a n i r o n technology :
an e c o l o g i c a l model, working mainly i n Ghana and Togo
Char1 es McNutt (Archaeology Program) : the 1a t e r Stone Age and a g r i c u l t u r a l
t r a n s i t i o n i n the western Sahel and d e s e r t i n Senegal
Frances Muir (Archaeology Program) : 1a t e r Pleistocene hominids
Henry Mutoro (Archaeology Program) : re1 a t ionships between urban and r u r a l
communities on the Kenya coast -- an ethnoarchaeological approach
Pamela W i l loughby (Anthropology) : spheroids and b a t t e r e d stones i n t h e E a r l y
and Middle Stone Age
I n a d d i t i o n , the f o l l o w i n g two graduate students from A f r i c a a r e undertaking
research w i t h f e l l o w s h i p s from the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation:
Dovi Kuevi, Togo
Ahmed Dualeh Jama,

Somalia

SOMALIA
Archaeological survey in Southern Somalia
Margherita Mussi, Istituto di Paletnologia, Via Palestro 63, 00185 Roma
In March 1982, a preliminary archaeological survey was carried
out in Southern Somalia by the Istituto di Paletnologia of Rome
University. The survey was sponsored by the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and by the Somali Academy of Sciences and Arts, with
the backing of the Somali Ministry of Higher Education and Culture.
Most of the research was done in the middle Juba Valley, where
large dams are planned for the next future, and where extensive
areas will be flooded. Previous archaeological investigations in
the area were restricted to a few surface collections.
In this first stage, the valley was examined in two places:
near Luuq and north of Baardheere. In both areas palaeolithic
implements were frequently found on the surface. They can be referred
to the M.S.A. and to the L.S.A.
Two different types of presumed funerary monuments were also
noticed: simple earth mounds covered with stones and dry stone
mounds with a central depression, possibly related to a collapsed
timber structure. The first type of monument was found both near
Luuq and near Baardheere, the second near Baardheere. The latter
type is also known in Northern Somalia, near Hargeisa, Sheikh, Erigavo,
Mait (S. Jonsson pers. comm.). Excavating them in different areas,
it is hoped to throw some light on the later prehistoric populations
of the Horn, and possibly on the origin of the Somali people.
More investigations are planned within the year in the Bur
region, particularly around Dinsor and Bur Hakaba, and at Baidoa.

SOUTH AFRICA
Pastoralist Archaeology in the Cape Province
Andrew B. Smith, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Cape Town
A long-term project on prehistoric pastoralism in the Cape has
been expanded to include an ethno-archaeological study of surviving
Nama-speaking herders along the Orange River. Initial contact was made
with these fast-disappearing peoples on the edge of the Ri,chtersveld in
November, 1981, and several abandoned camps were mapped. In collaboration with a Social Anthropologist and a Botanist it is hoped to gain
information on seasonal land-use of the riparian vegetation, as well
as other ethno-botanical data.
An excavation of an early pastoralist camp in a known historical
area is scheduled for later in the year to try to work out a methodology for recognising pastoralist sites in the Cape. The intriguing
question of when cattle were first introduced to the Khoi of the Cape
is still open. It is hoped this excavation will offer some clues.

SUDAN
Butana Archaeological Project: 1981 Field Season
A. Marks, SMU, Abbas M. Ali, U. of Khartoum, T.R. Hays, NTSU,
Yousef Elamin, U. of Khartoum
The first field season of the Butana Archaeological Project took
place from December 21, 1981 through February 21, 1982. The project
is a cooperative endeavour between the Department of Archaeology,
University of Khartoum (Drs. Abbas Mohammed Ali and Yousef Elamin),
the Institute of Applied Sciences, North Texas State University
(Dr. T.R. Hays), and the Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist
University (Dr. Anthony Marks).
Funding for the project was supplied
mainly through a two year National Science Foundation grant to SMU
but additional, valuable support was supplied by the University of
Khartoum. The license for field work was given to Dr. T.R. Hays by
the Sudan Antiquities Service. All the co-principal investigators
participated in the field work, as did two post-graduates from the
University of Khartoum and two graduate students from SMU. In addition,
NTSU supplied a laboratory director.
The overall goal of the Butana Archaeological Project is to
elucidate the role played through time, by the huge grasslands of the
Butana, either as a barrier to or as a conduit for culture contact
between the Nile Valley and the trans-Atbara region of the eastern
sahel. This is a long term project; the specific goals of the first
two seasons are systematically to locate sites on both the eastern
and western fringes of the Butana and to acquire as complete a temporal
sequence for each area as possible. In addition, plans were made to
acquire sufficiently large artifactual samples to permit an initial
description of each major archaeological manifestation in each area
and to acquire sufficient datable materials so that each could be placed
firmly into an absolute sequence.
To a large extent, these goals are well on their way to being fulfilled; the first field season was extremely successful in spite of the
normal problems involved in any first field season of an international
project. Work on the western fringe of the Butana centered around
the site of Shaqadud, some 50 km east of the Nile at Wad Ben Naga. The
site, consisting of a huge midden and a cave both within the same small
box canyon, was discovered and briefly published by Dr. Hans Otto some
20 years ago but no serious work had been carried out. Surface scatter
indicated a wide range of pre-Meroitic occupation of both areas. Test
excavations were conducted in both the midden and the cave with spectacular results.

The midden contains up to 2.5 m of stratified cultural deposits. The

upper 40 cm contain a post-Shaheinab Neolithic. From about 40 cm to 7 0
cm there appears to be a Shaheinab-like occupation lacking the typical
adzes and gouges of that site. Below about 70 cm there is a range of Early
Khartoum-like material, although true solid wavy-line pottery is rare. On
the other hand, dotted wavy line pottery is quite common. In addition,
the whole midden produced a moderate amount of fauna and much carbonized
macrofloral material. Samples are still too small to define fully the
various diachronic changes and even the range of cultural material at any
given level but excavations next season will remedy this problem. Three
radiocarbon dates will shortly become available for the midden, and, by
the end of next season, reasonable charcoal samples should be available
for every 5 cm.
Excavations in the cave produced the greatest surprise. Dr. Otto had
put a small cut there and his results suggested a depth of no more than
ca. 60 cm. Our trench hit bedrock at about 3 . 5 m. The total stratigraphic
sequence contained cultural materials, including stone artifacts, pottery,
faunal remains, and floral samples. The whole section was full of charcoal
and numerous dates are expected shortly. The pottery, however, indicates
that the sequence, at least the top 3 my contains post-Shaheinab materials.
It is possible, therefore, that the cave will provide a continuous cultural
sequence from just pre-Meroitic back in time to, perhaps, an A-Group
type assemblage in the bottom half meter. If so, combined with the midden,
we will have obtained an almost complete stratigraphic sequence from the
very early ceramic occupation almost to Meroitic. The one weak point may
well be the lowest levels of the cave which were poor in cultural material
and which may equate with the just post-Shaheinab, Kadada and A-Group-like
materials along the central Nile.
This possible gap at Shaqadud is filled, perhaps, by a nearby site,
S17, which is rich in pottery, but lacks organic materials. It is one of
the 20 other sites located in the area just around and north of Shaqadud.
These sites include both small, low density occurrences of possibly late
(but still pre-Meroitic) occupations and large in situ open sites of
Neolithic and even earlier type. All, however, contain ceramics. Not a
single pre-ceramic site was located. In fact, not a single artifact is
attributable to any pre-ceramic period.
Work in the Atbara area centered on both sides of the Atbara River
just north of the town of Khasm el Girba. In a relatively brief period,
a total of 59 sites were recorded in detail, including a number discovered
by the pioneering survey carried out in 1966. This survey was of only
limited value and considerable effort was expended in working out its
anomalies. The earliest occupation appears to be early Acheulean and is
associated with fluvial deposits. Localities are present in numbers but
true sites appear rare, although some were originally reported.
There is no evidence for MSA occupation. It now appears that this is
due to an absence of appropriate sediments along the Atbara. Aside from
the Acheulean, the oldest occupation appears to be, perhaps, early Holocene.
Five sites located are characterized by a fine blade technology, thick
crescent-like tools, smallendscrapers,and truncated blades of various
types. These sites are associated with swamp deposits and are full of
the bones of both large and small animals, including much fish. Radiocarbon samples were obtained and at least one date is forthcoming. It

is unlikely to be very early since at least one of these sites has

in situ grinding stones. A few other pre-ceramic sites were located
(all on the west side of the Atbara, as are those described above).
Tools are rare and all show a poor flake technology, quite distinct
from the blade technology of the first group.
The earliest ceramic-bearing sites are close to the Atbara and
contain ceramics not identical but similar to Early Khartoum; that is,
with wavy-line or dotted wavy line impressed decoration and unburnished.
All the evidence indicates that decoration only occurs as thick bands
around the upper portion of the vessels. This pottery is associated
with another form with multiple rows of knobs and no other decoration.
This latter type is known from the northern Gash Delta through the
work of R. Fattovich. Other artifacts include grinding stones, a few
elongated lunates and, otherwise, very few well-made tools. Faunal
material is abundant and includes much fish, shell, pig, and a number
of small mammals. While no macro-botanical material was found, good
charcoal samples were taken.
In spite of the pioneering survey and two radiocarbon dates then
obtained, it is only intuition which permits ordering of the other
sites. It now seems as if the trans-Atbara (and the few 100 m of the
west bank) contains a very long lasting cultural tradition characterized by the presence of wiped pottery in great numbers, very large
sites (up to 150,000 sq. m in area), and a rich chipped stone industry.
The difficulty lies in the decorated pottery where no two sites so far
tested appear to contain the same assemblage. The earliest, perhaps,
contains pottery similar to Early Khartoum (of the type noted above)
and is located some 15 km into the steppe east of the Atbara. The
latest, perhaps, is adjacent to the Atbara, is about 100,000 sq. m in
area and is characterized by decorated pottery not unlike that from the
upper portion of the cave at Shaqadud - incised straight lines, herring
bone, fingernail punctate, etc. In between, there are numerous other
combinations and only more extensive excavations will resolve the
temporal sequence.
There appear, as well, to be other groups of sites. One, very
nGmerous, is characterized by a fiber tempered reddish slip ware
associated with a poor stone industry. It may well be late but is
clearly prehistoric. On the west side of the Atbara there are some
very large sites (100,000 to 200,000 sq. m) which have very shallow
deposits but good preservation of pottery and even bone. It is likely
that these are truly late but, since so little is know of Atbara culture
history, all need careful study.
It is still too soon to propose even preliminary organization of
the trans-Atbara and Atbara sites. However, it is already clear that
the presence of very large sites in considerable number is not related
to the Atbara River per se, since they extend eastward all the way to
Kassala and, probably, quite far beyond onto the Eritrean steppe. The
work of R. Fattovich, combined with ours, indicates the presence of a
huge culture area unrelated to the Nile and, perhaps, one which was
considerably more developed than contemporaneous occupations along the
central Nile. Since dating is as yet lacking, nothing more definite
may be said. However, we encountered no obvious Meroitic materials
either along the Atbara or to the east. It is obvious that considerably

more work is needed in the area, including large transect surveys and large
scale excavations (the larger sites appear to be culturally stratified but
within the same tradition). Another season should define the problems more
clearly but it will take years of work to elucidate the nature and development of this new tradition.

B.I.E.A. excavations at Soba, Winter 1981-2

Charles Daniels
The capital of the Christian Nubian kingdom of Alwa is taken by most
people to lie at Soba, some 15 miles south of Khartoum on the east bank
of the Blue Nile. An area of nearly 700 acres is now owned by the Sudanese
National Museum/Antiquities Service, but is gradually being encroached upon
by houses and cultivation and damaged by vehicles. Apart from the excavation of two mounds by Professor and Mrs. Shinnie in the early 1950's no
systematic work has been carried out on the site.
From late December 1981 till the end of February 1982 the British
Institute in Eastern Africa had an expedition in the field carrying out
the first season of what it is hoped will be a short campaign of work
attempting to define the extent of the remains and produce new information
about their date. A full survey of the area, much changed over the last
30 years, is also being carried out. This season's work consisted of trial
trenching to locate the extent of buildings and/or occupation and a start
to the detailed physical survey.
The results, to date, show that a broad band of over 300 acres in
extent, stretching from the Church across to Mound B and almost to the
northern limit of the site, had at some time or other contained buildings.
While many of these were likely to have been of a late date, considerable
amounts of early pottery were found in the vicinity of the Church, to the
north and north-west of Mound band at a large mound in the north-western
corner of the site: in total, probably an area of c. 100 acres. In the
opinion of Dr. Stefan Jakobielski (who visited ~ o b a y nhis way to the
Polishexcavations at Dongola) some of this pottery was of the seventh century in date, and some possibly earlier. It is hoped to take the dating
further as the result of additional work.
Most of the structures had been mud-brick buildings, akin to those
found in Mounds A and B by Shinnie. Several mounds, however, contained
large amounts of red-brick debris. On investigation,in 9 cases either
the remains of considerable red-brick foundations were uncovered, or
robber trenches from which sizeable walls had been removed. On this basis
27 mounds and red-brick spreads were interpreted as the robbed remains of
buildings, some of which had been of considerable size (40 x 75 m in one
case). Hard external mortar facings were found together with softer interior plaster fragments, some of which had been painted.
The remains of at least a dozen skeletons were found. While some
were fragmentary or scattered at least half were buried in deep graves,
usually oriented westleast and dug through the debris of destroyed or
demolished buildings, both mud-brick. These were left in situ.

KEY (Soba 1982)

Area of mud-brick buildings/structures found by

excavation.
Mostly later date buildings.

\\

Area of early pottery types (as understood to

date), found by excavation and surface sherding.

Gravel mounds, usually the remains of mud-brick

-buildings.

@Qll

Red brick mounds or spreads which seem most likely

to have been buildings.

Shinnie excavations

Church mound

)(-c )C

Effective limit of study (little work carried out

S. and E. of this line).

Antiquities Service boundary posts outlining the

protected area of the site.

Thanks are due to many people, especially Mr. and Mrs. Clive
Smith, Mr. C. Haywood, the Director General of Antiquities and his
staff, Sayed Hassan el Kurdi, Sayed Medawi Ahmed Mohamet Hamit,
the Head of the Department of Surveying, University of Khartoum and
last, but by no means least, Sayed Reda el Din Mukhtar,who worked
with the expedition during the six weeks of actual excavation.

Dongola Reach Survey

N.B. Millet, Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum's Dongola Reach Survey, in the Northern
Province of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan, was regrettably
again frustrated by shortages, particularly of petrol, in that
country. Despite the utmost in cooperation from the Sudanese
Antiquities Department, it was not possible to organise the requisite
supplies in time, and the mission had to be aborted, as it was also
in 1980.

Helmut Ziegert writes that:

A first paper on preliminary results of his work at Abu Hugar
and Singa (Blue Nile province), entitled 'Abu Hugar palaeolithic
site', was given at the Xth International Congress on Pre- and Prohistory (Mexico City, Oct. 1981).
Publications are in preparation on fieldwork carried out Jebel
Abu Tartur in 1977 and in Wadi Quena in 1979. Surveys and excavations
of palaeolithic sites in the Eastern Sahara (Southern Egypt) and in
Darfur province (Sudan) are planned for 1982.
Dr. Ziegert's new address is:
Prof. Dr. H. Ziegert
universit?it Hamburg
Archaologisches Institut
Arbeitsbereich I
Urgeschichte des Menschen und
Vor- und ~rGh~eschichte
Afrikas
Johnsallee 35
D-2000 Hamburg 13
Federal Republic of Germany

EXCAVATIONS BY THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MISSION OF

THE UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA TO THE SUDAN
Season 1981

1982

For several years, the Archaeological Mission of the

University of Geneva to the Sudan has continued its,
work in the ancient town of Kerma. Around the
western deffufa, which should now be considered as a
temple, have appeared the remains of a group of
buildings, indicating the presence of several places
of worship and their annexes, This season, the
excavation of a series of large rooms constructed
using baked bricks has confirmed to us the importance
of the religious centre. The existence of these
constructions was already known from the work of
G.-A. Reisner, who uncovered the structures between
1913 and 1916, but their function was not established
and the chronology of the buildings remained uncertain.
In the sector situated to the south-west of the
deffufa, we have discovered one of the principal doors
of the quarter reserved for the priests. There was an
enclosure, formed by the walls of annexes or by a
surrounding wall, from which one entered a hall of
great dimensions. This was an entrance hall, giving
access to various groups of buildings, and also to
the deffufa. A close examination has shown that the
buildings constructed using baked bricks are more
ancient than we previously thought, since at least
three phases of construction can be detected. The
bricks used for the first stage of these constructions
are very regularly baked, and it seems that this was
not accidental - that a novel technique for the period
was used. A chapel has also been found, and is
reasonably well preserved. We have uncovered its
principal chamber, which contains the stone foundations
of three supporting columns. The floor, made from
dried bricks, was covered with a layer of dried mud,
and then painted with red ochre. A long corridor was
present on the northern side of the chamber, whereas
an entrance hall and an annexe were in front of its
southern entrance. Other religious buildings were
later built on the same site, and we have noted that
the baked bricks were often re-used, and that, for
the last of the buildings, the walls were faced and
filled with small and very irregular fragments of
bricks.

This religious group of buildings can be placed

between 1750 and 1500 BC, whereas the constructions
discovered a little to the south are no doubt part
of the first buildings of the town, erected several
centuries previously. Around a large depression,
some tens of post-holes have been located. They
form circular structures, which can be interpreted
as huts. A large abundance of potsherds, and the
extensive changes to the structures, indicate a
long period of occupation.
Our study of the most ancient tombs of the eastern
cemetery of Kerma has much progressed. It has been
possible, due to the exceptional state of preservation
of several tombs, to make some useful observations
concerning the anthropological characteristics of the
ancient Nubians. In general, the cemetery was
developed from the north towards the south, but
numerous exceptions can be made. Indeed, we have
noted that certain series of tombs are arranged around
what was certainly a more important burial. Later,
the evolution of the cemetery appears much more
complex; and is made more difficult to follow because
of the diversity of the funeral customs and the variety
of the archaeological material. The four diggings
carried out this season have shown us once again the
richness of the cultures of Kerma during the third
millenium BC.
Some tombs have been uncovered almost intact. In one,
a young bowman of 17 years was found, under a large
covering made from cattle hide. When we removed the
covering, the body appeared in a semi-contracted
p~sition,and wrapped in a cloth shroud. The hairstyle of the deceased, in the form of long curls
wrapped around the skull, is reminiscent of the
representation of the Nubians in Egyptian iconography.
A pendant of mother-of-pearl was found on the neck,
whilst several beads decorated the belt, which
supported a loin-cloth of soft leather. Two pairs of
sandals completed the clothing. In front of the body,
two bows were placed, together with some reed arrows,
which had been partially destroyed during a
superficial looting of the tomb. A bundle of ostrich
feathers was found at the extremity of one of the
bows, and might have been a decoration for this bow.
The presence of an upturned bowl behind the body
indicates without doubt a moment during the funeral
ceremony when a meal was shared with the deceased.
As in all the tombs excavated this year, the body had
been placed on a large blanket, underneath which
there was a large mat,

In another tomb, and near to the body, a red-haired

dog was found so well-preserved that we were able to
distinguish the noose, with its slip knot, which was
used to strangle the animal at the moment when its
master was placed in the tomb. The vertebrae of the
dog were crushed during this operation.

A more ancient tomb was remarkable for its superstructure of black stones, arranged in four concentric
circles. White pebbles completed the small tumulus,
around which pots had been upturned during the funeral
ceremony. At the bottom of a narrow shaft, and
underneath a skin, the deceased had been placed on
his back, with the legs folded. He wore two wooden
earrings and a necklace of fafence beads enhanced by
an alabaster pendant. Two wooden rings were worn on
the index finger. He was wrapped in leather clothing,
decorated in two places by a string of beads sewn onto
the leather. Near the feet of the body, a small sack
was found, containing two flint tools and a bone awl.
To the south of a large tumulus of Middle Kerma (about
1800 - 1750 BC), 500 cattle skulls have been discovered;
these gnimals were probably sacrificed during the
burial of an important person. The find has enabled
us to study the bones of the cattle of Kerma.
The Nubian culture of Kerma developed over a period
of about a millenium. The extensive findings made
on the site of Kerma during the two months of
excavations this year add to our reconstruction of
this culture; a reconstruction which little by little
is producing an unsuspected image of the vitality of
the Nubian civilisation.

Charles Bonnet

TANZANIA
Reconnaissance in coastal Tanzania
Neville Chittick, Director, British Institute in Eastern Africa
A reconnaissance survey was made by the Director, Neville Chittick,
of certain coastal areas of Tanzania not, it seems, previously examined
by any archaeologist. The most important of these was Mtambwe Kuu
(great, or old, Mtambwe) on the island of Pemba. The site lies on a
small peninsula with a central ridge, across the harbour from the town
of Wete. The vast quantities of potsherds are (where an identification
is possible) to be assigned to the eleventh to thirteenth centuries;
they include fragments of Northern Sung celadons of high quality. Only
two of the sherds (one being of Sasanian-Islamic ware) might be of the
tenth century, being of types found at Manda in strata of the period
before the appearance of sgraffiato wares; but they could be of the
early eleventh. There is a total lack of wares (e.g. black-on-yellow)
dating from after c.1300, until the site was reoccupied by the predecessors of the inhzbitants of the present little village around 1800.
The town should almost certainly be identified with the town called by
Yaqut MTNBY in his Geographical Dictionary, the date of which - it
was completed in 1224 AD - agrees very well with the finds. Mtanby
(as we may plausibly vocalize it) was, according to Yaqut, one of two
cities on Jazirat al-Khadra, the name of Pemba in Arabic. The other
was MKNBLU; as suggested long ago, the obvious identification for this
Mkanbalu is Mkumbuu, the town site on the tip of a peninsula north of
the bay of Chake Chake on the same island, and this town (or the name
at least) must surely be the same as Qanbalu which Mas'udi presents as
the main centre in eastern Africa in the early tenth century. However,
the lack of evidence of any occupation there before the thirteenth century made the identification doubtful. Mtambwe Kuu seemed the only
other possible site but the present finds do not support this. We
must regard it as most likely that Mkumbuu is the place. That extensive site, more overgrown and more eroded by the sea than Mtambwe, may
well conceal evidence of earlier occupation.
A further visit was paid to the site of Uuguja Ukuu on Zanzibar
Island. The local pottery there can now be identified as being of
around the tenth century (Manda Period I) confirming the early date
previously inferred and the ubiquity of that pottery. This site is
distinguished by having no later occupation.
The Zanzibar authorities were most helpful in facilitating this
work, and their assistance is gratefully acknowledged.

It is thought by many, including the author, that the most likely

site of the port of Rhapta, which figures in Greek records of the early
centuries AD,is in the Rufiji Delta (80s). There are a number of small

inhabited islands in this huge area of mangroves. In the course of a

reconnaissance by canoe, Salale, Kilwani, Saninga, Kiomboni and Simba
Uranga islands were examined, and also the peninsula of Nyamsati. No
remains of interest were found at these places, which comprise most of
the dry land in the northern part of the delta (the most promising part
from the point of view of accessibility from the ocean). Persistent
enquiries indicated that there was nothing in the way of potsherds or
structures on the one or two remaining inhabitable islands. Plentiful
evidence of massive erosion in some places, and build-up of mud-banks
in others, was obtained, and it remains possible that all traces of
Rhapta have been washed away or buried.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND THESES

The Editor has included only those publications which might
otherwise escape the notice of the readership.
Palaeoecology of Africa

Eds
Publ.

:
:

J.A. Coetzee & E.M. van Zinderen Bakker

A.A. Balkema, P.O. Box 1675, 3000 B.R. Rotterdam, Holland,
or A.A. Balkema, 99 Main Str. Salem NH03079, USA.

Volume 13 was issued at the end of 1981.

It contains 17 articles on:
-Palaeoclimatic reconstructions and interpretations of Africa for
the last 20,000 years,
-contributions on the following lakes: Turkana, Chad, Bosumtwi,
Besaka, Bogoria, Malawi and on deep drillin in African lakes,
-the Late Holocene of the S.W. Sahara, and
-contributions on Ethiopia, the Olorgesailie Formation, Amboseli,
Air, the Atlantic Sahara, a marine invasion of Senegal, palynology
of Nigeria and Senegal, and on body size and extinction.
The volume also contains book reviews and announcements, a long list
of new literature and an up-to-date address list of African Quaternarists.
290 pp. 1 colour plate.
Volume 14 will appear early in 1982.
Content:
-relict distribution patterns of aquatic animals in the Sahara as
evidence for Late Pleistocene climates.
-Glaciological history of Mt. Kenya,
-Holocene marine sea level at Gabon,
-Palynology of South Africa,
-Lake level changes in the Ziway-Shala basin,
-A Late Pleistocene wet phase in northern intertropical Africa,
-The Koobi Fora Formation, N. Kenya,
-Spatial management of Hominids at Olduwai,
-Palynology of Mt. Kenya.
200 pp.
Volume 15 will appear in the middle of 1982.
Content :
-25 papers presented at the 6th biennial conference of the South
African Society of Quaternary Research, held at Pretoria, 26-29 May
1981.
250 pp.
Price per volume ~fl,55/~ollars
US $27.50/12.00

MALEY, J. 1981. Etudes palynologiques dans le bassin du Tchad et

Palkoclimatologie de 1'Afrique nord-tropicale de 30000 ans 3
l'kpoque actuelle. Travaux et Documents de 1'ORSTOM,n0129,586 p.,
fig. et tabl. (Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique OutreMer, 70 Route d'Aulnay, 93140, France).
~ p r havoir gtudik les conditions actuelles de la sgdimentation
pollinique, l'auteur entreprend l'analyse pollinique de divers skdiments
du bassin du Tchad compris entre le dernier millgnaire et environ 30000
ans

Une vaste synthsse de donnkes ggologiques et pal6okcologiques de la

zone nord-tropicale africaine est ensuite effectuge (du Sknkgal au Nil et
du Sahra central 3 la zone tropicale humide). Un chapitre particulier
concerne l'evolution climatique au cours du dernier millknaire oG il est
fait largement usage des donnkes historiques.
Grsce 3 ces donnkes palkokcologiques et en se basant ktroitement sur
la climatologie dynamique actuelle, une reconstituion des m6canismes
climatiques est tentke.

THILMANS, G., C. DESCAMPS & B. KHAYAT, 1982. Protohistoire du Sgnggal,

Vol. 1, -Les sites mkgalithiques. Mkmoire IFAN, 91 (160pages, 105
figures).
The interdepartmental team of Pre-Protohistory and Physical Anthropology of IFAN (Dakar) has carried out, in the course of the last decade,
research and excavations at the various protohistoric sites in S6nkgal.
The results of these efforts are presented in a book entitled Protohistoire
du Skn6gal. This book consists of three volumes, the first of which,
assigned to megalithic monuments, has just been published. The second,
on the sites along the River S6n6gal is in print. The third book, still
in preparation, will focus on the shell mounds of the Saloum Delta.
A megalithic area of 33,000 h2in the center of ~6n6galstretches
from Kaolack to Tambacounda and encompasses approximately 2,000 sites.
This area ranks as one of the most important concentratiomof megalithic
sites in Africa. The IFAN team has excavated nine megalithic monuments
of the various known types, the ages of which range from 176 BC to 1520
AD (radiocarbon dates). Some contain only a small number of human remains,
whereas others may have as many as 59 individuals.
Particular attention has been devoted to the positions of the human
remains which have been established in spite of the difficulties resulting from the piling of bodies in a limited space. Ornaments, weapons,
funerary pottery have been uncovered. A historical account brings together the results of previous excavations.
Orders to be addressed to G. Thilmans, IFAN, B.P. 206, Dakar,(Senegal).
Unit Price: CFA 4000 (FF 80.00), including postage. Payment can be made
by check payable to BICIS, 2 Avenue Roume, Dakar, Account No. 9520.613920.
09 or by UNESCO coupons (bonds).

GREBENART, D. 1981. Vues ggn6rales sur les dgbuts de la mgtallurgie

du cuivre et du fer autour dlAgades (Rgpublique du Niger).
Commission XVI: Origine de la mgtallurgie, pp. 34-58. X Congrss
International des Sciences Prghistoriques et Protohistoriques,
Mexico (octobre, 1981).
GREBENART, D. 1981. Fabrication du cuivre pendant le second millgnaire
avant J.-C. autour dlAgades (Niger). ~iffgrentstypes de
fourneaux. Commission XVI: Origine de la mgtallurgie, pp. 59-94.
X Cong. I.S.P.P., Mexico (octobre, 1981).

PEISACH. M.. L. JACOBSON. G.J. BOULLE, D. GIHWALA & L.G. UNDERHILL,

1982. Multivariate analysis of trace elements determined in
archaeological materials and its use for characterization.
Journal of Radioanalytical Chemistry 69: in press.
et. al. , 1982. PIXE analysis of archaeological material
PEISACH. M. -and the use of multivariate analysis for characterization.
Nuclear Instruments and Methods. 193: in press.
JACOBSON, L. & M. PEISACH, 1982. Trade and treks tracked by traces.
Nuclear Active,July: in press.

Theses and dissertations

BADEIN, M.A. 1981. Acheulian industries
University of Hamburg (offset).

Africa.

Ph.D. thesis,

SZAFRANSKI, Z. 1982 (completion expected). Studies on the society

and culture of the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt on the
basis of the funerary and votive monuments. Ph.D. thesis,
Warsaw University.
EL-TAYEB, M. 1981 (?) History of excavations of Ancient Sudan.
H.A. dissertation, Warsaw University.
LEWCZUK, J. 1981 ( ? ) Iconography of Toth in the art of the
Kingdom of Kush (Napatan and Merotic periods). M.A.
dissertation, Warsaw University.
ZARROUG, M. 1982. The Kingdom of Alwa: the state of the question.
M.A. dissertation, University of Calgary.

Professor Mauny reminds us that:

Since 1980, the Centre de Recherches Africaines, 9 Rue Malher,
75004 Paris, has been publishing a Bulletin dlInformation Interuniversitaire, and since 1981, the Cahiers du Centre de Recherches
Africaines.
AUDECAM, 100 Rue de lfuniversit6,75007 Paris, has also produced
a special number of its Recherche, Pedagogie et Culture, no. 55,
sept.-d6c. 1981, 132 pp., which is specially devoted to 'L1arch6ologie en Afrique' and carries the latest news.
Information on work in the Sahara and Niger can also be obtained
from the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie et de Pr6histoire de 1'Universit6 de Provence (Prof. G. Camps, Directeur), 29 Avenue Robert
Schuman, 13621 Aix en Provence.
'To be more efficient, write in French' !
And

... just off the presses:-

Francis Van Noten, 1982. The Archaeology of Central Africa (with

contributions by D. Cahen, P. de Maret, J. Moeyersons and
E. Roche). Graz (Austria): Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt.
(No price given, but their address for those interested is:
Auerspergasse 12
POB 598
A-8011 Graz, Austria)

Archaeology in Ghana

The Editor recently received Archaeology in Ghana 2, the Newsletter

of the Department of Archaeology of the University of ~hana,covering
the years 1980-1981. Professor J.E.G. Sutton is the editor of this
useful compendium. A slip inserted into the volume states, 'We shall
appreciate it if you can send us offprints and other publications in
exchange for Archaeology in Ghana.' Those interested should write
to the Head, Department of Archaeology, University of Ghana, P.O. Box 3,
Legon, Ghana.