Domestic livestock, subsistence strategies and environmental changes in Sahelian West Africa during the past 4000 years evidence from archaeofaunal remains.
Linseele, Veerle
Domestic livestock, subsistence strategies and environmental changes in Sahelian West Africa during the past 4000 years evidence from archaeofaunal remains. - VIII, 197 p. appendix: tab.
Diss. doct.
This study summarises the archaeozoological data obtained within the framework of a multidisciplinary research project conducted in arid West Africa. The investigated faunal assemblages, consisting mainly of remains from all vertebrate groups, were excavated in northern Burkina Faso and the southern Lake Chad area and cover almost the entire four millennia between 2000 BC and the present. Emphasis is on documenting and explaining diachronic and geographical trends rather than on detailed, individual, site studies. The analysed faunas are placed in a wider context by comparing them with data from other archaeological sites in sub-Saharan West Africa and beyond. Iconography, textual evidence, genetics, animal production, ethnography and linguistics are confronted with the faunal data. One of the major research subjects is the beginning of food production and, more particularly, of domestic livestock keeping. Since most West African domestic animal species are not indigenous to the area,the timing of their first appearance and the mechanisms and routes through which they were spread can be investigated. With the aid of the faunal remains the diet of the former human populations is analysed. All animal food provisioning activities, i.e. collecting, fishing, hunting, fowling and herding, are studied in detail, including aspects such as seasonality and equipment used. Techniques for processing and preserving animal food products are also discussed. It is investigated why and how economic specialisation developed; for example the nomadic pastoralism, between and within ethnic groups, which is typical for the present West African Sahel. Indications for trade, religion, cultural and ethnic identity are also sought. The faunal remains also allow reconstruction of the local impact of climatic fluctuations and the human responses to a changing environment. wet
Academic collection
Domestic livestock, subsistence strategies and environmental changes in Sahelian West Africa during the past 4000 years evidence from archaeofaunal remains. - VIII, 197 p. appendix: tab.
Diss. doct.
This study summarises the archaeozoological data obtained within the framework of a multidisciplinary research project conducted in arid West Africa. The investigated faunal assemblages, consisting mainly of remains from all vertebrate groups, were excavated in northern Burkina Faso and the southern Lake Chad area and cover almost the entire four millennia between 2000 BC and the present. Emphasis is on documenting and explaining diachronic and geographical trends rather than on detailed, individual, site studies. The analysed faunas are placed in a wider context by comparing them with data from other archaeological sites in sub-Saharan West Africa and beyond. Iconography, textual evidence, genetics, animal production, ethnography and linguistics are confronted with the faunal data. One of the major research subjects is the beginning of food production and, more particularly, of domestic livestock keeping. Since most West African domestic animal species are not indigenous to the area,the timing of their first appearance and the mechanisms and routes through which they were spread can be investigated. With the aid of the faunal remains the diet of the former human populations is analysed. All animal food provisioning activities, i.e. collecting, fishing, hunting, fowling and herding, are studied in detail, including aspects such as seasonality and equipment used. Techniques for processing and preserving animal food products are also discussed. It is investigated why and how economic specialisation developed; for example the nomadic pastoralism, between and within ethnic groups, which is typical for the present West African Sahel. Indications for trade, religion, cultural and ethnic identity are also sought. The faunal remains also allow reconstruction of the local impact of climatic fluctuations and the human responses to a changing environment. wet
Academic collection