Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qs9v7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T16:27:18.792Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Developing a Chronology Integrating Archaeological and Environmental Data from Different Contexts: The Late Holocene Sequence of Ounjougou (Mali)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Sylvain Ozainne ,
Laurent Lespez ,
Yann Le Drezen ,
Barbara Eichhorn ,
Katharina Neumann  and
Eric Huysecom
Sylvain Ozainne*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Ecology, University of Geneva, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
Laurent Lespez
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, GEOPHEN, University of Caen-Basse Normandie-UMR 6554 CNRS LETG, 14032 Caen, France
Yann Le Drezen
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, GEOPHEN, University of Caen-Basse Normandie-UMR 6554 CNRS LETG, 14032 Caen, France LEESA Laboratory, University of Angers, 49045 Angers Cedex, France
Barbara Eichhorn
Affiliation:
Goethe University Frankfurt, Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, 60323 Frankfurt, Germany
Katharina Neumann
Affiliation:
Goethe University Frankfurt, Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften, 60323 Frankfurt, Germany
Eric Huysecom
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Ecology, University of Geneva, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
*
Corresponding author. Email: sylvain.ozainne@unige.ch
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

At Ounjougou, a site complex situated in the Yamé River valley on the Bandiagara Plateau (Dogon country, Mali), multidisciplinary research has revealed a rich archaeological and paleoenvironmental sequence used to reconstruct the history of human-environment interactions, especially during the Late Holocene (3500–300 cal BC). Geomorphological, archaeological, and archaeobotanical data coming from different sites and contexts were combined in order to elaborate a chronocultural and environmental model for this period. Bayesian analysis of 54 14C dates included within the general Late Holocene stratigraphy of Ounjougou provides better accuracy for limits of the main chronological units, as well as for some particularly important events, like the onset of agriculture in the region. The scenario that can be proposed in the current state of research shows an increasing role of anthropogenic fires from the 3rd millennium cal BC onwards, and the appearance of food production during the 2nd millennium cal BC, coupled with a distinctive cultural break. The Late Holocene sequence ends around 300 cal BC with an important sedimentary hiatus that lasts until the end of the 4th century cal AD.

Type
Radiocarbon, Archaeology, and Landscape Change
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , 2009 , pp. 457 - 470
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Ballouche, A, Neumann, K. 1995. A new contribution to the Holocene vegetation history of the West African Sahel: pollen from Oursi, Burkina Faso and charcoal from three sites in northeast Nigeria. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 4(1):31–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 1995. Radiocarbon calibration and analysis of stratigraphy: the OxCal program. Radiocarbon 37(2):425–30.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2001. Development of the radiocarbon calibration program. Radiocarbon 43(2A):355–63.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2008. OxCal 4.0 manual. http://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/oxcalhelp/hlp_contents.html. Accessed 20 July 2008.Google Scholar
Buck, CE, Kenworthy, JB, Litton, CD, Smith, AFM. 1991. Combining archaeological and radiocarbon information: a Bayesian approach to calibration. Antiquity 65(249):808–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
deMenocal, P, Ortiz, J, Guilderson, T, Adkins, J, Sarnthein, M, Baker, L, Yarusinsky, M. 2000. Abrupt onset and termination of the African humid period: rapid climate responses to gradual insolation forcing. Quaternary Science Reviews 19(1–5):347–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eichhorn, B, Le Drezen, Y. 2006. Les Paléoenvironnements végétaux à Ounjougou au cours de l'Holocène. Méthodologie et résultats préliminaires. Etudes Maliennes 65:153–60.Google Scholar
Eichhorn, B, Neumann, K. In press. Holocene vegetation change and land use at Ounjougou (Mali). In: Fuller, DQ, Murray, MA, editors. Flora, Past Cultures and Archaeobotany in Africa. Walnut Creek, CA, USA: Left Coast Press.Google Scholar
Folk, RL, Word, WC. 1957. Brazos River Bar: a study in the significance of grain size parameters. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 27:3–26.Google Scholar
Gasse, F. 2000. Hydrological changes in the African tropics since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 19(1–5):189–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granier, P. 2001. Biogéographie. In: Arnaud, JC, editor. Atlas du Mali. Paris: Jeune Afrique. p 22–4.Google Scholar
Harris, EC. 1979. Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Herzog, I. 2004. Group and conquer. A method for displaying large stratigraphic data sets. In: der Stadt Wien, Magistrat, Erbe, Referat Kulturelles, Wien, Stadtarchaölogie, editors. Enter the Past. The E-Way into the Four Dimensions of Cultural Heritage. CAA 2003. BAR International Series 1227. Oxford: Archaeopress. p 423–6.Google Scholar
Huysecom, E. 2001. The beginning of Iron metallurgy: from sporadic inventions to irreversible generalizations. In: Descoeudres, J-P, Huysecom, E, Serneels, V, Zimmermann, J-L, editors. The Origins of Iron Metallurgy (Proceedings of the First International Colloquium on the Archaeology of Africa and the Mediterranean Basin). Mediterranean Archaeology 14:1–5.Google Scholar
Huysecom, E. 2002. Palaeoenvironment and human population in West Africa: an international research project in Mali. Antiquity 76(292):335–6.Google Scholar
Huysecom, E, Ballouche, A, Boëda, E, Cappa, L, Cissé, L, Dembélé, A, Gallay, A, Konaté, D, Mayor, A, Ozainne, S, Raeli, F, Rasse, M, Robert, A, Robion, C, Sanogo, K, Soriano, S, Sow, S, Stokes, S. 2002. Cinquième campagne de recherches à Ounjougou (Mali). In: Jahresbericht 2001. Zürich, Vaduz: FSLA, Fondation Suisse-Liechtenstein pour les recherches archéologiques à l'étranger. p 55–113.Google Scholar
Huysecom, E, Ozainne, S, Raeli, F, Ballouche, A, Rasse, M, Stokes, S. 2004. Ounjougou (Mali): a history of Holocene settlement at the southern edge of the Sahara. Antiquity 78(301):579–93.Google Scholar
Huysecom, E, Sanogo, K. 2006. 1907–1997–2007: un siècle de travaux historiques et archéologiques en “Pays dogon”, une décennie de recherche du programme “Peuplement humain et évolution paléoclimatique en Afrique de l'Ouest”. Etudes Maliennes 65:5–14.Google Scholar
Jousse, H. 2006. What is the impact of Holocene climatic changes on human societies? Analysis of West African Neolithic populations dietary customs. Quaternary International 151:63–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahlheber, S, Neumann, K. 2007. The development of plant cultivation in semi-arid West Africa. In: Denham, T, Iriarte, J, Vrydaghs, L, editors. Rethinking Agriculture. Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives. Walnut Creek, CA, USA: Left Coast Press. p 320–46.Google Scholar
Killick, D. 2004. What do we know about African iron working? Review essay. Journal of African Archaeology 2:97–112.Google Scholar
Kröpelin, S, Verschuren, D, Lézine, A-M, Eggermont, H, Cocquyt, C, Francus, P, Cazet, J-P, Fagot, M, Rumes, B, Russell, JM, Darius, F, Conley, DJ, Schuster, M, Von Suchodoletz, H, Engstrom, DR. 2008. Climate-driven ecosystem succession in the Sahara: the past 6000 years. Science 320(5877):765–8.Google Scholar
Kuper, R, Kröpelin, S. 2006. Climate-controlled Holocene occupation in the Sahara: motor of Africa's evolution. Science 313(5788):803–7.Google Scholar
Le Drezen, Y. 2008. Dynamiques des paysages de la vallée du Yamé depuis 4000 ans. Contribution à la compréhension d'un géosystème soudano-sahélien (Ounjougou, Pays dogon, Mali). [PhD dissertation]. Caen: University of Caen Basse Normandie. 418 p.Google Scholar
Le Drezen, Y, Rasse, M, Ballouche, A, Lespez, L, Huysecom, E. 2006. Dynamique d'interface Nature-Société dans un anthroposystème soudano-sahélien à l'Holocène récent (Ounjougou, Pays dogon, Mali). Actes du colloque international Interactions Nature-Société, Analyses et modèles (3–6 mai 2006, La Baule). http://letg.univ-nantes.fr/COLLOQUE/pdf/C1_0505_LEDREZEN.pdf. Accessed 25 July 2008.Google Scholar
Lespez, L, Rasse, M, Le Drezen, Y, Tribolo, C, Huysecom, E, Ballouche, A. 2008. L'évolution hydrogéomorphologique de la vallée du Yamé (Pays Dogon, Mali): signal climatique et hydrosystème continental en Afrique de l'Ouest entre 50 et 4 ka. Géomorphologie: Relief, Processus, Environnement 3:169–85.Google Scholar
Lézine, AM, Duplessy, JC, Cazet, JP. 2005. West African monsoon variability during the last deglaciation and the Holocene: evidence from fresh water algae, pollen and isotope data from core KW31, Gulf of Guinea. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 219(3–4):225–37.Google Scholar
MacDonald, KC. 1996. The Windé Koroji complex: evidence for the peopling of the eastern inland Niger Delta (2100–500 BC). Préhistoire, Anthropologie Méditerranéennes 5:157–65.Google Scholar
Marshall, F, Hildebrand, E. 2002. Cattle before crops: the beginnings of food production in Africa. Journal of World Prehistory 16(2):99–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayor, A, Huysecom, E, Gallay, A, Rasse, M, Ballouche, A. 2005. Population dynamics and paleoclimate over the past 3000 years in the Dogon Country, Mali. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 24:25–61.Google Scholar
McIntosh, SK. 2006. The Holocene prehistory of West Africa. In: Akyeampong, EK, editor. Themes in West Africa's Prehistory. Athens: Ohio University Press. p 11–32.Google Scholar
McIntosh, RJ, Tainter, J, McIntosh, SK, editors. 2000. The Way the Wind Blows: Climate, History, and Human Action. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Neumann, K. 2005. The romance of farming. Plant cultivation and domestication in Africa. In: Stahl, AB, editor. African Archaeology. A Critical Introduction. Malden: Blackwell. p 249–75.Google Scholar
Nouaceur, Z. 2001. Climat. In: Arnaud, JC, editor. Atlas du Mali. Paris: Jeune Afrique. p 16–9.Google Scholar
Ozainne, S. 2006. Pulsations sahariennes et premiers cultivateurs: le Néolithique récent du Plateau dogon (3500–500 av. J.-C.). Etudes Maliennes 65:69–88.Google Scholar
Ozainne, S, Huysecom, E, Ballouche, A, Rasse, M. 2004. Le site des Varves à Ounjougou (Mali): nouvelles données sur le peuplement néolithique des zones subsahariennes en Afrique de l'Ouest. In: Schneider, J, Roost Vischer, L, Péclard, D, editors. Forum Suisse des Africanistes 4. Münster: LIT Verlag. p 265–81.Google Scholar
Rasse, M, Ballouche, A, Huysecom, E, Tribolo, C, Ozainne, S, Le Drezen, Y, Stokes, S, Neumann, K. 2006. Evolution géomorphologique, enregistrements sédimentaires et dynamiques paléoenvironnementales holocènes à Ounjougou (Plateau dogon, Mali, Afrique de l'Ouest). Quaternaire 17(1):61–74.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Baillie, MGL, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Bertrand, CJH, Blackwell, PG, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Cutler, KB, Damon, PE, Edwards, RL, Fairbanks, RG, Friedrich, M, Guilderson, TP, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kromer, B, McCormac, G, Manning, S, Bronk Ramsey, C, Reimer, RW, Remmele, S, Southon, JR, Stuiver, M, Talamo, S, Taylor, FW, van der Plicht, J, Weyhenmeyer, CE. 2004. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46(3):1029–58.Google Scholar
Salzmann, U, Hoelzmann, P, Morczineck, I. 2002. Late quaternary climate and vegetation of the Sudanian zone of NE-Nigeria. Quaternary Research 58(1):73–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Servant, M. 1983. Séquences continentales et variations climatiques: evolution du bassin du Tchad au Cénozoique supérieur. Travaux et Documents ORSTOM (Paris) 159:547.Google Scholar
Smith, AB. 1974. Preliminary report of excavations at Karkarichinkiat, Mali, 1972. West African Journal of Archaeology 4:33–56.Google Scholar
Waller, MP, Street-Perrott, A, Wang, H. 2007. Holocene vegetation history of the Sahel: pollen, sedimentological and geochemical data from Jikarya Lake, northeastern Nigeria. Journal of Biogeography 34(9):1575–90.Google Scholar