The Shell Midden Sites of Senegambia Reference library
Alioune Dème and Moustapha Sall
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...landscape, where the sea plays a major role in rituals and power relations. We will first define the geographical and cultural settings of the littoral where the shell midden sites are located. We will then move to the eustatic event that engendered the formation of natural shell middens: the Nouakchottien. We will focus next on the anthropogenic shell midden by describing the three broad shell midden archaeological areas. Finally, we will focus on Soukouta, where new data are shedding new light on Senegambian protohistory. The Senegambian Littoral Senegambia...
Shell Middens and Coastal Prehistory Reference library
John Parkington and Ruan Brand
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
... Middens and Coastal Prehistory Introduction Coastal shell middens, that is, archaeological deposits that are visually and materially dominated by discarded marine shells (shell matrix deposits in another terminology; Hausmann et al. 2019 ; Villagran 2019 ), are valuable opportunities for reconstructing relationships between hunter-gatherers, landscapes, and resources ( Claassen 1998 ; Erlandson 2001 ; Parkington 2006 ; Shiner et al. 2013 ; Stein 1992 ; Waselkov 1987 ). Shellfish remains in these middens are easy to sample (there are lots of...
Côte d’Ivoire Shell Middens: Specificity and Evolution Reference library
N’doua Etienne Ettien
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...on what was learned from the different studies of shell middens on the Ivorian coast, this article will examine the major characteristics of these shell middens and will raise the question of their future. This examination relies on an analysis of reports from research projects, scientific publications, dissertations, and data collected in the field in order to report on their general state of conservation. The following discussion is structured, first of all, around the spatial distribution of the shell middens, then their structure, and finally their current...
Clams Reference library
Joseph M. Carlin
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2 ed.)
...), ocean quahog ( Arctica islandica ), hard-shell clam ( Mercenaria mercenaria ), soft-shell clam ( Mya arenaria ), and Manila clam ( Tapes philippinarum ). Before Europeans arrived in America, Native Americans harvested clams. Huge piles of clamshells or kitchen middens identify old Indian campsites. Native Americans used the hard-shell clam, also known as a quahog, as a source of food and medium of exchange and for sealing friendships. The purple part of the shell, along with the white part of periwinkle shells, were fashioned into beads, strung on sinew,...
Isotopes Reference library
Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather (2 ed.)
...the water in which the shells (made of calcium carbonate, CaCO 3 ) are precipitated, and the amount of water that has been extracted from the ocean and locked up in polar ice. In regions where the temperature changes little between interglacial and glacial periods (such as the western equatorial Pacific), the δ 18 O of shells precipitated in surface waters mainly reflects the ice effect—including any changes in the isotopic composition of the ice—since buildup of ice increases the ratio of 18 O to 16 O. In cores from such areas, shells with an 18 O/ 16 O...
The Early Iron Age of Botswana Reference library
Catrien van Waarden
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...game ranged from zebra to hyrax, indicating herding, hunting, and snaring ( Pearson 1984 ). A hardpacked white deposit in a test pit at the center of the site, at 40–77 cm in depth, suggests a kraal. A kraal-midden at the front of the site may have been for small stock. Also present were charred seeds of sorghum, millet, a legume, morula nut shells ( Sclerocarya caffra ), and possibly a monkey orange ( Strychnos spinosa ) seed. Red ochre, specularite, and micaceous schist were present. Finely ground mica-schist resembles graphite and with red ochre was used...
Faunal Analysis in African Archaeology Reference library
Jessica C. Thompson
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...the Ice Ages ~11.5 ka. Most researchers place at least some of the responsibility for Holocene intensification on the recursive impacts of population expansion. Shell middens began to grow in size and quantity especially along the southern and northern coasts of Africa, which share a similar Mediterranean-type environment. In South Africa, shells from these middens are on average smaller than shells found in deposits from earlier time periods, suggesting that increased numbers of foragers had been placing more intense predation pressure on these sedentary...
Ochre Use in the Middle Stone Age Reference library
Tammy Hodgskiss
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...Shelter ( Evans 1994 ), Mwulu Cave ( de la Peña 2018 ), Olieboompoort ( Watts 1998 , 2002 ), Wonderkrater ( Backwell et al. 2014 ), Wonderwerk ( Beaumont and Vogel 2006 ; Watts et al. 2016 ), and Zombepata ( Cooke 1971 ). Ochre is often found in western Cape coast shell middens ( Parkington 2003 ). Excavations at Porc Epic Cave in Ethiopia revealed 4,213 pieces of ochre, 3,792 of which were analyzed ( Rosso et al. 2014 ). The pieces date to between 41,000 and 33,000 years ago. There is a range of raw materials, and reds and dark reds are most...
Sea Level Reference library
Encyclopedia of Global Change
...between Denmark and Sweden, flint artifacts have been recovered in shallower water and dated to 6400 bce . Along the coast of Brazil between Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul are thousands of shell middens reaching up to 25 meters in height and containing a record of changing sea levels for the past 6,000 years. In South Carolina, the oldest shell middens (4,200–3,300 years bp ) occur near the mouths of estuaries, whereas the younger ones (3,300–1,000 bp ) occur further landward and up estuary, implying a response by prehistoric folk to a rising sea...
Hunter-Gatherer Women Reference library
Marlize Lombard and Katharine Kyriacou
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...13B (Western Cape Province, South Africa) in Context: The Cape Floral Kingdom, Shellfish and Modern Human Origins.” Journal of Human Evolution 59: 425–443. Marean, C. W. 2010b. “When the Sea Saved Humanity.” Scientific American 303: 54–61. Meehan, B. 1982. Shell Bed to Shell Midden . Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. Mercader, J. 2009. “Mozambican Grass Seed Consumption during the Middle Stone Age.” Science 326: 1680–1683. Mercader, J. , Y. Asmeromb , T. Bennett , M. Raja , and A. Skinner . 2009. “Initial Excavation...
The African Middle Stone Age Reference library
Alexander F. Blackwood and Jayne Wilkins
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...to Coming Millennia . Edited by P. V. Tobias , M. A. Raath , J. Moggi-Cechi , and G. A. Doyle , 327–336. Florence: Firenze University Press. Parkington, J. E. 2003. “Middens and Moderns: Shellfishing and the Middle Stone Age of the Western Cape, South Africa.” South African Journal of Science 99: 243–247. Parkington, J. E. 2006. Shorelines, Strandlopers and Shell Middens . Cape Town: Creda Communications. Parkington, J. E. 2010. “Coastal Diet, Encephalization, and Innovative Behaviors in the Late Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa.” In Human...
Hunter-Gatherer/Farmer Interactions in Uganda Reference library
Elizabeth Kyazike
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...African Foragers .” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History . Oxford: Oxford University Press, Prendergast, Mary Elizabeth ., and Paul Jeremy Lane . 2010. “Middle Holocene Fishing Strategies in East Africa: Zooarchaeological Analysis of Pundo, a Kansyore Shell Midden in Northern Nyanza (Kenya).” International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 20 (1): 88–112. Robertshaw, Peter . 1994. “Archaeological Survey, Ceramic Analysis, and State Formation in Western Uganda.” African Archaeological Review 12 (1): 105–131. References Alexander, J. 1977...
Southern African Stone Age Reference library
Nuno Bicho
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...in Mozambique, these are made with the microburin technique ( Bicho et al. 2018a ). Bone tools, including polished types, and shell and wooden artifacts are also present, together with ostrich eggshell and ochre ( Deacon and Deacon 1999 ; Lombard et al. 2012 ). Plant foods, together with coastal resources, were likely very important, as in previous periods, and are seen at some sites, for example the very large shell middens in the southern Cape region of South Africa. There are many sites that belong to Wilton, which is present in most, if not all,...
The Archaeology of Igboland, Southeastern Nigeria Reference library
Chioma Vivian Ngonadi
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...appeared to be undisturbed, it was suggested by the archaeologists who excavated the sites that these artifacts must have been deposited at the ceremonial area and subsequently suddenly abandoned. In the midden, the recovered materials include potsherds, worked stones, and some bits of iron, glass, palm kernel, and shells. The earliest layer of the midden was dated to 805 bce uncal. ( Chikwendu 2002 ). Anambra valley is also a key site in the discussion on the archaeology of Igboland. This site was first excavated in 1979 and was led by F. N. Anozie and...
Hafting Technology in the Stone Age of Southern Africa Reference library
Margaret-Ashley Veall
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...Oxford: British Archaeological Reports. Jerardino, A. 1998. “Excavations at Pancho’s Kitchen Midden, Western Cape Coast, South Africa: Further Observations into the Megamidden Period.” South African Archaeological Bulletin 53 (167): 16–25. Jerardino, A. 2001. “Diversity in Mastic-Mounted Stone Adzes and the Use of Mastic in Precolonial South Africa: Evidence from Steenbokfontein Cave.” Antiquity 75 (290): 859–866. Jerardino, A. 2010. “Large Shell Middens in Lamberts Bay, South Africa: A Case of Hunter-Gatherer Resource Intensification.” Journal of...
Genetics and Domestic Fauna in Southern Africa Reference library
K. Ann Horsburgh
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...overwhelming majority of the specimens (91.4 percent) are members of subhaplogroup T1b. The only other mitochondrial DNA data from southern Africa is derived from five archaeological specimens from three sites. One specimen was a horn core excavated from KN2005/041, a coastal shell midden near the Swartlinjies River in Namaqualand ( Orton et al. 2013 ). DNA preservation was poor and only ~3 percent of the mitochondrial genome couple was recovered. The data were sufficient to be sure that the specimen derives from a cattle specimen but provided little more...
Contract Archaeology in South Africa Reference library
Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...(SA3), which changed its name in 2006 to the Association for the Southern African Professional Archaeologists. Association members active in contract archaeology can be accredited in various professional areas of specialization such as Iron Age, Stone Age, coastal shell midden, maritime, colonial period, industrial, rock art, grave relocation, and other areas, as specified by the applicant. All contract archaeologists who are members of the cultural resources management division of the Association can be accredited as principal investigators...
Fire Use Reference library
Silje Bentsen
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...geographical distribution (e.g., Black and Thoms 2014 ; Graff 2018 ; Holdaway et al. 2017 ; Wandsnider 1997 ). Thermally altered rocks are found in the remains of some cooking pits. However, heat-affected stones can also be found in other contexts at a site, such as in middens or spread on the surface. Furthermore, processes such as steam baths or unintentional heating also produce fire-cracked rocks. Distinguishing between rocks heated in different processes is difficult, as demonstrated by some studies. For example, simple heating can induce...
The Middle Stone Age of South Africa Reference library
Gregor D. Bader, Viola C. Schmid, and Andrew W. Kandel
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...thesis., Stellenbosch University. Wurz, Sarah . 2002. “ Variability in the Middle Stone Age Lithic Sequence, 115,000–60,000 Years Ago at Klasies River, South Africa .” Journal of Archaeological Science 29 (9): 1001–1015. Wurz, Sarah . 2012. “ The Significance of MIS 5 Shell Middens on the Cape Coast: A Lithic Perspective from Klasies River and Ysterfontein 1 .” Quaternary International 270: 61–69. Wurz, Sarah . 2013. “ Technological Trends in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa between MIS 7 and MIS 3 .” Current Anthropology 54 (S8): S305–S319. ...
Copper and Copper Alloys at the Time of the Kingdoms of Ghana and Mali Reference library
Laurence Garenne-Marot
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...the metal of the bracelet of Burial 9 = very high zinc leaded brass with around 1% Sn. Analyses by S. A. Adelaye and D. R. Goddard (see Connah 1981 , 176, table 8.1). Dioron Boumak [Joron-Bumak] Delta du Saloum, Senegal Sealed context: burials under shells, part of a cemetery built over former shell middens.The accumulation of burials has given rise to “tumuli,” or burial mounds. These constitute a mound 400 m long and 12 m high. A series of ten 14 C dating was done on the mound by taking a sample (on arca senilis ) every meter and showed that it had been...
