Petra Brukner Havelková, Isabelle Crevecoeur, Ladislav Varadzin, Stanley H. Ambrose, Elise Tartar, Adrien Thibeault, Mike Buckley, Sébastien Villotte, Lenka Varadzinová
{"title":"Patterns of Violence in the Pre-Neolithic Nile Valley","authors":"Petra Brukner Havelková, Isabelle Crevecoeur, Ladislav Varadzin, Stanley H. Ambrose, Elise Tartar, Adrien Thibeault, Mike Buckley, Sébastien Villotte, Lenka Varadzinová","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09533-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10437-023-09533-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Burial assemblages inform us about the biology of past societies, social relations, and ritual and symbolic behavior. However, they also allow us to examine the circumstances of death and social violence. A high level of intergroup violence among prehistoric hunter-gatherers is well-documented in some times and places but is extremely rare in others. Here we present an analysis of the perimortem injury to skeleton PD8 at the site of Sphinx in Central Sudan. This burial, attributed to the Early Khartoum (Khartoum Mesolithic) culture, radiocarbon dated between 8637 and 8463 cal BP, bears evidence of a perimortem sharp force trauma caused by penetration of an unshaped, fractured non-human bone between the right scapula and the rib cage. Among more than 200 anthropologically assessed human burials from the early Holocene Nile Valley reviewed in this paper, PD8 provides the only documented evidence of violence resulting in death. This rare case of death differs from the numerous cases of intergroup conflict documented in terminal Pleistocene burial grounds in Lower Nubia. This suggests different patterns of violence and strategies of conflict resolution in the pre-Neolithic (terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene) Nile Valley. We attribute this difference in the prevalence of interpersonal trauma to climatic and environmental conditions, territorial boundary defense, and post-marital residence practices before and after the Younger Dryas’ arid millennium (~ 12,800–11,600 BP).\u0000</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"40 4","pages":"597 - 619"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10437-023-09533-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48769723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Holocene Ceramic Sequence in the Central Sahara: Pottery Traditions and Social Dynamics Seen from the Takarkori Rockshelter (SW Libya)","authors":"Rocco Rotunno, Lucia Cavorsi, Savino di Lernia","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09534-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10437-023-09534-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article presents the Early and Middle Holocene pottery repertoire of the Takarkori archaeological site, a rockshelter in the Tadrart Acacus massif in southwestern Libya, Central Sahara. This long sequence, extending from 10,200 to 4300 cal BP, is one of the best preserved Holocene contexts in North Africa, recording much of Holocene cultural evolution and chronologically framed by a large number of radiocarbon dates. The study of the assemblage resulted in a well-defined seriation of the pottery sequence, supported by statistical and comparative methods. Following an integrated approach, the study identifies continuities and changes in ceramic production that enhance our understanding of the human occupation of Takarkori and its cultural variations. The multi-scalar and multi-dimensional perspectives highlight technological traditions and cultural dynamics and provide new insights into the origin and use of pottery, first among Late Acacus hunter-gatherers and later among Pastoral Neolithic herders and their regional interconnections. This study clarifies the position of the Takarkori ceramic sequence within the broader regional and interregional contexts from the Early to the Middle Holocene. By indicating contacts and interrelationships among different areas of the Sahara and neighboring regions, from the massifs of Central Algerian Sahara to the plains of the Eastern Sahara, the study adds new insights into North Africa’s prehistory. It contributes to an increasingly accurate reconstruction of the Holocene’s chronological and cultural sequences.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"40 4","pages":"647 - 672"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"52115891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Andrea Manzo: Ancient Egypt in its African Context: Economic Networks, Social and Cultural Interactions","authors":"S. T. Smith","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09538-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-023-09538-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"73 1","pages":"589 - 591"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"52115956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Andrea Manzo: Ancient Egypt in its African Context: Economic Networks, Social and Cultural Interactions","authors":"Stuart Tyson Smith","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09538-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10437-023-09538-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"40 3","pages":"589 - 591"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10437-023-09538-5.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50520395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Giuseppina Mutri: Technological Styles in the Jebel Gharbi Lithic Industries of the Late Pleistocene (North-Western Libya)","authors":"Alice Leplongeon","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09536-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10437-023-09536-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"40 3","pages":"585 - 587"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"50499780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Giuseppina Mutri: Technological Styles in the Jebel Gharbi Lithic Industries of the Late Pleistocene (North-Western Libya)","authors":"A. Leplongeon","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09536-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-023-09536-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"40 1","pages":"585 - 587"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"52115916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bernard Clist, Philippe Béarez, Caroline Mougne, Joséphine Lesur, Wannes Hubau, Koen Bostoen
{"title":"First Archaeological Excavations Along the Atlantic Ocean Coastline of the Democratic Republic of Congo: The Iron Age Sites at Muanda","authors":"Bernard Clist, Philippe Béarez, Caroline Mougne, Joséphine Lesur, Wannes Hubau, Koen Bostoen","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09535-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10437-023-09535-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article reports on new archaeological data obtained in 2018 from the coastal region of the Kongo Central province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The area’s ancient history is virtually unknown but is potentially of paramount importance in the context of the development of early village communities in Central Africa. The article focuses on the Muanda 6 site, dated to ⁓ 1400 BP, and offers a multidisciplinary analysis of the finds uncovered there. The site’s pottery is associated with shell and stone beads, ironworking remains, a stone quern, and biological remains testifying to a mixed subsistence system that took advantage of the region’s ecological diversity. The Early Iron Age occupants of Muanda 6 practiced ocean and mangrove fishing, gathered beach and mangrove gastropods and bivalves, hunted, and exploited oil palms. The article also discusses the Muanda 13 site, which is more recent (⁓ 1100 BP), and the results of the profile sampling at the Katala village. Both Muanda 6 and Muanda 13 yielded different ceramic types. Other pottery styles, surface collected between the Congo River and the Angolan province of Cabinda and probably of more recent date, are briefly described. The results provide new perspectives about the Iron Age in the DRC, providing further evidence of the cultural diversity in the Lower Congo region and an outline of the cultural sequence along the Atlantic Ocean coast.</p><p>Cet article rend compte de nouvelles données archéologiques obtenues en 2018 dans la région côtière de la Province du Kongo-Central en République démocratique du Congo. L’histoire ancienne de cette région est pratiquement inconnue, mais elle est potentiellement d'une importance capitale dans le contexte de l'installation des premiers villages en Afrique centrale. Les travaux se concentrent sur le site de Muanda 6, daté vers 1400 BP, dont les trouvailles sont étudiées dans une perspective multidisciplinaire. La poterie de ce site est associée à des perles de coquillages et de pierre, à des traces de travail du fer, et à une meule en pierre ainsi qu'à des restes biologiques témoignant d'un système de subsistance mixte reposant sur divers écotones. Les occupants de l’Age du Fer Ancien de Muanda 6 pratiquaient la pêche en mer et dans la mangrove, la collecte de gastéropodes et de bivalves sur la plage et dans la mangrove, la chasse et l'exploitation des palmiers à huile. Le site plus récent de Muanda 13 (vers 1100 BP), ainsi qu’une collecte stratigraphique dans la berge du village de Katala, ont permis de découvrir un autre type de céramique. L’article décrit un dernier style de poterie probablement plus récent et découvert en surface entre le fleuve Congo et la frontière de la province angolaise de Cabinda. Les résultats présentés ici offrent de nouvelles perspectives à l’Age du Fer sur la diversité culturelle dans la région du Bas-Congo et propose l’esquisse d’une séquence culturelle au long de la côte de l’Océan Atlantique.\u0000</p>","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"40 4","pages":"711 - 739"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44263634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Andrew Smith: First People: The Lost History of the Khoisan","authors":"Andrew Skinner","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09531-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10437-023-09531-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"40 3","pages":"581 - 583"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45465549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Territory of Ancient Tipasa, Algeria: Archaeological Survey, Material Culture, and Connectivity in Central Maghreb","authors":"Alejandro Quevedo, Jesús García-Sánchez, Rafik Khellaf, Youcef Bensaidani","doi":"10.1007/s10437-023-09529-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10437-023-09529-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The territory of Tipasa, an iconic UNESCO landscape that comprises the ancient city of Mauretania and its Royal Mausoleum, has never been systematically investigated. The exception may be Gsell’s archaeological atlas of Algeria, compiled more than a century ago (Gsell, 1911). Since 2021, the TIPASA Project, a Spanish-Algerian survey program, was organized to shed light on this ill-studied ancient city and its territory. The survey approaches the subject from both the “site” and “off-site” perspectives, using tools such as remote sensing, field survey, and material culture, as well as an education program for Algerian students. This research is essential to understanding the part played by Punic, Hellenistic, Mauretanian, and Roman agents in creating the territory. The research methods and conceptual framework emphasize the particularities of North African cities and the creation of African-led networks in Antiquity across the Mediterranean, particularly the connections with the Iberian Peninsula before and after the imposition of Roman administrative structures.\u0000</p></div>","PeriodicalId":46493,"journal":{"name":"African Archaeological Review","volume":"40 4","pages":"673 - 709"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10437-023-09529-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44350909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}