Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Three-Volume Set, Volume 1-3

2209 Pages·2007·151.18 MB·English

by  Deborah M. Pearsall

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Professor DeborahM Pearsall
TheFrederick AMiddlebush Chairin Social Sciences
Department ofAnthropology
Universityof Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO
USA
Professor Deborah M.Pearsall
Deborah M. Pearsall was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She grew up in various places in the upper Midwest and
graduatedfromhighschoolinAvonLake,Ohio.ShereturnedtoMichiganforcollege,wheresheattendedtheUniversity
ofMichiganandmajoredinAnthropology.ItwasalsoatMichiganthatshebecameinterestedinpaleoethnobotany—the
studyofplant-people interrelationships througharchaeology—and studiedwithRichard I. Ford.
After graduation fromcollege, she enrolledin graduate schoolat the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and
began studying with South American archaeologist Donald W. Lathrap. There she became interested in Ecuador, and
participated in Lathrap’s excavations at Real Alto, an ancient agricultural village. The study of macroremains and
phytolithsfromReal Altobecame herdissertationresearch,and shereceivedaPh.D. in Anthropologyin 1979.
In addition to continuing to work in Ecuador, Deborah has conducted research in Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Hawaii, Guam, and the Midwestern U.S., and has supervised students
working in these and other regions. She has taught anthropology and carried out paleoethnobotanical studies at the
University of Missouri in Columbia since 1978. She is the author of Paleoethnobotany, A Handbook of Procedures
(AcademicPress,2000),PlantsandPeopleinAncientEcuador:TheEthnobotanyoftheJamaRiverValley(Wadsworth,
2004),TheOriginsofAgricultureintheNeotropics(coauthorwithD.R.Piperno,AcademicPress,1998),andeditorof
this encyclopedia. She enjoys gardening—especially growing old English roses—and writing, and lives on 80 acres
outsideColumbia withherhusband MikeDeLoughery.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Takeru Akazawa MRafique Mughal
KochiUniversity ofTechnology Departmentof Archaeology
Kochi Boston University
Japan Boston,MA
USA
Pedro PauloAFunari
Departmentof History DanielTPotts
Universidad Estadualde Campinas Departmentof Archaeology
Sao Paulo University ofSydney
Brazil Sydney,NSW
Australia
Julian Henderson
Departmentof Archaeology
PattyJoWatson
University ofNottingham
Washington Universityat St.Louis
Nottingham
St.Louis, MO
UK
USA
Augustin FC Holl
Steve Weber
Departmentof Anthropology
Departmentof Anthropology
University ofMichigan
Washington StateUniversity
Ann Arbor,MI
Vancouver,WA
USA
USA
JoyceMarcus
Museumof Anthropology ZhijunZhao
University ofMichigan Instituteof Archaeology
Ann Arbor,MI Beijing
USA China
FOREWORD
Archaeology today has become a truly international undertaking, and it has done so by employing what has
becomeanewanduniversallanguage.Therecordofthehumanpastisamaterialone,recordedintheearth,in
theburiedremainsofvanishedcivilizationsandinthematerialtraceswhichpastcommunitieshaveleftbehind.
As this book clearly documents, those traces, the carefully excavated settlements and burials of early human
groups and their artifacts, which they made and used, can today be made accessible in what we may call the
languageofarchaeology.
Thatlanguage,intelligibleineverypart ofthe world, isabletotranscendthelimitations ofwritten history.
Fornarrativehistory,assetdowninwriting,isinevitablyconfinedtotheliteratecivilizationswhoseveryearly
texts come down to us from just a few locations in the Old World. The universal language of archaeology,
however,knowsnosuchbounds.Insteaditaddressesthehumanuseofmaterialculturewhereverhumanbeings
havelived. Itdrawsupon abroadrange oftechniques –fromstratigraphicexcavation toradiocarbondating,
fromaerialphotographytomolecularbiology–whichnowmakeitpossibletospeakofaworldarchaeology,in
whichtheexperiencesofeverycountryandpeoplecantaketheirplace.Thisbooksetsoutinacoherentwayto
makethatlanguageclearlyanddirectlyintelligibletothereader,sothatthebasictechniquesofarchaeologycan
beunderstood.Itgoesontoapplythosetechniquestotheentirehumanstory.Itsbroadsweeptakesusfromthe
emergence of the first humans, initially in Africa, and their early out-of-Africa dispersals, through the whole
gamut of human experience, dealing with the rise of farming communities, the dawn of civilizations, the
formationofthefirstcities,andsodowntothepresent,andtothepostcolonialeraineverypartoftheworld.
The good news is that every land, every inhabited area of the earth, does have its archaeology. Each
community has a past, which today can be investigated with the use of the now-universal techniques of
investigationdescribedhere.Thescopeisvast.Thestoryunfoldshereonacontinent-by-continentbasis.
Onlyinrecentdecadeshasitbeenpossibletoputtogethersuchasurvey.Foritwasradiocarbondatingthat
openedthewayforearlydevelopmentsineverypartoftheworldtobedated.Suddenlythechronologyofearly
AustraliaorofsouthernAfricabecamejustassecureandjustasavailableasthecomparablechronologiesfor
Europe or for the ancient Near East. The whole scope of human achievement in every part of the world is
becomingknownthroughthepracticeofarchaeology.Theauthorsofthissurveyhaveproducedanup-to-date
accountnotonlyofthemethodswhichconstitutethelanguageofarchaeologybutalsooftheprincipalfindings
whichnowallowustospeakofaworldarchaeology.
TheauthorshipoftheEncyclopediaofArchaeologyreflectsthecosmopolitanstatusofarchaeologytoday.It
istrulyinternational,withChinesescholarswritingmanyoftheentriesforChina,AfricanscholarsforAfrica.
The coverage is, of course, global, covering every continent (including Oceania) and every period. It is also
multifacetted, giving insights into the different schools of archaeological thought, which flourish today. It
recognizes that philosophical themes (Marxist archaeology; Postprocessual archaeology) must rub shoulders
with social topics (Ethnicity, Rise of political complexity), and both of these with issues of contemporary
concern(Whoowns the past?,Politicsofarchaeology). These inturnarefoundside-by-side withsomeofthe
key scientific subdisciplines (archaeometry, phytolith analysis, taphonomy), which today provide much of
thevocabularyforthatuniversallanguageofarchaeology.
Theoutcomeisthatthisworkwillbereadwithprofitineverypartoftheworld.ItwillbeaswelcomeinSouth
America(wheretheAmazonbasinforonceachievesnecessarycoverage)asinEurope,asappropriateinJapanas
inMesoamerica.Itreflectswellthechangingnatureofarchaeology,withthefastdevelopingrangeofnewresearch
methodsandthechangingrealitiesofapostcolonialworldwherethepastofeveryareaandregionisofinterest.
ColinRenfrew
INTRODUCTION
Archaeology is a subject that fascinates us. From The‘Contentslistbysubject’,whichfollowsthisIntro-
Egyptian tombs to a frozen Alpine wayfarer, from duction, illustrates how individual contributions are
cities buried under volcanic ash to stone arrowheads groupedconceptuallywithinthisframework.
turnedupbytheplow,archaeologyisinthenewsand Each contribution to ‘Archaeology as a discipline’
inourbackyards.Itisparadoxicalthatasubjectthat places emphasis on the broad approach and subject
so easily captures the imagination is so difficult to matter of part of the field of archaeology, and pro-
access. Superficial media treatments and picture- vides historical context when appropriate. Here you
bookatlasesandsiteguidesontheonehand,jargon- willbeintroducedtoschoolsofthoughtasdistinctive
heavy scholarly books and narrowly focused articles as cognitive and evolutionary archaeology, learn of
on the other – there are few ways to learn about the the historic roots and philosophy of the field, and
real world of archaeology outside the university read overviews of subjects from archaeoastronomy
classroom or the dig site. The aim of the Encyclope- toforensicarchaeologytourbanarchaeology.
dia of Archaeology is to change this, to make all Contributions to‘The practiceofarchaeology’de-
aspects of archaeology accessible to a broad audi- scribe the nuts and bolts of how archaeological re-
ence, from educated laypersons and university stu- search is conducted, and incorporate case studies as
dents eager to learn about the field, to scholars illustrations of modern archaeological practice.
intent on broadening and updating their knowledge Topics range from fieldwork, through analysis of
of the discipline. No existing work provides the artifacts and biological materials, to approaches to
breadth and depth of coverage achieved here. interpreting the archaeological record. Among our
Ithasbeenmyprivilegeand pleasuretoworkwith authors you will find experts and innovators in ar-
over260talentedarchaeologistsfromaroundtheglobe chaeologicalmethodology.
during thisproject.Inthe pages thatfollow, theywill ‘Archaeology at the beginning of the twenty-first
introduce you to archaeology through contributions century: Aworld overview’ is a wide-ranging review
arrangedinaneasy-to-use,alphabeticalformat.From of our knowledge of the past. Archaeological sites
the moment I was invited to undertake this project, and cultural traditions are placed in regional and
IknewthatIwantedtheEncyclopediaofArchaeology temporalcontextincontributionsinthe‘Geographi-
notonlytoshowcasearchaeologicalknowledgeatthe cal overviews’ section. Each article is written by an
beginning of the twenty-first century, but to convey archaeologist with hands-on research experience in
howarchaeologistswork,andtoillustratethediversity the region, and includes maps and illustrations of
of issues and theoretical paradigms that drive our re- sites and artifacts. Look up an archaeological site in
search. From this grew an underlying four-part struc- the index (or use the search function in the online
turefortheEncyclopediaofArchaeology: version) and you will be guided to the regional and
Archaeologyasadiscipline topical articles that discuss it. Or just browse and
Thepracticeofarchaeology learn the latest on the archaeology of East Africa,
Archaeologyatthebeginningofthetwenty-first Micronesia, or the Lesser Antilles. Regions are or-
century:Aworldoverview dered in the ‘Contents list by subject’ west to east,
Geographicaloverviews andnorthtosouth,andwithinregionscontributions
Topicsandissuesthatcross-cutgeography are ordered chronologically or by subregion, as
Archaeologyintheeverydayworld deemedappropriate.
x Introduction
Contributions to ‘Topics and issues that cross-cut The Encyclopedia of Archaeology would never
geography’ are in-depth articles on cutting-edge re- have come to fruition without the hard work of the
searchinarchaeology.Casestudies,oftenfrommore members of the Editorial Board, who assisted in de-
than one region of the world, illustrate each topic. veloping the subject list, fine-tuned the geographical
Hereyouwillbeintroducedtoresearchonsubjectsas overview sections, suggested authors for contribu-
diverse as extinctions of big game, social inequality, tions, and reviewed completed manuscripts. They
and daily life in ancient cities. Contributions on each have my wholehearted thanks. I also thank the
related subjects are grouped in the ‘Contents list by following friends and colleagues for their assistance
subject’. andadvice:RobertA.Benfer,Jr.,J.ScottBentley,Jane
Finally, ‘Archaeology in the everyday world’steps C.Biers,ChristineHastorf,JanetLevy,NaomiMiller,
back from the approaches, methods, and findings of Hector Neff, Elizabeth Reitz, Ralph Rowlett, and
archaeologytolookatarchaeologyasaprofession.In PeterWarnock.
thissectionarecontributionsontheethicalandlegal
aspectsofpracticingarchaeologytoday,popularcul- DeborahM.Pearsall
ture and archaeology, and archaeology and stake-
holdercommunities.
A
AFRICA, CENTRAL
Contents
Foragers,Farmers,andMetallurgists
GreatLakesArea
Sudan,Nilotic
ZimbabwePlateauandSurroundingAreas
Foragers, Farmers, and
Tshitolian AHolocenestonetoolindustryofwesternCentral
Africa,characterizedbyaheavy-dutybifacialtoolcomponent
Metallurgists
originatingintheMiddle/LatePleistoceneLupembanindustry,
aswellasavarietyofdifferenttypesofarrowheadsand
ScottMacEachern,BowdoinCollege,Brunswick, microlithictools.
ME,USA
ã2008ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved. ArchaeologistsknowlessabouttheprehistoryofCen-
tral Africa through the last 10000years than about
any other part of the continent. This is only in part
Glossary becauseofthedifficultiesofworkingintropicalforest:
indeed,someoftheleast-knownareasareinthewood-
bantulanguages Aclosely-relatedgroupoflanguagesinthe
lands along the northeastern fringes of the Congo
Niger–Congofamily,nowspokenthroughmuchofAfricasouth
Basin.Moreimportanthavebeentheeffectsofdecades
oftheequator.The‘Bantuexpansion’istheprocess–stillnot
entirelyunderstood–throughwhichearlyBantulanguages of political instability and an underdeveloped infra-
spreadtotheeastandsouthfromtheirhomelandonthe structure that goes back to the colonial period. Over
Nigerian–Cameroonborder,beginningperhaps5000yearsago. thelastdecade,however,somepartsofCentralAfrica–
Lupemban AMiddle/LatePleistocenestonetoolindustry,found
especiallyinthenorthwest–haveyieldedagreatdealof
indifferentareasofsub-SaharanAfricaanddescendedfromthe
informationonancientoccupationsinthisperiod.
SangoanandeventuallytheAcheuleantraditions.Itis
characterizedbytheextensiveuseofbifacialandcore-tools.Itis MoisturelevelsinCentralAfricaincreaseddramati-
oftenassumedtobeassociatedwithforestenvironments,where cally from the terminal Pleistocene, much drier than
thesetoolswereusedforwoodworkingandotherfunctions. thepresent,totheearlyHolocene,whichwouldhave
microlithic Stonetoolindustriescharacterizedbytheuseof
been generally wetter than today. This corresponded
smalltools,usuallymadebycarefullybreakingstonebladesinto
to a great increase in forests over the same period.
predeterminedshapesorbytheproductionofverysmallblades.
Microlithsaredefinedasbeing<3cminlength,andareoften However, models of a uniform expansion of trop-
usedaselementsincompositetools. ical forest out of Late Pleistocene refugia are over-
‘semi-domesticates’ Plantsthatarenotplantedbyhumans simplified. There seems to have been a great deal of
andthatdonotneedhumanassistancetoreproduce,butyield
localdiversityinplantassociations,aswellassignifi-
productsimportanttothehumancommunitiesinthearea.
cantregionalvariationsinrainfall,temperatures,and
Becauseoftheirimportance,peopleoftenprotectandencourage
thegrowthofsemi-domesticates,forexample,throughweeding seasonality, through this period. Instead of thinking
ofcompetingspecies. about environmentally determined depopulations
tazunu FunerarymonumentsfoundinthewesternCentral and repopulations over Central Africa as a whole,
AfricanRepublic,firstbuiltintheearlyfirstmillenniumBC.
we must imagine human communities adapting to a
Theyconsistofagroupofuprightstandingstones,usually
widevarietyofcircumstancesandresourcesindiffer-
between1and3minlength,setinanartificialplatformthat
oftencontainsoneormorerectangularchambers. entareasandatdifferenttimes.
2 AFRICA,CENTRAL/Foragers,Farmers,andMetallurgists
The beginning of the Holocene saw all of Central broad-spectrum, mobile hunter-gatherers. Late Pleis-
Africa occupied by foraging communities. Little evi- tocene lakeshore sites like Ishango in eastern Demo-
dence of these populations is left, aside from their craticRepublicoftheCongo,withtheirextraordinary
stone tool industries, which show a good deal of bone harpoon points and evidence for fishing and
continuity from the Late Pleistocene. Not surpris- hunting, exhibit striking similarities to Holocene
ingly, in the center of the continent, these industries sitesinsimilarenvironmentsinEastAfrica,butthere
are diverse, with stone tool-kits in the northwestern isnofirmevidenceforthepersistenceofthislacustrine
part of Central Africa showing some similarities adaptationinHoloceneCentralAfrica(Figure1).
with adjacent areas of West Africa, eastern indus- Just after 7000years ago, significant innovations
tries exhibiting some resemblances to East Africa, appeared in the economic and technical adaptations
andsoon. ofcommunitiesinthenorthwesternpartoftheregion.
Perhaps most uniquely Central African is the On what is now the frontier between southeastern
Tshitolian industry, found primarily in the west, in Nigeria and Cameroon, archaeologists working at
Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic sites like Shum Laka have found evidence for con-
of the Congo, northwestern Angola, and parts of sumption of nuts from the incense tree (Canarium
Gabon. The Tshitolian seems to be derived from schweinfurthii),awildspeciesthatwouldbeincreas-
the Late Pleistocene Lupemban industry, and shares ingly exploited by humans over the succeeding
with the Lupemban an important component of millennia, as well as the first evidence for pottery in
heavy-duty bifacial tools, as well as arrowheads and the region. At the same time, larger bifacial (but not
microlithic tools. In other parts of Central Africa, Tshitolian) tools appear among the microlithic stone
microlithic industries predominate and the bifacial tools that earlier dominated in this area, as does the
tools are rare or absent. We know little about the firstevidenceforground/polishedstonetools.Inlater
lifeways of these populations, but the available periods,suchtoolswouldbeusedinhorticultureand
evidence indicates that for the most part they were forestclearance.
Nigeria Chad
Sudan
Central African
Republic
Shum Laka
Tazunu sites
Cameroon
Bioko
Eq.
Guinea Pit
Republic
Sites
of the Congo Uganda
Ishango
Tshitolian
Gabon
Rwanda
Burundi
Democratic Republic
of the Congo
Tanzania
Upemba
sites
Angola Zambia
Figure1 Someofthesitesandtraditionsmentionedinthetext.Theextentofarchaeologicaltraditionsisapproximate.
AFRICA,CENTRAL/Foragers,Farmers,andMetallurgists 3
TheEarly-/Mid-Holoceneappearanceofthesenew mounds. These are likely to have been funerary
culturalelementssignalstheoriginsofaverydifferent monuments, although not all excavated examples
adaptation to life in Central Africa, one eventually contain inhumations, and a tradition of tazunu con-
involving increased sedentism, a concentration on struction may have continued in the area until a few
particular wild plant foods and increased levels of centuries ago. The construction of these impressive
environmental manipulation. Over the next four monuments,andtheirassociationwithsingleburials
millennia, these elements would come to dominate (where any are found), would seem to imply the
archaeologicalassemblagesinthispartoftheregion, existenceofsomedegreeofsocialrankinginwestern
as important ‘semi-domesticates’ such as oil palm Central African Republic through this period (see
(Elaeis guineensis) were added to local economies. Africa,Central:GreatLakesArea).
This adaptation would culminate in the farming vil- The appearance of iron artifacts would eventually
lages of southern Cameroon and Gabon, during the transform the economies and even the ideologies of
first millenniumBC.Thesesites are characterizedby Central African societies, but this did not happen
the occurrence of large numbers of deep pits, proba- immediately. Indeed, the available archaeological
bly used for storage and garbage disposal; these pits evidence indicates that early iron technologies were
frequently contain pottery, Canarium, and oil palm incorporated into the already-existing cultural sys-
remains,andalsoinsomecasestheremainsofdomes- tems discussed above, and that traditional assump-
ticated plants and animals, including millet, banana tions of an Iron Age, a sudden break with earlier
(originallyaSoutheastAsiandomesticate),andsheep/ practices, seem to be particularly misleading in
goats. These pit sites are probably related to sites of this case. The first evidence of iron production (in
a similar period in western Democratic Republic of fact, very frequently the slag by-products of iron
the Congo. The spread of these communities into smelting and forging) appears on sites in northwest-
Central Africa from the northwestern part of the ern Central Africa during the first millennium BC.
region is likely associated with the spread of Bantu Establishing the precise timing of that appearance is
languages,sincetheoriginsofthoselanguagesarein difficult, in part because of difficulties with radio-
the Grassfields region around Shum Laka and the carbon calibration during the middle of that millen-
archaeological evidence agrees in general with lin- nium. However, both a habitation site associated
guistic evidence for the early expansion of Bantu with the tazunu of the CAR and one of the pit
languages. After the middle of the first millennium sites in southern Cameroon have yielded dates for
AD,fewpitsarefoundinsitesinthisarea:thereason iron working of about 2600years ago, and so be-
forthisisunknown,butprobablyinvolveschangesin tween the ninth and the sixth centuries BC. This
settlementpatterningduringthisperiod. generally agrees with dates on some West African
The prehistory of other regions is not as well iron-working sites as well, but more work remains
known through the mid-Holocene, but ground and to be done on the origins of this technology in sub-
polished stone axes similar to those found around Saharan Africa.
ShumLakaoccurindifferentpartsofCentralAfrica. Sites with iron from this area, in Gabon and in
Insomecases,forexample,atTchissangaandrelated Republic of the Congo, became more common by
sitesonthecoastofRepublicoftheCongoandinthe thelatefirstmillenniumBC,andthroughtheensuing
CentralAfricanRepublic(CAR),thesearefoundwith centuries in other areas of Central Africa, until by
different kinds of pottery; in other cases, as on the perhaps AD 800 iron was being used throughout
Uelian sites of northern Democratic Republic of the Central Africa (except on Bioko, as noted above,
Congo,inAngolaandelsewhere,theyexistasisolated and perhaps by isolated foraging groups elsewhere).
discoveries, without significant cultural context. In Over this same period, the use of stone tools for
very few cases have these occurrences been dated, the most part ceased, presumably replaced by iron.
but those dates that do exist indicate a Mid-/Late- Ingeneral,thisparallelstheintroductionofironinto
Holocene time period, and these sites are probably East Africa, although the exact routes by which that
evidenceofprocessesofeconomicintensificationsim- introductiontookplaceareunknown.
ilartothoseinthenorthwest–which,indeed,maybe Over the ensuing centuries, as iron technologies
theirultimateorigin.OntheislandofBioko,nowpart became established through the region, we see the
ofEquatorialGuinea,theuseofstonetools,especially development of larger-scale societies, the extension
axes,wouldpersistuntilthenineteenthcentury. of trade networks and evidence for increasing social
In western CAR, these developments are, by the complexity in some parts of Central Africa. This is
earlyfirstmillenniumBC,associatedwiththeappear- moststrikinglydemonstratedintheUpembaDepres-
ance of the tazunu sites, megalithic sites in which sion of southeastern Democratic Republic of the
uprightstandingstonesareusuallysetinlowartificial Congo,wherearemarkableseriesofhigh-statusgrave
4 AFRICA,CENTRAL/GreatLakesArea
sites,datingtobetweentheeighthandeighteenthcen- MbidaCM,vanNeerW,DoutrelepontH,andVrydaghsL(2000)
turiesAD, indicate the processes of socialdifferentia- Evidence for banana cultivation in central and animal hus-
bandryduringthefirstmillenniumBCintheforestofsouthern
tion and ideological development that culminated in
Cameroon.JournalofArchaeologicalScience27:151–162.
the historically known Luba state. There is scattered
Vansina J (1990) Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History
archaeological evidence for significant trading net- of Political Tradition in Equatorial Africa. Series. Madison,
works and iron and copper production in western Wisconsin:UniversityofWisconsinPress.
Democratic Republic of the Congo at the same time Zangato E (1999) Socie´te´s Pre´historiques et Me´galithes Dans le
Nord-ouestdelaRe´publiqueCentrafricaine.Oxford:Archaeo-
period, as well. In other areas – the Central African
press.
Republic and northwestern Democratic Republic of
the Congo, for example – the village-level societies
that developed in the first millennium BC and early
first millennium AD remained the dominant eco-
nomic and political units into the colonial period.
As inmuch oftherest ofAfrica, there hasbeenlittle Great Lakes Area
archaeological investigation of recent centuries, and
stilllessoftheperiodofEuropeancontact.
AugustinFCHoll,TheUniversityofMichigan,
Over the last two millennia, archaeological data
AnnArbor,MI,USA
are increasingly supplemented by data from linguis-
tic and historical research. These sources provide ã2008ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.
information on social and cultural processes that
are not easily approached archaeologically – the
Glossary
details of the expansion of Bantu languages, the
developing relations between farmers and foragers earthwork Anyearlystructurebuiltfromamoundorbankof
(Pygmy/BaTwa) in Central Africa and the interplay earth,oftencreatedasfortification.
between ideology and sociopolitical relations across forager Someonewhohuntsforfoodorprovisions.
ironsmelting Aprocessofheatingandmeltingironoresand
the region as a whole, for example. Only through
concentratesandthenseparatingthedesirablemoltenmetals
such integrated approaches will researchers be able
suchascopperfromotherelements.
to approach a more complete picture of the Central kingdoms Peakperiodsofdevelopmentinancienthistory.
African past.
The Interlacustrine area is flanked on both east and
See also: Africa, Central: Great Lakes Area; Africa,
Historical Archaeology. west by important freshwater lakes; Lake Victoria,
L.Tanganyika,L.Kivu,andL.Albert.Itisstretched
overtheeasternboundaryoftheDemocraticRepub-
Further Reading lic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Northern
Tanzania, and the western fringe of Kenya. Several
Clist B (2005) Des premiers villages aux premiers Europe´ens
important Stone Age sites have been excavated at
autourdel’estuaireduGabon:Quatremille´nairesd’interactions
Matupi cave, Katanda sites of the Semliky valley, as
entrel’hommeetsonmilieu.Doctoralthesis,Universite´Librede
Bruxelles. well as Munyama cave in Uganda. Late Stone fora-
CornelissenE(2002)Humanresponsestochangingenvironments gersusingmicrolithswerespreadoutinsmallgroups
in Central Africa between 40,000 and 12,000 BP. Journal of over this vast area. The arrival of iron-using Bantu-
WorldPrehistory16:197–235.
speakingfarmersinthefirstmillenniumBCtriggered
deMaretP(1999)Thepowerofsymbolsandthesymbolsofpower
significant long-term increase in settlement size and
through time: probing the Luba past. In: McIntosh SK (ed.)
Beyond Chiefdoms: Pathways to Complexity in Africa, density. The volcanic soils in this highly humid area
pp.151–165.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress. are fertile, productive, and support some among the
KliemanKA(2003)‘ThePygmiesWereOurCompass’.Bantuand highest population density of Africa today. Evidence
Batwa in the History of West Central Africa, Early Times to
for iron smelting dating from the first half to the
c.1900CE.Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann.
middle of the first millennium BC (900–500BC) is
Lanfranchi R and Clist B (eds.) (1991) Aux origines de l’afrique
centrale.Libreville/Paris:CentreCulturelFrancaisedeLibreville, documented at Gasiza I and Mirami III in Rwanda
Se´pia. and the BuHaya region in Northwestern Tanzania.
Lavachery P (2001) The Holocene archaeological sequence of These Urewe farming communities were later joined
Shum Laka Rock Shelter (Grassfields, Western Cameroon).
bylivestockherdersfromtheNilewatershed.Bananas
AfricanArchaeologicalReview18:213–248.
andotherSouthasianspeciestookrootandprospered
Lavachery P, MacEachern S, Bouimon T, et al. (2005) Kome´ to
Ebome´: archaeological research for the Chad Export Project, in the fertile Interlacustrine zone. Bananas, one of
1999–2003.JournalofAfricanArchaeology3:175–193. the Malayo-Polynesia plants, were thought to have