Stevens, Nixon, Murray, and Fuller present this volume on archaeobotany of Africa. After an introductory chapter from the editors outlining the state of the field, the book begins with several contributions on Paleolithic evidence on early hominid interactions with plants and dietary practices. Evidence for plant domestication in western Africa is then explored, with chapters covering finds in Mali, Senegal, Nigeria, and Cameroon, including investigations of millet cultivation, mangroves, and a chapter tracing Bantu linguistics. The volume next turns to archaeobotanical approaches to studying complex societies, including different epochs of Egyptian history and the relationship of agricultural practice to political dynamics, analyzing at least one instance of possible disappearance of agriculture on La Palma island. Finally, the book ends with methodological discussion and the potential for linguistics, other strains of archaeology, and data correlation approaches to complement archaeobotany in building a picture of early ethnobotanical history. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
The first major synthesis of African archaeobotany in decades, this book significantly advances our knowledge of relationship between agriculture and social complexity.
1. African Archaeobotany Expanding, Dorian Q Fuller, Sam Nixon, Chris J.
Stevens and Mary Anne Murray2. Primate Archaeobotany: The Potential for
Revealing Nonhuman Primate Plant-Use in the African Archaeological Record,
Michael Haslam3. Dietary Diversity: Our Species-Specific Dietary Adaptation,
Gordon Hillman and Michele Wollstonecroft4. Seeds at Sibudu: A Glimpse of
Middle Stone Age Vegetation at Sibudu Cave, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa,
Christine Sievers5. Understanding Late and Terminal Pleistocene Vegetation
Change in The Western Cape, South Africa: The Wood Charcoal Evidence from
Elands Bay Cave, Caroline Cartwright, John Parkington and Richard Cowling6.
Early Millet Farmers in the Lower Tilemsi Valley, Northeastern Mali, Katie
Manning and Dorian Q Fuller7. Holocene Vegetation Change and Land Use at
Ounjougou, Mali, Barbara Eichhorn and Katharina Neumann8. Early
Agro-Pastoralism in The Middle Senegal Valley: The Botanical Remains from
Walalde, Shawn Sabrina Murray and Alioune Deme9. Humans and the Mangrove in
Southern Nigeria, Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie and M. Adebisi Sowunmi10. Plant and
Land Use in Southern Cameroon Between 400 BC and AD 400, Stefanie Kahlheber,
Alexa HAhn and Katharina Neumann11. Wild Trees in the Subsistence Economy of
Early Bantu Speech Communities: A Historical-Linguistic Approach, Koen
Bostoen12. Archaeobotany of Two Middle Kingdom Cult Chambers at North
Saqqara, Egypt, Ahmed Gamal-El-Din Fahmy, Nozomu Kawai and Sakuji
Yoshimura13. Botanical Insights into the Life of an Ancient Egyptian Village:
Excavation Results from El-Amarna, Chris J. Stevens and Alan J. Clapham14.
Agricultural Innovation and State Collapse in Meroitic Nubia: The Impact of
the Savannah Package, Dorian Q Fuller15. Islands of Agriculture on Victoria
Nyanza, Andrew Reid and Ceri Ashley16. Archaeobotanical Investigations of the
Iron Age Lundu State, Malawi, Ingrid Heijen17. Prehistoric Plant Use on La
Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain): An Example of the Disappearance of
Agriculture in an Isolated Environment, Jacob Morales, Amelia Rodriguez and
Aguedo Marrero18. Patterns in the Archaeobotany of Africa: Developing a
Database for North Africa, the Sahara and The Sahel, Ruth Pelling19. The
Archaeobotany of Farming Communities in South Africa: A Review, Alexander
Antonites, Annie Raath Antonites20. Linguistic Evidence and the Origins of
Food Production in Africa: Where Are We Now?, Christopher Ehret21. African
Agricultural Tools: Implications of Synchronic Ethnography for Agrarian
History, Roger Blench22. Leaving a Lasting Impression: Arable Economies and
Cereal Impressions in Africa and Europe, Meriel McClatchie and Dorian Q
Fuller23. The Use of Plants In Iron Production: Insights from Smelting
Remains from Buganda, Louise IlesIndex
Chris J Stevens, Sam Nixon, Mary Anne Murray, Dorian Q Fuller
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