Abstract
Settlement mounds in the Chad basin of north-east Nigeria provide excellent archaeobotanical evidence for the use of wild and domesticated grasses over the last 4000 years. Plant impressions in potsherds were investigated from Gajiganna. Casts of these well-preserved impressions revealedPaniceae and wild rice together with the earliest domesticatedPennisetum americanum in the area, dating to 1200–1000 cal BC. The occupation of Gajiganna ended when the occupation at Kursakata and Mege began, around 1000–800 cal BC. The macroremains of these two mounds indicate two different patterns of plant use. In Kursakata, one of the oldest domesticatedPennisetum americanum in West Africa was found charred together with wild grasses, mostly of the tribePaniceae. In contrast to this mixed agriculture and hunter-gatherer economy, subsistence at Mege was probably based on wild grasses.
This is a preview of subscription content,log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ballouche, A. and Neumann, K. (1995). Pollen from Oursi/Burkina Faso and charcoal from NE Nigeria: a contribution to the Holocene vegetation history of West African Sahel.Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 4 (1), 31–39.
Bawden, M. G., (1972). Geomorphology. In (Tuley, ed.)The Land Resources of North East Nigeria I. Surbiton: Land Resource Division, pp. 60–70.
Breunig, P. and Neumann, K. (1996). Archaeological and archaeobotanical research of Frankfurt University in a West African context.Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs268 8, 181–191.
Breunig, P., Neumann, K. and van Neer, W. (1996). New Research on the Holocene Settlement and Environment of the Chad Basin in Nigeria.African Archaeological Review 13 (2), 111–145.
Breunig, P., Ballouche, A., Neumann, K., Rösing, F.W., Thiemeyer, H., Wendt, K.-P. and Van Neer, W. (1993). Gajiganna–New data on early settlement and environment in the Chad Basin.Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs268 2, 51–74.
Connah, G. (1981).Three Thousand Years in Africa. Man and his Environment in the Lake Chad Region of Nigeria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gronenborn, D., Wiesmüller, B., Skorupinski, T. and Zach, B. (1996). Settlement History of the Kala-Balge Region of Bomo State, Nigeria.Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs268 8, 201–213.
Harlan, J. (1971). Agricultural origins: Centers and Noncenters.Science 174, 468–474.
Neumann, K., Ballouche, A. and Klee, M. (1996). The emergence of plant food production in the West African Sahel: new evidence from northeast Nigeria and northern Burkina Faso. In ( G. Pwiti and R. Soper, eds.)Aspects of African Archaeology. Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications, pp. 441–448.
Servant, M. (1983). Séquences continentales et variations climatiques: Evolution du bassin du Tchad au Cenozoique superieur. Paris,Travaux et Documents de l’Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique Outre-Mer 159, 547.
Thiemeyer, H. (1992). On the age of the Bama Ridge–A new 14C-record from Konduga area, Bomo State, NE-Nigeria.Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie N.F. 36 (I), 113–118.
Wendt, K.-P. (1995). Magerung und Oberflächenbehandlung–Zur chronologischen Interpretation technischer Merkmale in der Keramikentwicklung in Nordost Nigeria.Berichte des Sonderforschungsbereichs268 5, 41–47.
Wendt, K.-P. (1997).Beiträge zur Entwicklung der prähistorischen Keramik des inneren Tschadbeckens in Nordost-Nigeria. PhD. Thesis. University of Frankfurt, Germany.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Seminar für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Archäologie und Archäobotanik Afrikas, J. W. Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Marlies Klee & Barbara Zach
- Marlies Klee
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
- Barbara Zach
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester, University Road, LE1 7RH, Leicester, England
Marijke van der Veen
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Klee, M., Zach, B. (1999). The Exploitation of Wild and Domesticated Food Plants at Settlement Mounds in North-East Nigeria (1800 cal BC to Today). In: van der Veen, M. (eds) The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6730-8_8
Download citation
Publisher Name:Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN:978-1-4419-3316-4
Online ISBN:978-1-4757-6730-8
eBook Packages:Springer Book Archive
Share this chapter
Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:
Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative