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The Fifth International Workshop for African Archaeobotany will
be held 2-5 July, 2006
at the Institute of Archaeology,
University College London. For scheduled papers and absracts select days below.
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The Fifth International Workshop for African Archaeobotany will
be held 2-5 July, 2006 |
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Tuesday, 4 July, 2006 Session: Agricultural beginnings: cultivation, domestication and early dispersal ABSTRACT
Katharina Neumann JW Goethe University
Phytolith analysis is a valuable archaeobotanical tool in humid tropical regions where plant macro-remains do not well preserve. It has been successfully applied in Oceania and the Neotropics in detecting early agriculture. Phytolith research in Africa mostly concentrates on palaeoecology, such as the forest-savanna problem, and has only recently started to address topics of prehistoric plant use and domestication. However, phytoliths can contribute to answer a major question of African archaeobotany: which crops were cultivated by the early farming populations (“Bantu”) immigrating into the Central African rainforest after 1000 BC? The banana is a likely candidate. Its phytoliths from the first millennium BC site Nkang in Cameroon have ignited a debate about the introduction of this crop at a much earlier date than previously assumed. But “banana hunting” is not the only objective of phytolith research in Central Africa. The paper discusses the chances and limits of basic studies on modern phytoliths and archaeological phytolith assemblages in this region. ... return to Tuesday schedule Wednesday, 5 July, 2006 ....... Monday, 3 July, 2006 |
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