Gobero: The No-return Frontier : Archaeology and Landscape at the Saharo-Sahelian BorderlandElena A. A. Garcea Africa Magna Verlag, 2013 - 293 Seiten The Sahara-Sahel borderland occupies a critical geographical position due to its recurrent latitudinal shifts, continually having a strong impact on humans, animals and plants. Gobero is located at the southern limits of the present Sahara, in Niger. The archaeological record at this site encompasses the re-occupation of the Sahara ca 10,000 years ago until approximately 2000 years ago. During this long period, Gobero witnessed significant fluctuations in climate and water resource availability that resulted in cycles of human occupation, abandonment and re-occupation around a natural basin occupied by a palaeolake, until desertification became an irreversible process and the area turned into a no-return frontier for its occupants. This book presents the archaeological, anthropological and environmental data collected during the 2005 and 2006 field seasons at Gobero. Various factors highlight the extraordinary significance of this site. Thanks to its geographical position, straddling the ancient shifting border(s) of the Sahara and the Sahel, the Gobero's archaeological record reveals critical population movements in this part of Africa and different economic and technological strategies its inhabitants employed to adapt to changing environmental conditions. The presence of both settlement and burial features at Gobero gives a comprehensive view of the cultural, social, economic and funerary traditions of the people who lived and died at this site during almost the entire Holocene. The results from these archaeological investigations provide a term of reference for future research and interpretations of past human occupations in the Sahara, as well as North and West Africa. |
Inhalt
ElenaA A Garcea | 21 |
Abdoulaye lssaka Maga | 32 |
The Archaeological Mapping of the Gobero Area | 38 |
hristopherM Stojanowski | 44 |
PrePastoral Mortuary Practices | 52 |
Conclusion | 62 |
Carlo Girauai | 67 |
Anna Maria Mercuri Isabella Massamba Nsiala Assunta Florenzano | 81 |
Enzo Cocca Giuseppina Mutri | 129 |
Denticulated and notched blade 2 Denticulated bladelet 341 Truncations 58 Lunates 9 Transversal | 144 |
18a Types of arrowheads from G1 | 148 |
PETROLOGIC AND PETROGRAPHIC CHARACTERIZATION OF THE LITHIC MATERIAL | 167 |
Cristina Lemorini Enzo Cocoa | 195 |
ElenaA A Garcea | 209 |
Dorian Fuller | 241 |
Elena A A Garcea | 251 |
aegyptiaea and grasses Photo by I Massamba Nsiala | 83 |
Elisabeth A Hildebrand | 105 |
arlo Girauai Anna Maria Mercuri | 114 |
Elena A A Garcea | 271 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
Acacus Adrar Bous Africa Magna Verlag analysis archaeological arrowheads artefacts assemblages bladelets bone PARIs 1996 Burial squares cal BP cattle central Sahara ceramic Charcoal Chenopodiaceae chert classification Cocca Cornulaca cultural Cyperaceae decorations defined deposits Disait disarticulated G3 drawn to pelvis environmental environments excavated finds first flakes fossil wood G1 and G3 Garcea GIRAUDI Gobero Gobero area Gobero basin hollow-based Holocene Adult Human bone PARIs identified Kiffian lacustrine lacustrine units lake Lakebed G01 light disarticulated lithic lithotypes loosely flexed MERCURI Midden Middle Holocene Monograph Series 9 mottled disarticulated Neolithic Niger No-Return Frontier Palynology Pastoral pearl millet phases Photo plant Poaceae pottery Pre-Pastoral quartz quartzarenite quartzite radiocarbon dates raw materials RosET Sacchi Sahara Sahel Sahelian Sandstone savanna sediments SERENo sherds significant sites G1 specific specimens surface technique Tenerian Tightly flexed tion Total tuff Tumulus types vegetation vitric tuff Wadi