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Charcoal from West African Savanna Sites

Questions of Identification and Interpretation

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The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa

Abstract

The identification and interpretation of charred wood from sites in the West African savanna present a number of problems and are subject to a number of restrictions. Identification to species level is rarely possible due to the large number of species in each family or genus, and the variability of some anatomical characters. Rubiaceae, Anacardiaceae/Burseraceae and the three Leguminosae families Mimosaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Papilionaceae are especially difficult in this regard, whereas Capparidaceae and Combretaceae offer no problems, at least at the level of genus. Site formation processes affect the degree to which fragments of charcoal can be used for interpretative analyses. Samples from sandy soils are often both badly preserved and completely mixed, and those from caves and rock shelters, although usually well preserved, have also commonly suffered from disturbance. The best results have been obtained from stratified settlement mounds which developed in the Sahel during the last 3000 years. Other variables, such as the selective gathering of firewood, make that a qualitative rather than a quantitative approach seems most appropriate. Despite these restrictions, charcoal identification offers the possibility of detailed reconstructions of the former woody vegetation in the direct vicinity of the site. However, before drawing extensive palaeoclimatic conclusions, local site conditions have to be taken into account and the ecological range of the species in question should be carefully examined.

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  1. Seminar für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Archäologie und Archäobotanik Afrikas, J.W. Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany

    Katharina Neumann

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  1. School of Archaeological Studies, University of Leicester, University Road, LE1 7RH, Leicester, England

    Marijke van der Veen

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Neumann, K. (1999). Charcoal from West African Savanna Sites. 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_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6730-8_17

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