Pub Date : 2023-06-28DOI: 10.1080/0067270x.2023.2209404
F. Hassan
{"title":"Experiments in Egyptian archaeology — Stoneworking technology in ancient Egypt","authors":"F. Hassan","doi":"10.1080/0067270x.2023.2209404","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270x.2023.2209404","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80542072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-22DOI: 10.1080/0067270x.2023.2226590
Courtneay Hopper
Sibudu rock shelter was occupied by hunter-gatherer groups of modern humans during the Middle Stone Age between 77 and 38,000 (ka) years ago. Sibudu is in the summer rainfall region and is situated about 15 km inland of the eastern coast of South Africa. The site includes technological industries such as the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort that are distinguished by specific stone tool types. Woody taxa identified from archaeological charcoal in this site indicate changes in vegetation and wood use. Archaeological charcoal specimens, specifically from hearths on three putative occupation floors, were analysed for behavioural information about wood selection and use. Two of the stratigraphic layers, BYA2 (i) and SPCA, are approximately 58 ka old, while the MOD layer is approximately 49 ka old. All three layers contain tools from the post-Howiesons Poort industry. Identifications of woody taxa were made by means of a comparative charcoal reference collection and the InsideWood database. Charcoal was studied under stereo and reflective light microscopes. Woody taxa identified confirmed that the coldest, driest phase of occupation was at approximately 58 ka. Bushveld woods, including five Acacia types, were identified in charcoal from MOD layer, ∼49 ka. The vegetation mosaic was different from today’s coastal forest and savanna near Sibudu. The availability of natural wood around Sibudu, visible in the type of wood burnt in hearths, has changed since 58 ka and 49 ka for either climatic or anthropogenic reasons or for a combination of these. In all three layers, the wood bundles include tinder, fuel and a selection of woody plants that today are known to have medicinal bark, leaves and wood. People may have selected wood for burning properties (for example, temperature, light and coal production) and for medicine. Woods suitable for making firesticks for starting fires by means of friction are present. Wood from Spirostachys africana (tambotie) occurs in one hearth in each of the three layers. Since Spirostachys africana is normally avoided in cooking fires as it is poisonous, this suggests that the wood was selected deliberately and burnt for insecticidal smoke or other medicinal purposes. Tarchonanthus parvicapitulatus (syn. T. camphoratus) charcoal occurred in layer SPCA. This adds to the previous evidence of the use of aromatic plants at Sibudu, where sedge bedding was topped with aromatic, insecticidal Cryptocarya woodii (river-quince) leaves (Wadley et al. 2011). Wood use is different between hearths and surrounding sediments and between occupations dating 58 ka and 49 ka.
{"title":"PhD Abstract","authors":"Courtneay Hopper","doi":"10.1080/0067270x.2023.2226590","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270x.2023.2226590","url":null,"abstract":"Sibudu rock shelter was occupied by hunter-gatherer groups of modern humans during the Middle Stone Age between 77 and 38,000 (ka) years ago. Sibudu is in the summer rainfall region and is situated about 15 km inland of the eastern coast of South Africa. The site includes technological industries such as the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort that are distinguished by specific stone tool types. Woody taxa identified from archaeological charcoal in this site indicate changes in vegetation and wood use. Archaeological charcoal specimens, specifically from hearths on three putative occupation floors, were analysed for behavioural information about wood selection and use. Two of the stratigraphic layers, BYA2 (i) and SPCA, are approximately 58 ka old, while the MOD layer is approximately 49 ka old. All three layers contain tools from the post-Howiesons Poort industry. Identifications of woody taxa were made by means of a comparative charcoal reference collection and the InsideWood database. Charcoal was studied under stereo and reflective light microscopes. Woody taxa identified confirmed that the coldest, driest phase of occupation was at approximately 58 ka. Bushveld woods, including five Acacia types, were identified in charcoal from MOD layer, ∼49 ka. The vegetation mosaic was different from today’s coastal forest and savanna near Sibudu. The availability of natural wood around Sibudu, visible in the type of wood burnt in hearths, has changed since 58 ka and 49 ka for either climatic or anthropogenic reasons or for a combination of these. In all three layers, the wood bundles include tinder, fuel and a selection of woody plants that today are known to have medicinal bark, leaves and wood. People may have selected wood for burning properties (for example, temperature, light and coal production) and for medicine. Woods suitable for making firesticks for starting fires by means of friction are present. Wood from Spirostachys africana (tambotie) occurs in one hearth in each of the three layers. Since Spirostachys africana is normally avoided in cooking fires as it is poisonous, this suggests that the wood was selected deliberately and burnt for insecticidal smoke or other medicinal purposes. Tarchonanthus parvicapitulatus (syn. T. camphoratus) charcoal occurred in layer SPCA. This adds to the previous evidence of the use of aromatic plants at Sibudu, where sedge bedding was topped with aromatic, insecticidal Cryptocarya woodii (river-quince) leaves (Wadley et al. 2011). Wood use is different between hearths and surrounding sediments and between occupations dating 58 ka and 49 ka.","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89860712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-03DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2023.2198852
M. Lombard
ABSTRACT This paper reports on, and supplies the checklists for, the known foodplant population currently growing around Diepkloof Rock Shelter, South Africa, within radii of ∼12.5 km, ∼35 km and ∼70 km. It demonstrates that many of the species identified from the shelter’s Middle Stone Age charcoal record still grow on the landscape today and that 33 of the ancient charcoal-identified species are historically known as foodplants in southern Africa. With this contribution the current foodplant species that could serve as dietary resources are extended to 81 within a day’s return trip (∼12.5 km) from the site, 158 within the ∼35 km radius and 170 on the greater foraging landscape extending up to ∼ 70 km from Diepkloof. Data are presented that indicate the proportional increases in plant growth forms and edible plant parts by extending foraging ranges. Initial interpretation of the data shows that foragers may have had adequate access to herbs and shrubs from which leafy vegetables and fruits can be collected, as well as hydrophytes (such as waterblommetjies) within a day’s return trip. To increase especially access to energy-rich corms and roots, they may have used additional/other camp sites or home bases to exploit their ∼35 km foraging range. By travelling over longer distances, access to grass grains that also serve as famine foods can be exponentially increased.
{"title":"The Diepkloof Rock Shelter foodplant fitness landscape, Western Cape, South Africa","authors":"M. Lombard","doi":"10.1080/0067270X.2023.2198852","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2023.2198852","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper reports on, and supplies the checklists for, the known foodplant population currently growing around Diepkloof Rock Shelter, South Africa, within radii of ∼12.5 km, ∼35 km and ∼70 km. It demonstrates that many of the species identified from the shelter’s Middle Stone Age charcoal record still grow on the landscape today and that 33 of the ancient charcoal-identified species are historically known as foodplants in southern Africa. With this contribution the current foodplant species that could serve as dietary resources are extended to 81 within a day’s return trip (∼12.5 km) from the site, 158 within the ∼35 km radius and 170 on the greater foraging landscape extending up to ∼ 70 km from Diepkloof. Data are presented that indicate the proportional increases in plant growth forms and edible plant parts by extending foraging ranges. Initial interpretation of the data shows that foragers may have had adequate access to herbs and shrubs from which leafy vegetables and fruits can be collected, as well as hydrophytes (such as waterblommetjies) within a day’s return trip. To increase especially access to energy-rich corms and roots, they may have used additional/other camp sites or home bases to exploit their ∼35 km foraging range. By travelling over longer distances, access to grass grains that also serve as famine foods can be exponentially increased.","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85618536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-03DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2023.2203551
Gonzalo J. Linares Matás
Abstract
{"title":"PhD Abstract","authors":"Gonzalo J. Linares Matás","doi":"10.1080/0067270X.2023.2203551","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2023.2203551","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89656016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-03DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2023.2215649
B. Clist, J. Denbow, Raymond Lanfranchi
ABSTRACT This paper presents the first review of biases impacting Pleistocene and Holocene radiocarbon dates from Central Africa. Based on the pooling of the research expertise of the co-authors, twenty-four biases are listed, explained and documented and their impact on any radiocarbon date corpus demonstrated. To achieve this, a new corpus has been created of 1764 radiocarbon and TL assays from 601 archaeological sites published in the literature. Each date has been checked for its context. The irregular dynamics of research in space and time seriously impact the end result of previous analyses aiming to achieve a regional understanding of past demographic fluctuations. While peaks in the number of dates from the late Holocene seem to correspond to a positive demographic trend, it is suggested that the declines identified cannot be of any such use for the time being and that today’s picture does not presently support claims of a population “crash” at a regional or local level for any time period. The numbers are obscured by overall research deficits identifiable throughout the region. The maps of the dated sites presented offer good evidence of this and illustrate the vast expanses where no archaeological research has yet been carried out. The number of radiocarbon dates in Central Africa is more an indicator of the effort archaeologists have put into understanding a settlement than it is of ancient demographics. Successive waves of incoming people since c. 3500–3000 cal. BP, the two most important ones known since the 1990s, have created a cultural mosaic of coexisting technological groups. The last 40 years of research have revealed the inner complexity of these waves, some of which avoided parts of the region for centuries, thereby creating an irregular cultural mosaic of land use that is outlined by patterning in the radiocarbon dates.
{"title":"Using the radiocarbon dates of Central Africa for studying long-term demographic trends of the last 50,000 years: potential and pitfalls","authors":"B. Clist, J. Denbow, Raymond Lanfranchi","doi":"10.1080/0067270X.2023.2215649","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2023.2215649","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper presents the first review of biases impacting Pleistocene and Holocene radiocarbon dates from Central Africa. Based on the pooling of the research expertise of the co-authors, twenty-four biases are listed, explained and documented and their impact on any radiocarbon date corpus demonstrated. To achieve this, a new corpus has been created of 1764 radiocarbon and TL assays from 601 archaeological sites published in the literature. Each date has been checked for its context. The irregular dynamics of research in space and time seriously impact the end result of previous analyses aiming to achieve a regional understanding of past demographic fluctuations. While peaks in the number of dates from the late Holocene seem to correspond to a positive demographic trend, it is suggested that the declines identified cannot be of any such use for the time being and that today’s picture does not presently support claims of a population “crash” at a regional or local level for any time period. The numbers are obscured by overall research deficits identifiable throughout the region. The maps of the dated sites presented offer good evidence of this and illustrate the vast expanses where no archaeological research has yet been carried out. The number of radiocarbon dates in Central Africa is more an indicator of the effort archaeologists have put into understanding a settlement than it is of ancient demographics. Successive waves of incoming people since c. 3500–3000 cal. BP, the two most important ones known since the 1990s, have created a cultural mosaic of coexisting technological groups. The last 40 years of research have revealed the inner complexity of these waves, some of which avoided parts of the region for centuries, thereby creating an irregular cultural mosaic of land use that is outlined by patterning in the radiocarbon dates.","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79996147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-03DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2023.2198851
Vincenzo Spagnolo, E. Garcea
ABSTRACT Persistent places are the locations where people aggregate, utilise and reuse natural or built features and develop their social identities and interactions. A network of persistent places forms interconnected persistent settlement patterns, which create a humanly made or storied landscape with a shared community-based memory of place. Although it has been demonstrated that persistent settlement patterns long preceded the onset of Neolithic farming villages, the Levant has received the most attention regarding this perspective. At the same time, Africa still needs to be addressed. This paper provides an illustrative case study of persistent settlement patterns created by Holocene hunter-gatherers in the Middle Nile Valley of Sudan. It employs geostatistical patterning and visual mapping of an extensive collection of different classes of artefacts (lithic industry, hammerstones, ground stone tools and pottery) from a well-preserved Khartoum Variant site on Sai Island and correlates them to complex architectural features exposed on an archaeological surface (Level 1) at site 8-B-10C dating to the early fifth millennium cal. BC. The combination of multiple in-depth geostatistical analyses of a complex habitation system successfully documents an exceptionally preserved planned intra-site settlement organisation maintained over several generations, revealing a memory of place.
{"title":"From settlement patterns to memory of place among Holocene hunter-gatherers at Sai Island, Middle Nile Valley","authors":"Vincenzo Spagnolo, E. Garcea","doi":"10.1080/0067270X.2023.2198851","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2023.2198851","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Persistent places are the locations where people aggregate, utilise and reuse natural or built features and develop their social identities and interactions. A network of persistent places forms interconnected persistent settlement patterns, which create a humanly made or storied landscape with a shared community-based memory of place. Although it has been demonstrated that persistent settlement patterns long preceded the onset of Neolithic farming villages, the Levant has received the most attention regarding this perspective. At the same time, Africa still needs to be addressed. This paper provides an illustrative case study of persistent settlement patterns created by Holocene hunter-gatherers in the Middle Nile Valley of Sudan. It employs geostatistical patterning and visual mapping of an extensive collection of different classes of artefacts (lithic industry, hammerstones, ground stone tools and pottery) from a well-preserved Khartoum Variant site on Sai Island and correlates them to complex architectural features exposed on an archaeological surface (Level 1) at site 8-B-10C dating to the early fifth millennium cal. BC. The combination of multiple in-depth geostatistical analyses of a complex habitation system successfully documents an exceptionally preserved planned intra-site settlement organisation maintained over several generations, revealing a memory of place.","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82076174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-03DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2023.2208483
Renier H. van der Merwe, K. Fowler, K. Sadr
ABSTRACT The migration of the various northern Nguni groups during the nineteenth century is associated with a period of increased and extensive conflict throughout southern Africa. Central to the success of the nineteenth-century northern Nguni kingdoms was the utilisation of a social organisational system known as the regimental system. These regiments were housed in military settlements that would form the core of the various kingdoms’ administrative and military systems. From examining the various military settlements of the northern Nguni kingdoms, two different settlement variations can be observed. The first variant was utilised by the Zulu and Matabele with the second one used by the Ngoni and Swazi. This study advances a new hypothesis relating the nature and origins of these two variants. It is argued that they are more than reflections of the separate historical development of each northern Nguni kingdom and that they result instead from regional developments that occurred within the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The communities that utilise each variant can be linked both historically as well as geographically, with a very distinct geographical divide detectable between them. The hypothesis presented here therefore argues that these variants are reflective of at least two different and simultaneous regimental systems with different corresponding military settlements.
{"title":"A new interpretation of the military settlements of the northern Nguni","authors":"Renier H. van der Merwe, K. Fowler, K. Sadr","doi":"10.1080/0067270X.2023.2208483","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2023.2208483","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The migration of the various northern Nguni groups during the nineteenth century is associated with a period of increased and extensive conflict throughout southern Africa. Central to the success of the nineteenth-century northern Nguni kingdoms was the utilisation of a social organisational system known as the regimental system. These regiments were housed in military settlements that would form the core of the various kingdoms’ administrative and military systems. From examining the various military settlements of the northern Nguni kingdoms, two different settlement variations can be observed. The first variant was utilised by the Zulu and Matabele with the second one used by the Ngoni and Swazi. This study advances a new hypothesis relating the nature and origins of these two variants. It is argued that they are more than reflections of the separate historical development of each northern Nguni kingdom and that they result instead from regional developments that occurred within the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The communities that utilise each variant can be linked both historically as well as geographically, with a very distinct geographical divide detectable between them. The hypothesis presented here therefore argues that these variants are reflective of at least two different and simultaneous regimental systems with different corresponding military settlements.","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85124779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-03DOI: 10.1080/0067270x.2023.2208479
Samuel Lunn-rockliffe
{"title":"East Africa’s human environment interactions: historical perspectives for a sustainable future","authors":"Samuel Lunn-rockliffe","doi":"10.1080/0067270x.2023.2208479","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270x.2023.2208479","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81975544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2023.2180635
M. Morel
In medieval times, a population the so-called Rasikajy was settled on the northeastern coast of Madagascar. This population was in contact with the Indian Ocean trading network, as attested by the presence of imported goods from China, India or Persia in some tombs in the necropolis of Vohémar, excavated in the first half of the 20th century. This population remains under-studied and little is known about their material culture or their way of life. The presence of iron slag in northeastern Madagascar has long been documented in archaeological literature, but no in-depth study had been carried out. The aims of this doctoral project were therefore to describe and better understand these metallurgical remains and the associated technical tradition. Three excavation campaigns and four additional survey campaigns were carried out between 2017 and 2021, completely renewing our knowledge on this area of Madagascar. Approximately 150 slag heaps spread over twenty locations have been described, representing about 450 tons of slag. However, these sites are concentrated in the southern half of the study area, thus defining a spatially delimited metallurgical district. The metallurgical production could be dated by radiocarbon dating to between the 11th and 14th century CE. Before this period, the Rasikajy already knew and used iron tools, but they imported this metal via the Indian Ocean trade. The combined approach of fieldwork and laboratory work has enabled the reconstruction of metallurgical practices, despite the fragile and poorly preserved remains. The Rasikajy technical tradition used a furnace in the form of a simple elliptical bowl dug directly into the sandy substratum, without any clay lining. No clay superstructure could be identified either. However, small walls were built of loose sand, sometimes reinforced with a few stone blocks. A single tuyere, made of stone or clay, was set into this sandy wall and connected to bellows. Lateritic ores, in the form of ferruginous concretions with remarkably high iron content, were reduced in these small structures. When an excess of slag was produced for the capacity of the bassin, the slag was drained off through a small channel dug in the sand. This technical tradition is observed throughout the metallurgical district. However, each site is slightly different, which shows a local adaptation of the technique, probably depending on the availability of raw materials, e.g. to make the tuyere. An detailed chemical (XRF) and mineralogical (XRD, optical microscopy and SEM-EDS) study revealed a high variability in slag composition. This variability is partly due to a high contamination of sand, which is the construction material of the furnace. Mass balance calculations also show that iron production was irregular from one smelting operation to another. In some cases smelting operations even failed, producing no iron at all. The technique appears to be poorly controlled, although the structure of the furnace c
{"title":"Iron metallurgy in northeastern Madagascar: a study of Rasikajy metallurgical production between the 11th and 15th century","authors":"M. Morel","doi":"10.1080/0067270X.2023.2180635","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2023.2180635","url":null,"abstract":"In medieval times, a population the so-called Rasikajy was settled on the northeastern coast of Madagascar. This population was in contact with the Indian Ocean trading network, as attested by the presence of imported goods from China, India or Persia in some tombs in the necropolis of Vohémar, excavated in the first half of the 20th century. This population remains under-studied and little is known about their material culture or their way of life. The presence of iron slag in northeastern Madagascar has long been documented in archaeological literature, but no in-depth study had been carried out. The aims of this doctoral project were therefore to describe and better understand these metallurgical remains and the associated technical tradition. Three excavation campaigns and four additional survey campaigns were carried out between 2017 and 2021, completely renewing our knowledge on this area of Madagascar. Approximately 150 slag heaps spread over twenty locations have been described, representing about 450 tons of slag. However, these sites are concentrated in the southern half of the study area, thus defining a spatially delimited metallurgical district. The metallurgical production could be dated by radiocarbon dating to between the 11th and 14th century CE. Before this period, the Rasikajy already knew and used iron tools, but they imported this metal via the Indian Ocean trade. The combined approach of fieldwork and laboratory work has enabled the reconstruction of metallurgical practices, despite the fragile and poorly preserved remains. The Rasikajy technical tradition used a furnace in the form of a simple elliptical bowl dug directly into the sandy substratum, without any clay lining. No clay superstructure could be identified either. However, small walls were built of loose sand, sometimes reinforced with a few stone blocks. A single tuyere, made of stone or clay, was set into this sandy wall and connected to bellows. Lateritic ores, in the form of ferruginous concretions with remarkably high iron content, were reduced in these small structures. When an excess of slag was produced for the capacity of the bassin, the slag was drained off through a small channel dug in the sand. This technical tradition is observed throughout the metallurgical district. However, each site is slightly different, which shows a local adaptation of the technique, probably depending on the availability of raw materials, e.g. to make the tuyere. An detailed chemical (XRF) and mineralogical (XRD, optical microscopy and SEM-EDS) study revealed a high variability in slag composition. This variability is partly due to a high contamination of sand, which is the construction material of the furnace. Mass balance calculations also show that iron production was irregular from one smelting operation to another. In some cases smelting operations even failed, producing no iron at all. The technique appears to be poorly controlled, although the structure of the furnace c","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76020760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2023.2189392
The
的
{"title":"The exploitation, processing and use of softstone in northern Madagascar and its links to the Indian Ocean world, 800–1500 CE","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/0067270X.2023.2189392","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2023.2189392","url":null,"abstract":"The","PeriodicalId":45689,"journal":{"name":"Azania-Archaeological Research in Africa","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89952888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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