Conny Waters – MessageToEagle.com – Prehistoric populations of hunter-gatherers have been thoroughly examined in Europe, Asia, and eastern Africa, but the last population of these people in West Africa remains insufficiently documented.
Now we’ll know much more about hunter-gatherers of in West Africa thanks to a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) working on one of the rare archaeological sites in Senegal dating back to the early Holocene, over 9,000 years ago.
Lithic material found in layer 4 of RBX-1. (1–6) Chert micro-tranchets. (7) Chert segment. (8–9) Hematite micro-tranchets. (10) Greywacke scraper. (11) Hematite polished axe. (12) Hematite polished needle fragment. (13) Hematite polished and retouched adze fragment. Drawings: E. Gutscher. Photos: C. Pruvost.
Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have studied one of Senegal’s rare archaeological sites, which dates back to the early Holocene, over 9,000 years ago. Their research has led to new insights into the communities that lived during this period and the stone-knapping techniques they utilized for tool-making.
Prehistoric hunter-gatherers survived by hunting, gathering, and fishing. Nomadic or semi-nomadic, they moved with the seasons to find resources. This lifestyle was universal until the Neolithic period when pottery, animal husbandry, and agriculture emerged at different times worldwide.
‘’In this part of the continent, climatic and geological factors have not favored the preservation of stratified remains in the soil. Yet stratification is crucial: it captures successive phases of occupation and provides key information on chronology, lifestyle changes, and climatic and environmental evolution,’’ explains Anne Mayor, director of the ARCAN Laboratory at UNIGE’s Faculty of Science and senior lecturer and researcher at the Global Studies Institute.
In West Africa, the presence of prehistoric populations of hunter-gatherers is much harder to trace.
Flake cores, diverse cores, pebble fragment with bipolar percussion on anvil traces. Photos and CAD: C. Pruvost and E. Gutscher.; Source
According to Anne Mayor, director of the ARCAN Laboratory at UNIGE’s Faculty of Science and senior lecturer and researcher at the Global Studies Institute, climatic and geological factors in this region have not been contributive to preserving stratified remains in the soil.
Stratification is crucial because it records successive phases of human occupation and give valuable insights into chronology, lifestyle changes, as well as climatic and environmental evolution.
In 2017 researchers led by Eric Huysecom — an honorary professor at UNIGE and then director of the research project “Human Population and Paleoenvironment in Africa” discovered the Ravin Blanc X site in Senegal’s Falémé Valley. Exceptionally well-preserved despite its small surface area of 25 m², the deep layer of this site, uncovered beneath a much more recent Neolithic deposit, offers a rare snapshot of the early Holocene — the temperate interglacial era in which we still live today. This period followed nearly 10,000 years of severe drought in the region.
Researchers have successfully discovered and analyzed the remnants of a 9,000-year-old quartz knapping workshop, as well as an associated fireplace.
’We didn’t find any formal quartz tools — the hunter-gatherers took them — but we did find a pile of production waste. By patiently piecing together the flakes and cores that had remained in place since then, like a jigsaw puzzle, we were able to reconstruct the techniques used, the criteria for selecting high-quality quartz, and the skill level of the knappers,’’ explains Charlotte Pruvost, lead author of the study.
The few West African archaeological sites from this period feature small stone tools, or ”microliths,” used as hunting weapons.
Comparing Ravin Blanc X with other dated sites reveals technical similarities, suggesting shared traditions among the last hunter-gatherers in the African savannahs.
These microliths demonstrate sophisticated craftsmanship in the production of standardized tools.
Source – University of Geneva via Eurekalert
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer