Neumann, Katharina, Eichhorn, Barbara and Wotzka, Hans-Peter ORCID: 0000-0002-5713-278X (2022). Iron Age plant subsistence in the Inner Congo Basin (DR Congo). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. Springer Nature. ISSN 0939-6314

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Abstract

Around 400 bc, pottery- and iron-producing populations immigrated into the Inner Congo Basin (ICB) and subsequently spread upstream some major tributaries of the Congo River. Until recently, their subsistence was almost completely unknown. We present an archaeobotanical study of three sites in the ICB covering parts of the Early Iron Age (ca. 400 bc-ad 650) and of the Late Iron Age (LIA) as well as subrecent times (ca. ad 1300–2000). We studied 82 flotated samples of botanical macroremains, and 68 soil phytolith samples, recovered from the terra firme sites Iyonda and Mbandaka, and the floodplain fishing camp site of Bolondo. The EIA assemblage from Iyonda yielded domesticated Cenchrus americanus (pearl millet), Vigna unguiculata (cowpea), Canarium schweinfurthii, Elaeis guineensis (oil palm), several wild plants, and parenchyma fragments tentatively attributed to Dioscorea sp. (yams). The exploitation of these plants originated in the savannas and forest-savanna ecotones of West Africa. The presence of C. americanus in LIA contexts at Bolondo and Mbandaka, dated to ca. ad 1350–1550, indicates that its cultivation is not dependent on a seasonal climate with a distinct dry season, contrary to previous views. The role of C. americanus as a staple is difficult to assess; it might have been used for special purposes, e.g. beer brewing. In spite of extensive screening, we did not detect any banana phytoliths in the EIA samples. Musa phytoliths were only present in LIA contexts after ca. ad 1400, leaving room for the possibility that the introduction and spread of Musa spp. AAB ‘Plantain’ in the ICB was a late phenomenon.

Item Type: Journal Article
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCIDORCID Put Code
Neumann, KatharinaUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Eichhorn, BarbaraUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Wotzka, Hans-PeterUNSPECIFIEDorcid.org/0000-0002-5713-278XUNSPECIFIED
URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-537422
DOI: 10.1007/s00334-021-00865-8
Journal or Publication Title: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany
Date: 2022
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISSN: 0939-6314
Language: English
Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 2: Archäologie, Altertumskunde und Kulturen des Mittelmeerraums > Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte > Abteilung D - Forschungsstelle Afrika
Subjects: History of ancient world
Related URLs:
Refereed: Yes
URI: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/53742

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