tropical Africa; Cameroon; tropical forest; archaeology; charcoal analysis; oil palm; human disturbances; human settlements; slash and burn agriculture; Holocene
Abstract :
[en] Palaeoecological and archaeological studies have demonstrated that human populations have long inhabited the moist forests of central Africa. However, spatial and temporal patterns of human activities have hardly been investigated with satisfactory accuracy. In this study, we propose to characterize past human activities at local scale by using a systematic quantitative and qualitative methodology based on soil charcoal and charred botanical remains. A total of 88 equidistant test-pits were excavated along six transects in two contrasting forest types in southern Cameroon. Charred botanical remains were collected by water-sieving and sorted by type (wood charcoals, oil palm endocarps, and unidentified seeds). A total of 50 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry 14C dates were also obtained. Results showed that charred macroremains were found at multiple places in the forest, suggesting scattered human activities, which were distributed into two main periods (Phase A: 2300-1300 BP – Phase B: 580 BP to the present). Charred botanical remains indicated two types of land use: (i) domestic, with oil palm endocarps most often associated with potsherds (villages) and (ii) agricultural, with charcoal as probable remnant of slash-and-burn cultivation (fields). Oil palm endocarp abundance decreased with distance from the identified human settlements. Our methodology allowed documenting, at high resolution, the spatial and temporal patterns of human activities in central African moist forests and could be applied to other tropical contexts.
Disciplines :
Archaeology Life sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others Environmental sciences & ecology Arts & humanities: Multidisciplinary, general & others History
Gorel, Anaïs ; Université de Liège > Ingénierie des biosystèmes (Biose) > Gestion des ressources forestières et des milieux naturels
Vleminckx, Jason; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB
Gillet, Jean-François; Nature Forest Environment
Bourland, Nils; Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale
Hardy, Olivier J; Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB
Livingstone Smith, Alexandre; Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale
Daïnou, Kasso ; Université de Liège > Ingénierie des biosystèmes (Biose) > Laboratoire de Foresterie des régions trop. et subtropicales
Dedry, Laurent; Université de Liège - ULiège
Beeckman, Hans; Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale
Doucet, Jean-Louis ; Université de Liège > Ingénierie des biosystèmes (Biose) > Laboratoire de Foresterie des régions trop. et subtropicales
Language :
English
Title :
High spatial resolution of late-Holocene human activities in the moist forests of central Africa using soil charcoal and charred botanical remains
Publication date :
05 June 2016
Journal title :
Holocene
ISSN :
0959-6836
eISSN :
1477-0911
Publisher :
SAGE Publications
Volume :
26
Issue :
12
Pages :
1954-1967
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
FRIA - Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture FRFC - Fonds de la Recherche Fondamentale Collective Fonds Léopold III pour l'Exploration et la Conservation de la Nature F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
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