The Sangha River Interval, Its Earliest Village Settlements, and the Bantu-Speakers’ Expansion During the Late Holocene (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo Republic)
Bantu-speakers’ expansion; Central Africa; Holocene; Iron Age; Late Holocene Forest Crisis; Sangha River Interval; Archeology (arts and humanities); Archeology
Abstract :
[en] A broad agreement exists that towards the end of the Holocene in Central Africa there was a drier climatic episode called the “Late Holocene Forest Crisis” (LHFC) that impacted the Central African rainforest, its peak lying between c. 2500 and 2000 cal yr BP. The Sangha River Interval or SRI is such a hypothesized rainforest biome where savannas were understood to have developed. This climate-driven LHFC has been thought to have benefited the first village communities, migrating from Cameroon towards the south before 3000 cal yr BP. We review for the first time all the pertinent and extant data relating to the paleoenvironment and archaeology of this region from the last 3000 years. We conclude the SRI was more limited in extension than previously thought, that tropical forests were maintained within it throughout the period, and lastly, that the earliest pottery-using settlements are dated from c. 2200 cal yr BP. Thus, the SRI probably did not play a role in the expansion of the first village communities because when the Interval was initially settled, villagers had already reached the Congo River near the border to Angola some 800 km away to the south passing through coastal forests and savannas and the inland forests, bypassing the SRI. [fr] Il existe un large consensus sur le fait que vers la fin de l’Holocène en Afrique centrale, il y a
eu une phase climatique plus sèche dénommée “Crise Forestière de l’Holocène Tardif” (LHFC) qui a affecté la forêt tropicale d’Afrique centrale. L’intervalle de la rivière Sangha (SRI) est l’une des régions concernées.
Cette crise forestière a eu en Afrique centrale un impact maximum sur le couvert forestier entre environ 2500 et 2000 ans cal BP. Cette crise climatique aurait profité aux premières communautés villageoises migrant du Cameroun vers le sud depuis avant 3000 cal BP. Nous passons en revue pour la première fois toutes les données pertinentes relatives au paléoenvironnement et à l’archéologie de cette région pour les 3000 dernières années. Nous pouvons conclure que la surface occupée par le SRI était plus restreinte qu’envisagé auparavant, que des forêts tropicales s’y sont maintenues tout au long de la période, et enfin que les premières communautés utilisatrices de poterie sont datés aux environs de 2200 cal BP. Cet intervalle de la rivière Sangha n’a donc probablement joué aucun rôle dans l’expansion des premières communautés villageoises car lorsque l’Intervalle a été initialement peuplé, d’autres villageois avaient déjà atteint le fleuve Congo, près de la
frontière angolaise, à quelque 800 km de là vers le sud, traversant les forêts et savanes côtières ainsi que les forêts de l’intérieur, contournant le SRI.
Clist, Bernard ; Institut des Mondes Africains (IMAF), Unité Mixte de Recherches, Paris, France
Doucet, Jean-Louis ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Gestion des ressources forestières
Giresse, Pierre; Centre de Formation et de Recherche sur les Environnements Méditerranéens (CEFREM), UMR CNRS 5110, Université de Perpignan, Perpignan, France
Maley, Jean; Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France ; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, France
Language :
English
Title :
The Sangha River Interval, Its Earliest Village Settlements, and the Bantu-Speakers’ Expansion During the Late Holocene (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo Republic)
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