Loading...
5 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
- The archaeological potential of the northern Luangwa Valley, Zambia: The Luwumbu basinPublication . Burke, A.; Bisson, M.; Schilt, Flora; Tolan, S.; Museba, J.; Drapeau, M. S. M.; Aleman, J. C.; Peros, M. C.The Luangwa Basin, Zambia, which forms part of the Zambezi drainage, is strategically located between the Central African plateau and the East African Rift system. The Luangwa River and major tributaries, such as the Luwumbu River, are perennial water sources supporting essential resources that sustain human communities and a rich and diverse fauna and flora. The archaeological record of Luangwa is relatively unknown, despite early archaeological exploration hinting at its potential. Recent research in the southern Luangwa valley, however, suggests that it preserves a long record of hominin occupation spanning the Early to Late Stone Age. The research described here details fieldwork carried out in northeastern Luangwa, in the Luwumbu Basin, that confirms that a relatively deep package of Quaternary deposits, containing evidence of the Stone Age occupation of the region persists in the upper piedmont zone.
- Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragersPublication . Lipson, Mark; Sawchuk, Elizabeth A.; Thompson, Jessica C.; Oppenheimer, Jonas; Tryon, Christian A.; Ranhorn, Kathryn L.; de Luna, Kathryn M.; Sirak, Kendra A.; Olalde, Iñigo; Ambrose, Stanley H.; Arthur, John W.; Arthur, Kathryn J. W.; Ayodo, George; Bertacchi, Alex; Cerezo-Román, Jessica I.; Culleton, Brendan J.; Curtis, Matthew C.; Davis, Jacob; Gidna, Agness O.; Hanson, Annalys; Kaliba, Potiphar; Katongo, Maggie; Kwekason, Amandus; Laird, Myra F.; Lewis, Jason; Mabulla, Audax Z. P.; Mapemba, Fredrick; Morris, Alan; Mudenda, George; Mwafulirwa, Raphael; Mwangomba, Daudi; Ndiema, Emmanuel; Ogola, Christine; Schilt, Flora; Willoughby, Pamela R.; Wright, David K.; Zipkin, Andrew; Pinhasi, Ron; Kennett, Douglas J.; Manthi, Fredrick Kyalo; Rohland, Nadin; Patterson, Nick; Reich, David; Prendergast, Mary E.Multiple lines of genetic and archaeological evidence suggest that there were major demographic changes in the terminal Late Pleistocene epoch and early Holocene epoch of sub-Saharan Africa(1-4). Inferences about this period are challenging to make because demographic shifts in the past 5,000 years have obscured the structures of more ancient populations(3,5). Here we present genome-wide ancient DNA data for six individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years (doubling the time depth of sub-Saharan African ancient DNA), increase the data quality for 15 previously published ancient individuals and analyse these alongside data from 13 other published ancient individuals. The ancestry of the individuals in our study area can be modelled as a geographically structured mixture of three highly divergent source populations, probably reflecting Pleistocene interactions around 80-20 thousand years ago, including deeply diverged eastern and southern African lineages, plus a previously unappreciated ubiquitous distribution of ancestry that occurs in highest proportion today in central African rainforest hunter-gatherers. Once established, this structure remained highly stable, with limited long-range gene flow. These results provide a new line of genetic evidence in support of hypotheses that have emerged from archaeological analyses but remain contested, suggesting increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. DNA analysis of 6 individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years, and of 28 previously published ancient individuals, provides genetic evidence supporting hypotheses of increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene.
- Hunter-gatherer environments at the Late Pleistocene sites of Mwanganda's Village and Bruce, northern MalawiPublication . Schilt, Flora; Miller, Christopher E.; Wright, David K.; Mentzer, Susan M.; Mercader, Julio; Moss, Patrick; Choi, Jeong-Heon; Siljedal, Gunnar; Clarke, Siobhán; Mwambwiga, Aloyce; Thomas, Kelly; Barbieri, Alvise; Kaliba, Potiphar; Gomani-Chindebvu, Elizabeth; Thompson, Jessica C.Mwanganda's Village (MGD) and Bruce (BRU) are two open-air site complexes in northern Malawi with deposits dating to between 15 and 58 thousand years ago (ka) and containing Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblages. The sites have been known since 1966 and 1965, respectively, but lacked chronometric and site formation data necessary for their interpretation. The area hosts a rich stone artifact record, eroding from and found within alluvial fan deposits exhibiting poor preservation of organic materials. Although this generally limits opportunities for site-based environmental reconstructions, MGD and BRU are located at the distal margins of the alluvial fan, where lacustrine lagoonal deposits were overprinted by a calcrete paleosol. This has created locally improved organic preservation and allowed us to obtain ecological data from pollen, phytoliths, and pedogenic carbonates, producing a regional-to site-scale environmental context for periods of site use and abandonment. Here, we integrate the ecological data into a detailed site formation history, based on field observations and micromorphology, supplemented by cathodoluminescence microscopy and mu-XRF. By comparing local, on-site environmental proxies with more regional indicators, we can better evaluate how MSA hunter-gatherers made decisions about the use of resources across the landscape. Our data indicate that while tree cover similar to modern miombo woodland and evergreen gallery forest prevailed at most times, MSA hunter-gatherers chose more locally open environments for activities that resulted in a lithic artifact record at multiple locations between 51 and 15 ka.(C) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- Early human impacts and ecosystem reorganization in southern-central AfricaPublication . Thompson, Jessica C.; Wright, David K.; Ivory, Sarah J.; Choi, Jeong-Heon; Nightingale, Sheila; Mackay, Alex; Schilt, Flora; Otárola-Castillo, Erik; Mercader, Julio; Forman, Steven L.; Pietsch, Timothy; Cohen, Andrew S.; Arrowsmith, J. Ramón; Welling, Menno; Davis, Jacob; Schiery, Benjamin; Kaliba, Potiphar; Malijani, Oris; Blome, Margaret W.; O’Driscoll, Corey A.; Mentzer, Susan M.; Miller, Christopher; Heo, Seoyoung; Choi, Jungyu; Tembo, Joseph; Mapemba, Fredrick; Simengwa, Davie; Gomani-Chindebvu, ElizabethModern Homo sapiens engage in substantial ecosystem modification, but it is difficult to detect the origins or early consequences of these behaviors. Archaeological, geochronological, geomorphological, and paleoenvironmental data from northern Malawi document a changing relationship between forager presence, ecosystem organization, and alluvial fan formation in the Late Pleistocene. Dense concentrations of Middle Stone Age artifacts and alluvial fan systems formed after ca. 92 thousand years ago, within a paleoecological context with no analog in the preceding half-million-year record. Archaeological data and principal coordinates analysis indicate that early anthropogenic fire relaxed seasonal constraints on ignitions, influencing vegetation composition and erosion. This operated in tandem with climate-driven changes in precipitation to culminate in an ecological transition to an early, pre-agricultural anthropogenic landscape.
- Sitwe 23, a Complex ESA/MSA Locality in the Northern Luangwa Valley, ZambiaPublication . Bisson, Michael S.; Burke, Ariane; Schilt, Flora; Aleman, Julie; Peros, Matthew C.; Drapeau, Michelle; Katongo, Maggie; Kayuni, Martha Nchimunya; Museba, Joseph Mutale; Tolan, SteveThis paper describes the lithic aggregates from Sitwe 23 (SW23), a Stone Age locality in a previously unstudied region of the northern Luangwa Valley, Zambia. This area yielded two surface lithic scatters containing abundant artifacts derived from Pleistocene sediments on uplifted terrain and exposed by recent erosion on two adjacent terraces. The scatters are time-averaged palimpsests formed by deflation, but most of the lithics lack evidence of significant fluvial transport or post-depositional damage, indicating minimal horizontal displacement. Typological and attribute analyses of samples from both spurs reveal predominantly simple and expedient core and flake technologies, as well as sophisticated biface manufacture and Levallois technique producing flakes and points that are differentially distributed between the terraces. The artifacts identified in this analysis include types conventionally considered diagnostic of the Acheulean, Sangoan, and Middle Stone Age, suggesting that the collections may document one or more temporal windows during the Chibanian age (770-126 ka). Whether artifacts in these samples were originally deposited sequentially or concurrently is not yet known and alternative hypotheses are presented and discussed. The collections are compared to sites in Zambia and the northern Lake Malawi basin and found to be similar technologically but typologically different. Given the paucity of previously known Ston Age archaeological sites in the region, our work now demonstrates that northern Luangwa has significant archaeological potential and deserves further study. Cet article d & eacute;crit les agr & eacute;gats lithiques de Sitwe 23 (SW23), un site de l'Acirc;ge de pierre situ & eacute; dans une r & eacute;gion auparavant non & eacute;tudi & eacute;e de la vall & eacute;e septentrionale de Luangwa en Zambie. Deux dispersions lithiques en surface, sur deux terrasses adjacentes, ont & eacute;t & eacute; identifi & eacute;es sur un terrain sur & eacute;lev & eacute; et expos & eacute;s par une & eacute;rosion r & eacute;cente, chacune contenant de nombreux artefacts provenant de s & eacute;diments pl & eacute;istoc & egrave;nes. Ces dispersions sont des palimpsestes moyenn & eacute;s dans le temps, form & eacute;s par d & eacute;flation, mais la plupart des artefacts lithiques ne montrent pas d'& eacute;vidences de transport fluvial significatif ou de dommages post-d & eacute;positionnels, indiquant un d & eacute;placement horizontal minimal. Les analyses typologiques et d'attributs des deux zones r & eacute;v & egrave;lent la pr & eacute;dominance d'une technologie d'& eacute;clats et de nucleus simple et exp & eacute;ditive, combin & eacute;e & agrave; une fabrication sophistiqu & eacute;e de bifaces ainsi que d'& eacute;clats et de pointes de technique Levallois qui sont r & eacute;partis de mani & egrave;re diff & eacute;rentielle entre les terrasses. Les artefacts identifi & eacute;s dans cette analyse comprennent des types g & eacute;n & eacute;ralement consid & eacute;r & eacute;s comme diagnostiques de l'Acheul & eacute;en, du Sangoan et du Middle Stone Age, sugg & eacute;rant que les collections pourraient documenter une ou plusieurs fen & ecirc;tres temporelles du Chibanien (770-126 ka). Comme on ignore si ces art & eacute;facts ont & eacute;t & eacute; d & eacute;pos & eacute;s de mani & egrave;re s & eacute;quentielle ou simultan & eacute;e, diff & eacute;rentes hypoth & egrave;ses sont pr & eacute;sent & eacute;es et discut & eacute;es. Des comparaisons de ces collections & agrave; d'autres sites en Zambie et dans le bassin septentrional du lac Malawi r & eacute;v & egrave;lent qu'elles sont technologiquement similaires mais typologiquement diff & eacute;rentes. Compte tenu du manque de sites arch & eacute;ologiques de l'Acirc;ge de pierre connus dans la r & eacute;gion, nos travaux d & eacute;montrent d & eacute;sormais que le nord de vall & eacute;e de la Luangwa poss & egrave;de un potentiel arch & eacute;ologique significatif et m & eacute;rite des recherches suppl & eacute;mentaires.