Sensory research on San rock art has often focused on whether acoustic effects influenced the selection of places to be painted or engraved. This article addresses the issue from a different perspective by examining the auditory affordances of Game Pass shelter, one of the most iconic rock art sites in southern Africa. Using impulse-response measurements adapted from room acoustics, we analyzed reverberation, clarity, definition, and sound strength within the shelter. The results show that Game Pass is acoustically “dry,” with low reverberation and local reinforcement of direct sound through early reflections. Rather than producing spectacular sonic effects, the site offers conditions in which sounds involved in performative practices could remain clear while gaining presence at specific listening positions. Although these measurements do not demonstrate that specific performances took place at the shelter, they indicate the kinds of sonic practices Game Pass could have supported. More generally, the study suggests that the acoustic significance of painted shelters may lie less in unusual phenomena than in how their auditory affordances facilitate performances involving sound and contribute to multisensory engagement with rock art.
Bored disc fragments of quartzitic sandstone were excavated from Welgevonden Rock Shelter and collected from the surface of the talus slope of Dwaalhoek 11 Rock Shelter on Kaingo Game Reserve in the Waterberg. The fragments represent stages of manufacture, breakage, and occasional recycling as grinders. Naturally flat slabs were knapped, often bifacially, to shape discs. Then, small, rounded hollows were pecked to thin the center of both disc faces. Finally, a central hole was pecked and/or punched, probably using a short, narrow stone reamer. Large, sharp-edged discs may have been hafted axes. Small bored discs resemble stone spindle whorls used by Iron Age farmers, but they were probably imitations for ritual purposes. Eiland facies ceramic sherds were also excavated. Since farmers did not live in rock shelters, it seems likely that makers of Eiland ceramics used Welgevonden for working with rain. The performance of drilling discs to make spindle whorls may have been part of the ritual. A rock art motif at a nearby site suggests that the area was also used by Bushmen for working with rain. Conceptually, threads are important for Bushmen and for Iron Age farmers, and both groups link them to rain. Threads spun on spindle whorls are woven into fine cotton for Iron Age chiefs, who are charged with producing rain for their subjects. When Bushman rain specialists trance, they climb threads to access the sky. Here, or from water pits, they use threads to lead rain animals to slaughter.
Decades of research on iron production in south-central Africa have emphasized the myriad ways that iron smelting and smithing formed fundamental political, economic, and technological institutions throughout the region. The specific socio-technical decisions ironworkers employed during production, and the ways that iron production practices shaped local and regional political economies, are nonetheless always historically specific and culturally mediated processes. This paper brings together historical, ethnographic, metallurgical, archaeological, and geophysical data from the Machile Valley, Western Zambia. In doing so, we detail dramatic and non-uniform spatial, social, and technical variations in smelting and smithing practices over the past 1000 years. That these variations and innovations in practice occur within a 40-km stretch of the Machile Valley underscores the nuance that can emerge from locally focused research, and hints at the region’s place in broader historical trends in south-central Africa.
This article examines the impact of colonial borders on the interpretation of medieval archaeology in the Horn of Africa, focusing on the region now divided between Ethiopia and Somaliland. The boundary established in the 1930s fragmented what had historically been an integrated cultural and economic landscape, leading to uneven research trajectories and hindering the reconstruction of historical processes whose scope transcended modern political limits. Through an archaeological project conducted between 2022 and 2025 in the Aw Bare and Harawo woredas of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, nineteen sites—fifteen previously unknown for the academic literature—were identified and documented, allowing for a reassessment of medieval Muslim settlement patterns between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. The results reveal a hierarchical sedentary occupation, ranging from major urban centers such as Aw Bare and Aw Boba to medium-sized villages, small hamlets, and isolated dwellings, alongside defensive structures and specialized cemeteries. Excavations at Aiyanle produced a detailed stratigraphic sequence, imported materials, and radiocarbon dates that place the site’s peak during the rule of the Barr Saʿd al-Dīn Sultanate, followed by a decline associated with its collapse in the late sixteenth century. In parallel, substantial evidence of nomadic occupation was recorded, including ritual aggregation sites, cemeteries, and craft-related activity areas. Together, these data reveal a densely occupied and highly complex landscape in which sedentary and nomadic communities interacted dynamically. The findings also challenge interpretations shaped by contemporary borders and offer new insights into territorial organization, economic strategies, and religious practices in the medieval Muslim Horn of Africa.
Nestled between East and Southern Africa, the Stone Age archaeology of Mozambique offers important insights into Later Stone Age (LSA) behavioral variability across a region pivotal to understanding human adaptations. Here, we present results from technological analysis, refitting and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of the newly discovered site of Chessungalane (CHE) in south-central Mozambique. OSL dates indicate occupation spanning 23–7 ka, corresponding to the early LSA through Wilton periods. Technological analysis of lithic artifacts, refitting, and raw material survey reveals differential technological investment strategies employed by LSA groups. Chert was introduced during last occupation phase for systematic bladelet production through complex reduction sequences, likely due to its scarcity and superior knapping qualities. In contrast, quartz and quartzite were procured during all the occupation phases for simple flake production via shorter, simpler reduction sequences, reflecting their local abundance and fracture constraints. Preliminary comparison with contemporaneous LSA sequences from the broader region suggests that CHE followed a distinct technological trajectory, with bladelet production appearing significantly later in time, highlighting the importance of regional variability in shaping LSA technological behavior. The results demonstrate a strong relationship between raw material availability, quality, and technological investment, and contribute critical new data to the largely undocumented LSA record of Mozambique.
Collating all available information, literature, data, and research history on the Turkwel tradition and the material, narratives, and interpretations that have been linked to it, the paper reviews the similarities, differences, and nuances of the assemblages and sites associated with the 1st millennium CE tradition found across South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. It discusses issues and shortcomings in how we treat the distinctive grooved pottery as a fossil directeur, but also highlights the area-specific localizations in material culture, production processes, and subsistence that make this tradition so variable. Through the analysis focused on ceramics, it also proposes a division of Turkwel into two phases and a northern and southern facies, links the former typological isolate to South Sudan’s Lokabulo tradition, and points to new avenues of research that could shed light on social dynamics in the 1st millennium CE and the Pastoral Neolithic-Pastoral Iron Age transition. The review proposes to treat the Turkwel tradition and its peoples as bricoleurs, adopting and appropriating new and existing practices and ideas into their culture. The trait might be a symptom of broader socio-cultural and technological developments happening in East Africa at the time that contributed to a flurry of new ceramic wares and which indicates new attitudes towards the “materialization” of identity.
Thurstan Shaw recovered more than 150,000 glass beads during his excavations at the famous site of Igbo-Ukwu which he meticulously sorted into morphological types. The geographic origin(s) of these beads and the presumed trade route(s) by which they reached the site have been the subject of debate. Here we report the results of chemical compositional analysis of 104 beads chosen to sample the diversity of the assemblage. Six chemical types of glass are identified, several of which were manufactured from raw materials in West Africa. We relate these both to their findspots in the site (Igbo Isaiah or Igbo Richard) and to Shaw’s bead types, new descriptions of which are provided here. A majority of the beads were made from plant-ash soda-lime glass, mostly manufactured in Mesopotamia but also in Egypt and possibly the Levant. This glass type predominates at Igbo Isaiah whereas a wider range of glass types, many of West African (Nigerian) origin, were found at Igbo Richard. Some of Shaw’s morphological bead types were made from more than one chemical type of glass; different glass chemical types may have been pooled in making some batches of beads indicating that many beads, including those of imported glass, were probably made or finished in the vicinity of Igbo-Ukwu and/or elsewhere in West Africa. These include some exquisitely decorated tiny beads likely made at or near Igbo-Ukwu by a highly skilled glassworker. The contextual and technological data provide insights into the chronology of Igbo-Ukwu and West African trade.
Despite being at the crossroads of the well-studied worlds of ancient Egypt and Nubia, the archaeology of the Atbai Desert, the region between the Nubian Nile and the Red Sea, is still in its infancy. Cultural horizons are poorly defined, and patterns and chronologies of human habitation are only slowly emerging. As part of the satellite remote sensing workflows of the Atbai Survey Project, a common monumental burial feature has been identified across the entire Atbai Desert from Upper Egypt to the Eritrean borderlands, typified by a circular stone enclosure wall with internal burials—labelled here as “Atbai Enclosure Burials (AEBs).” This monumental feature, a local manifestation of common Saharan prehistoric burial practice, while exhibiting diverse architectural features, presents a consistent burial tradition across the entire desert expanse between the Nile and Red Sea. These features are a unique manifestation of a local pastoralist culture we broadly date to the fourth and third millennia BC, whose beginning was coeval with the southward displacement of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone. Its termination is likely linked with harsher environmental conditions and increasing anthropogenic pressures on vegetation cover after the end of the African Humid Period.
This study presents the first systematic analysis of deliberately modified, perimortem-processed human crania from the island of La Palma (Canary Islands). The assemblage—comprising seven manipulated skulls recovered from different funerary caves—constitutes an unprecedented corpus both within the Canary archipelago and across the broader Amazigh cultural sphere of North Africa, from which the indigenous island populations originated. Although cranial manipulation has been documented worldwide, from the Upper Paleolithic to contemporary periods, no parallels have been identified either in the Canary Islands or in the Maghreb during the period corresponding to the permanent settlement of the archipelago (1st–fifteenth centuries CE). Through detailed macroscopic assessment of cutmarks, chopmarks, drilling, trauma, and perimortem processing, combined with radiocarbon-dating models, this research reveals standardized technical practices linked to the acquisition, preparation, and display of isolated human heads. These findings expand the interpretive frameworks concerning the ritual, symbolic, and socio-political uses of human remains among early island societies and offer new comparative insights for the study of North African Amazigh populations of the first half of the second millennium CE.
This article discusses how community-based collaborative efforts by the Amedeka Archaeological Project (AAP) in the southeastern region of Ghana can foster sustainable relationships between archaeologists and local communities. We also critically examine three interconnected dimensions that shape the future of equitable, community-engaged research in Ghanaian archaeology by reflecting on our positionalities, the evolving directions of our research questions, and the partnerships we build and sustain with the communities we are privileged to work with.
The region west of the Falémé Valley in eastern Senegal, where several distinct smelting traditions have been identified, is key to understanding early West African iron metallurgy, which remains globally underdocumented in this part of the continent. Excavations carried out in 2018 and 2022 at the Didé West 1 site (DDW1) uncovered an exceptionally well-preserved slag heap dated between the 4th century BCE and the 4th century CE, representing nearly eight centuries of activity. The site belongs to the FAL02 smelting tradition and revealed 35 circular clay-lined furnace bases producing internal slag blocks, numerous massive multiperforated tuyeres, and the distinctive use of palm nuts as stuffing material. This outstanding preservation offers a unique opportunity to investigate long-term technological continuity and adaptation. The stratigraphic and spatial analyses made it possible to reconstruct both the chronological sequence and the evolution of the workshop’s layout, which gradually shifted northward over time. Quantitative estimations suggest that iron smelting was likely small-scale and seasonal, primarily aimed at meeting local needs. Despite its extraordinary longevity, the tradition remained remarkably stable, with only minor technical adjustments. This technique and its continuity contrast with other metallurgical contexts and highlight the significance of technological choices in early iron production.
Feasting played key roles in Swahili society during the medieval (c. 800–1500 CE) and colonial (c. 1500–1963 CE) periods, contributing to sociopolitical transformation and Islamic practice. However, the zooarchaeological signatures of feasting in the Swahili context remain poorly studied. Here, we report faunal remains recovered from the Friday Congregation Mosque Complex at Mtwapa to examine feasting and commemorative practices during the 15th–seventeenth centuries, a transitional period that saw the abandonment of stone towns and the beginnings of colonialism. Mtwapa experienced depopulation, but the Complex remained important for rituals, ancestor veneration, and socioeconomic display. Fauna from tombs and the fill of an abandoned guardhouse reveal that, although unexpected species (such as those forbidden under Islamic law) were found, feasts centered on marine fish, caprines, cattle, and chickens. These foods were not dissimilar from those found in quotidian contexts at other sites. Fish were dominated by Lethrinidae, a family of reef-dwelling species that can be caught with handlines, and caprines outnumbered cattle. Moreover, the abundance of fish relative to mammals and birds and the ratio of caprine-sized bovids to cattle-sized bovids grew over time, suggesting feasts increasingly relied upon common foods as the economic reach of elites contracted.
Since the Khartoum Neolithic was first identified, gouges have frequently been associated with this cultural horizon, yet their function has remained a subject of ongoing debate. Interpretations of their use have often been speculative, lacking robust scientific evidence from systematic analysis. This article addresses this gap by presenting a comparative study between experimentally replicated tools and archaeological specimens. The experimental gouges were produced by an experienced flintknapper using rhyolite from the Sabaloka region—the same geological source as the archaeological artifacts. These tools were then used in controlled tasks, specifically soil-working and woodworking, to generate diagnostic use-wear traces. The resulting wear patterns were carefully documented and compared with those observed on archaeological gouges recovered from the Neolithic sites of Fox Hill and Kadero in central Sudan. Through this analysis, the study provides more grounded insights into the functional role of gouges during the Khartoum Neolithic period and contributes to a deeper understanding of tool use in early agricultural societies in the region.
The destruction of archaeological heritage during construction projects has remained a vexing issue in Archaeology globally and in West Africa in particular. While considerable advances have been made elsewhere, particularly in the USA and Europe, the practice of pre-construction archaeology is yet to have a firm root in West Africa and Nigeria in particular. This article presents recent efforts at pre-construction archaeology in Benin, Nigeria.
This article reports on a short survey carried out on the Tagant escarpment in southeastern Mauritania. This area has a great number of stone-built settlement and funerary sites and an unknown number of sites without stone architecture. The sites show continuity with the well-known neighbouring Tichitt complex of the Ceramic Late Stone Age. However, the Tagant escarpment has so far only been subject to one programme of fieldwork in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Recently, remote sensing work has been carried out there, but many important questions remain unanswered. This article presents the archaeological remains of two areas on the escarpment, laying the groundwork for future field research in this part of Mauritania.
The foothills of the Drakensberg are a significant region in understanding the links between environmental conditions and the spread of social networks across southern Africa. Strathalan Cave is an important site in this region yielding an extensive Holocene-aged deposit. Here, we report on the preliminary results from the ongoing excavations of Strathalan Cave A. Radiocarbon dates place the occupations between c. 5500 and 9000 yrs cal. BP with most occupations focused at around 7200 yrs cal. BP. Three allostratigraphic units were exposed in the deposit (A1, A2 and A3) with unit A2, the most anthropogenic unit, yielding combustion features and layers of bedding. The lithics are flake-dominated consisting mostly of hornfels but with a substantial CCS component showing little variation through time. A small quantity of ceramic fragments was recovered which may correspond to thin-walled LSA ceramics traditions, although at least one fragment may be associated with farming communities. The presence of rock art linked to the post-contact period also indicates that the cave was occupied from the early Holocene to the historic period. Grazers such as mountain reedbuck dominate the small faunal sample, but a range of browsing ungulates were also recorded. Bone tools were also noted. Of particular interest are a pestle, probably used to grind moist plant material, and a bone point, likely used for plant-based fibre processing. Plant remains were numerous, with charcoal analyses indicating an abundance of Protea and other grassland tree species. The phytolith data also show relatively high concentrations of phytoliths linked to trees in the deposit. The preliminary data indicate an environment of grassland interspersed with thicket, similar to today, with human occupations peaking between c.7000 and 8000 yrs cal. BP. We argue that depositional changes through the sequence may be linked to local-scale environmental shifts.
Ceramic pots have long served a wide range of functions due to their favourable performance characteristics. While still used in some African societies today, their role has dramatically decreased over the past century, largely due to the spread of industrial containers such as plastic, glass, and metal. This study investigates a century of evolution of pottery use among the Jóola Kaasa people (Lower-Casamance, Senegal), using an ethnoarchaeological approach. The comparative study of ethnographic pots from the village of Edioungou (early twenty-first century) and archaeological pots from a disposal area (twentieth century) long used by the inhabitants allowed us to highlight diachronic changes in pottery and better understand their replacement by metal, glass and plastic containers. Results reveal uneven disappearance rates among vessel types, such as decreasing water transportation vessels, persisting fish cooking pots, and increasing palm wine serving vessels, showcasing that the process is far from linear. By putting research on the Jóola Kaasa village into perspective with the investigations carried out on other ethno-linguistic groups in Senegal, this study shows that the replacement of pottery by metal, glass and plastic containers is shaped not only by performance characteristics but also by economic, religious, cultural, and social factors. This work contributes to broader debates on material culture change and the replacement of pots with imported modern materials.
Excavations at Ratho Kroonkop, a rain-control site in the Limpopo Valley, South Africa, yielded a large faunal assemblage consisting of both wild and domestic taxa. This paper reports the results of a detailed taphonomic analysis of the entire faunal assemblage from Ratho Kroonkop. By utilizing standardized zooarchaeological identification methods, combined with established taphonomic indicators of anthropogenic, zoogenic, and natural bone modifiers examined macro- and microscopically, our study determined that there are spatial differences in the frequency of anthropogenic modifications and in carcass dismemberment patterns between two distinct areas of the site. Additionally, we established that the central areas of Ratho Kroonkop were likely used for additional carcass dismemberment, particularly in the case of large and very large mammals, and bones were exposed to heat, natural elements, and carnivore activity in these areas. The taphonomic data also indicates that Ratho Kroonkop was not utilized as a domestic space but rather as a ritual one. Les fouilles de Ratho Kroonkop, un site de r & eacute;gulation des pr & eacute;cipitations situ & eacute; dans la vall & eacute;e du Limpopo en Afrique du Sud, ont mis au jour un important assemblage faunique compos & eacute; d'esp & egrave;ces sauvages et domestiques. Cet article pr & eacute;sente les r & eacute;sultats d'une analyse taphonomique d & eacute;taill & eacute;e de l'ensemble de cet assemblage. Gr & acirc;ce & agrave; l'utilisation de m & eacute;thodes d'identification zooarch & eacute;ologiques standardis & eacute;es, combin & eacute;es & agrave; des indicateurs taphonomiques & eacute;tablis de modifications osseuses anthropiques, zoog & eacute;niques et naturelles, examin & eacute;s macroscopiquement et microscopiquement, notre & eacute;tude a permis de d & eacute;terminer l'existence de diff & eacute;rences spatiales dans la fr & eacute;quence des modifications anthropiques et dans les sch & eacute;mas de d & eacute;membrement des carcasses entre deux zones distinctes du site. De plus, nous avons & eacute;tabli que les zones centrales de Ratho Kroonkop & eacute;taient probablement utilis & eacute;es pour le d & eacute;membrement suppl & eacute;mentaire des carcasses, en particulier dans le cas des grands et tr & egrave;s grands mammif & egrave;res, et que les os y & eacute;taient expos & eacute;s & agrave; la chaleur, aux intemp & eacute;ries et & agrave; l'activit & eacute; des carnivores. Les donn & eacute;es taphonomiques indiquent & eacute;galement que Ratho Kroonkop n'& eacute;tait pas utilis & eacute; comme un espace domestique, mais plut & ocirc;t comme un lieu rituel.
In the Konso agricultural system, terracing is one of the most significant traditional techniques used to protect soil from erosion and to accumulate water in agricultural fields. With the objectives of understanding climate resilient agriculture, dry land farming and traditional agricultural terraces, ethno-botanic and ethno-archaeological investigations were conducted in different parts of the Konso Zone between 2021 and 2023. Based on archaeological surveys, six abandoned and active terraced agricultural fields were identified and described. The local inhabitants in the terraced lands commonly plant trees like, Moringa stenopetala (cabbage tree), and Terminalia brownii (tropical almond); cultivate crops as Eragrostis tef (teff), Sorghum bicolor (sorghum), Zea mays (maize), Eleusine coracana (finger millet), Cajanus caja (pigeon pea), Glycine max (soybean), Linum usitatissimum (linseed), Rhamnus prinoide (Gesho), Catha edulis (chat), and Coffee arabica (coffee). The terraces in Konso are predominantly concentrated between 1400 and 2000 m above sea level on stony and steep slopes that are very fragile and susceptible to erosion. Because the terraced land is narrow, fragmentary and eroded, it is not conducive for ox-plough or mechanized agriculture. Instead, the Konso people use their hands and hoe (locally known as payra) to cultivate the land. The technological construction of Konso traditional terracing and agricultural practices are reflections of altitude and topography. The Konso people have endured hostile conditions, difficult terrain, and unpredictable rain by adopting terrace farming methods. They have changed their fragile ecology and difficult mountainous topography and remain to be examples of resilience and adaptation to hostile environment for almost millennia. Radio-carbon dating on charcoal from excavation of one of the abandoned agricultural terraces in Konso zone provided a date of 1235 ± 30 BP, hinting us to a long history of traditional terrace agriculture.
