The Emergence of Pottery in Africa During the Tenth Millennium Cal BC

View metadata,citationandsimilarpapersatcore.ac.uk at Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms ∗ 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 .Ballouche A. eevd 0Otbr20;Acpe:3 aur 09 eie:2 eray2009 February 20 Revised: 2009; January 30 Accepted: 2008; October 30 Received: 63) hstcnlgclcmlxi sal eadda nepeso fteintensified the of expression an as regarded usually the is 2004: (Habu complex with arrowheads East technological bifacial coincides Near small This and distinctive the 26-36). by transition in marked industries Pleistocene–Holocene than with lithic linked earlier the of is appearance years at Asia East 5000 amelioration in than pottery climatic of wares more emergence the ceramic BC, The 2006). produce cal Kuzmin to 000 119-42; 2002: began 10 (Yasuda first and China 000 and 15 Siberia between Japan, in Africa populations and Prehistoric Asia in pottery of emergence The bread. into made Keywords: than seeds rather the now) however, subsistence Africa, as are new In (then ceramics grasses. a boiled early wild of probably abundant pottery very components were with where of the associated were Asia, use ecology arrowheads East an first bifacial in exploiting this small strategy As ceramic and that Sahara. and pottery the show lithic the in authors known, a period The also wet light BC. warm to cal a brought 9400 with have before coincides Mali from in dates Ounjougou that at assemblage ravines in excavations New Huysecom E. (Mali) Ounjougou from evidence BC: new cal millennium tenth the Africa during in pottery of emergence The ANTIQUITY [email protected]) [email protected]) (Email: France (Email: France F-92023, Nanterre, [email protected]) Paris-X of University CNRS, [email protected]) 7041 UMR Arscan – [email protected]) AnTET lab. [email protected]) [email protected]; [email protected]) eateto esine,Uiest fFior,Fior,C-70 wteln (Email: Switzerland CH-1700, Fribourg, Fribourg, [email protected]) (Email: France of F-33607, Pessac, (Email: Bordeaux, of University University 5060, Germany UMR CRP2A, Geosciences, F-49000, Frankfurt, Angers, of Angers, of D-60323 University Department (LEESA/UA), Systems University, Anthropogenic on [email protected]) (Email: Goethe Studies Egypt Environmental Cairo, Helwan, Lab. of Sciences, University Botany, of Department Archaeological and of France, F-76821, Institute (Email: France F-14000, St-Aignan, Caen, Normandie, Mont Caen-Basse of University Rouen, CNRS, 6554 Geophen-LETG-UMR of Lab. (Email: University Switzerland 6228, CH-1211, Geneva, IDEES Geneva, CNRS-UMR of Ledra, University Lab. Ecology, and Anthropology of Department a.ATT–Asa M 01CR,Uiest fPrsXNner,F903 rne(Email: France F-92023, Nanterre, Paris-X of University CNRS, 7041 UMR Arscan – AnTET Lab. uhrfrcorrespondence for Author https:/www.cambridge.org/core 3(09:905–917 (2009): 83 fia aaa u-aaa,Shl al ooee iailarwed,ceramics arrowheads, bifacial Holocene, Early Sahel, Sub-Saharan, Sahara, Africa, 6 1 .Ozainne S. , ∗ . https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00099245 .Rasse M. , . University of BaselLibrary 2 1 .Lespez L. , .Maggetti M. , , on 905 30 May2017 at20:00:06 3 .Neumann K. , 7 h Tribolo Ch. , , subjectto theCambridgeCore termsofuse,available 4 .Fahmy A. , 8 &S.Soriano provided byRERODOCDigitalLibrary brought toyouby 5 , 9 CORE Research The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC

exploitation of plant and animal resources, often including small-seeded grasses (Richerson et al. 2001). In Africa, the earliest pottery has been found in the large mountain massifs of the Central Sahara, in the Eastern Sahara and the Nile Valley. About 30 14C and luminescence dates have placed the emergence of ceramics in the Sahara and the Nile Valley between the end of the tenth and the beginning of the ninth millennium cal BC (Close 1995: 24-7; Roset 2000; Jesse 2003: 40-42; Haaland 2007: 171-5). This can be related to the sudden onset of a warmer and wetter climate in the Early Holocene that enabled the re-settling of the Sahara after the hyperarid phase of the last glacial maximum, the ‘Ogolien’ (Nelson et al. 2002: 97-9). The origin of the earliest African pottery is controversial and has been much discussed, with three hypothetical scenarios proposed. The first theory places the emergence of ceramics in the Nile Valley, based principally on the early exploitation of aquatic resources and wild cereals in this region (Haaland 1992: 47). The second suggests an origin somewhere south of the Sahara (Close 1995: 23), but until recently the oldest finds of sub-Saharan ceramics were only dated to the eighth millennium cal BC, both at Lothagam in Kenya (Robbins 1974), and in the Ravin du Hibou at Ounjougou in Mali, for Phase 2 of its Holocene occupation sequence (Huysecom et al. 2004: 584). A third assumes that pottery was invented by relict populations who had survived in ecological refuge zones of the Sahara during the hyperarid Late Pleistocene (Jesse 2003: 43). Within the framework of the international research project ‘Palaeoenvironment and Human Population of West Africa’ (Huysecom 2002), we have discovered ceramic sherds at the site of Ravin de la Mouche at Ounjougou, associated with an original lithic industry and in stratified contexts dated from before the end of the tenth millennium cal BC. This discovery throws new light on the chronology of the emergence of ceramics in Africa and its environmental context.

The Early Holocene sequence at Ounjougou The research programme at Ounjougou (14◦20 N, 3◦30 W) began in 1997 and since 2004 has developed in two parallel ravines, Ravin du Hibou and Ravin de la Mouche,where several ceramic sherds were discovered in layers that could be attributed to the initial phases of the Holocene (Figure 1). In our latest field season in September 2007, we established the definitive chronostratigraphic sequence for these two ravines and clarified the position of the pottery and the associated lithic assemblage. In general, the Holocene sedimentary sequence here is primarily composed of channel infilling due to a high-energy flow of water, strongly contrasting with the underlying Pleistocene silts and more recent Holocene silty formations (Rasse et al. 2006). It is now possible to divide the Early Holocene into five large chronostratigraphic units, identified from top to bottom as HA4 to HA0. The high precision chronological ranges in the titles of the next sections are based on Bayesian analysis results of 14C and OSL dates (see Technical Appendix).

The HA4 formation (6700-8100 cal BC) The most recent formation, HA4, of ﬁne-grained particle size and particularly well- developed in the Ravin du Hibou, has yielded artefacts from cultural Phase 2 of the

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Research The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC A 99.6) ranges of = σ and 2 σμ σ 2 σ 1 9116 8935 9191 8862 9027 9477 9152 9959 8932 9376 7032 6654 7096 6173 6729 8439 7926 8521 7683 8132 σ 2 Calibrations Bayesian hpd (Amodel σ 1 + − OSL Age + − ), the agreement indice for each date (A) and the agreement index for the whole model μ CBP 4 1 Quartz grains 10700 900 8800 8351 8896 7996 8501 134 Quartz grains 9800 1000 7067 6829 7124 6544 6892 93.5 Quartz grains 11000 1200 7684 7234 7846 7070 7466 63 3 / 4 21 / 00/5/4 01/5 Ly-9335Ly-9334 Wood charcoalLy-9339 Wood charcoal 8085Ly-6804 Wood charcoal 8080 50 Wood charcoal 8115 55 8210 50 60 7174 6867 7173 7291 6848 7172 6826 7295 7052 7121 7317 6820 7312 6868 7086 7134 6861 7137 7450 7046 7182 6836 7066 7183 7070 7026 7322 6923 7306 116 7143 7083 7056 7451 132 7160 7077 7243 89.2 101 04 ETH-28745 Wood charcoalETH-31278 Wood charcoalETH-23540 9515 Wood charcoal 9610 70ETH-31279 9590 70 Wood charcoalETH-28746 70 Wood charcoal 9510 9785 70 70 9121 8744 9184 9155 8841 9148 8638 9233 8836 8916 8790 9224 8766 8939 9121 8773 9054 8799 8734 9036 9315 8715 9040 9151 8861 9201 8859 8756 8638 9131 9441 109 8886 9178 8821 8925 9024 8966 9296 97.6 9231 111 9157 8943 9366 9094 8927 9208 84 87.1 ETH-20214 Wood charcoalETH-27144 8700 Wood charcoalETH-27143 75 Wood charcoalETH-27142 9150 Wood charcoal 9365 70 9500 70 75 7816 7598 8166 8452 7582 8286 7817 8741 8551 7599 8556 9120 8256 8166 8815 8659 8535 7582 8350 9152 8293 7765 8730 8629 8601 8559 8812 99 8263 8800 8645 8415 8359 8891 8626 92.6 8572 104 8739 102 Bayesian hpd (highest posterior density), the mean ( HA2/HA3 HA1/HA2 HA2 Table 1. Radiocarbon and OSL dates, with details of the OxCal plot results. The columns on the right of the table give theUnit/transitions 1 SampleEnd HA4 Material HA4 (Amodel). See also Technical Appendix. HA3/HA4 HA3

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Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 30 May 2017 at 20:00:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00099245 at Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms nteuprpr fteui H2cd.Two (HA2/c-d). unit the of part upper important the an (Lespez deposits in indicates Pleistocene which the into (HA2/a-b), erosion al bank unit river et Pleistocene the and grey river of meandering with base the sediments of the alluvial incision at sandy silty particularly of blocks, composed silty is HA2 unit HA3, Under BC) cal (9000-9400 formation HA2 The Six ponds. permanent with meandering floodplain a a indicates in This flowing remains. organic load, with coarse layers a silt with sandy river, grey and lenses sand In BC) cal (8100-9000 formation HA3 The frdt cr rs-eddcas adadgae ihge litcn itblocks, silt Pleistocene grey (Lespez with river gravel braided and a through sand running composed coarse sequences flows several cross-bedded high-energy of ochre consists suggesting and to thick 2-5m red is HA1 of unit HA2, and HA3 BC) Below cal 9400 (before formation HA1 The 0B,Fgr ,Tbe1.H2i oslsi ihamsiesrcueadfwchannels few and developed structure vegetation massive from a with originating soil phytoliths fossil and (9510 a coating, BC is HA2 clay cal 1). 9400 with Table and 1, Figure 9000 BP, between 70 sterile, archaeologically is n n S aealwu opaeti omto fH3bten80 n 00cal 9000 and 8100 between HA3 of formation this place to 9150 us (between allow BC date OSL one and reseisadadnegleyfrs ihtervrn tree Sahelo-Sudanian riverine few the a with with gallery-forest grassland dense open a of and existence species the tree indicate layer this in phytoliths iia otemdr otenShl ihdmntn nul (Barboni annuals grassland dominating a with to Sahel, points phytoliths northern cell modern short the Poaceae of to spectrum similar The surface. land ancient es alr-oetwt hd-oeatundergrowth. shade-tolerant from a with originating indicating palms gallery-forest component and dense Marantaceae from allochtonous a morphotypes with an soil, fossil Wasylikowa contain the populations 1999; of also flooding Barakat prehistoric episodic & samples by (Fahmy Holocene phytolith used Middle also The and were 2001). Early commonly and the are during 1989) Sahara which (Harlan the grains today subfamily in Sahel grass edible the The with represented. in species well collected annual are numerous 2006) (Piperno comprises – Panicoideae morphotypes panicoid – level Neumann ln h aecuss tpit oteeitneo emnn ae ore hc is which source, water permanent a of (Str existence growth the palm to for vegetation points woody essential It denser the watercourses. of the constituents also along were undergrowth the in Marantaceae and oeeiec ffie u nyi h alr-oet(Neumann gallery-forest the in only but fire, of evidence some one eai rget daee 5m hcns -m)wihmgtrpeeta The represent might small sedimentation. which two material. 7-8mm) and alluvial older thickness flakes of quartz season 15mm, re-deposition isolated (diameter dry some fragments by ceramic and characterised rounded are wet HA3 of alternating finds archaeological from resulting sediments ihiscasradfie aia,H3rpeet h aletHlcn rhythmic Holocene earliest the represents HA3 laminae, finer and coarser its With ai el Mouche la de Ravin https:/www.cambridge.org/core 08.Teealva eiet xeine lgtpdgnss atclryvisible particularly pedogenesis, slight a experienced sediments alluvial These 2008). . tal et 09.AogtePaee hr elpyoih dnial osubfamily to identifiable phytoliths cell short Poaceae, the Among 2009). . . https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00099245 − + 0B n 9610 and BP 70 eo A,ui A opie ucsino eea coarse several of succession a comprises HA3 unit HA4, below , . University of BaselLibrary meg20) n o aaa(rone 00.Teeis There 2000). (Arbonnier Uapaca for and 2004), omberg ¨ .Huysecom E. − + 0B,Fgr ,Tbe1.Caca,ple and pollen Charcoal, 1). Table 1, Figure BP, 70 , on 909 30 May2017 at20:00:06 14 tal. et ae lc h A eune which sequence, HA2 the place dates C Syzygium , subjectto theCambridgeCore termsofuse,available tal et 2009). . aaa ets Palms Celtis, Uapaca, . − + 0B n 9785 and BP 70 tal et nsitu in 08.The 2008). . tal et 14 Cdates 2007; . nthe on − +

Research The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC

phytolith samples in HA1 are very poor, due to the low amount of silt, and are therefore not interpretable in terms of the vegetation during this period. Only a few micro-charcoals were found in HA1, and gave a Pleistocene age, showing the importance of re-deposited sediments. OSL dating failed in the coarse and badly (if at all) bleached sediments. However, the 14C and OSL dates of units HA2, HA3 and HA4 constitute a reliable terminus ante quem of 9400 cal BC for unit HA1 and the re-deposition of the archaeological material (Figure 1, Table1). The archaeological remains of HA1 include the oldest ceramic sherds and a rich lithic industry. The artefacts, although out of archaeological context and reworked, were discovered in a well-characterised sedimentary sequence, accurately positioned in the stratigraphic sequence between the Pleistocene deposits and the ﬁrst dated early Holocene sediments (HA2). They represent a former occupation on the river banks, the sites having been eroded by ﬂuvial activity and their material re-deposited in HA1. The good preservation of two ceramic sherds and the slight wearing on the ridges of the lithic material show clearly that they had not been transported over long distances.

The HA1 assemblage The lithic assemblage of unit HA1 numbers 479 objects, primarily knapped from quartz cobbles. It is characterised by small bifacial fusiform or oval foliate points (Figure 2), obtained by bifacial shaping, in some cases by pressure flaking, and by the absence of geometric microliths. Among the other retouched tools are drill bits, borer, burins and end-scrapers. This toolkit, although in secondary position, can be securely attributed to the Early Holocene, since these types are significantly absent in the MSA industries of the region, Figure 2. Bifacial arrowheads from unit HA1, directly particularly drill bits, borers and bifacial associated with the sherds. points. The latter, based on their size, morphology and shaping technique, are quite different from those recovered in the recent phases of the MSA at Ounjougou (Robert et al. 2003). Moreover, retouched tools are rare or absent in MSA industries at Ounjougou, although here they represent 6.2 per cent of the entire assemblage. The other retouched tools within HA1 unit (sidescrapers, retouched flakes, scaled pieces and denticulates) could also be observed in MSA industries so they could not be securely attributed to Early Holocene. Three ceramic sherds from the base of the stratigraphic unit HA1A (Figure 3) are associated with this industry (their dimensions are respectively 100, 35 and 15mm). Their thickness ranges from 4.5 to 7mm. Only one form could be reconstituted as a hemispherical bowl with a simple rim and a diameter of 0.21m. One sherd shows a number of impressions which could not be precisely identified. Microscopic analysis of two samples shows a silicate matrix, free of carbonates, with 20-30 per cent of the volume being non-plastic inclusions. These are mainly well-rounded quartz monocrystals with a thin recrystallization border, very

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Research The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC

Figure 4. Summary of 14C dates from African sites with ceramics contemporaneous with the HA1, HA2 and HA3 formations at Ravin de la Mouche at Ounjougou, in chronological order. The Ravin de la Mouche 14 C dates are here represented as simple calibrations.

After a review of the evidence, we have decided to exclude a series of dates lacking a clear stratigraphic context from the discussion: the earliest 14C date of Uadi Ti-n-Torha in Libya 9080 −+ 70 BP (R-1036, Barich 1974: 149), Tamaya Mellet in Niger 9350 −+ 170 BP

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Research The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC

Table 2. Summary of 14C dates and calibrations from African sites with ceramics contemporaneous with the HA1, HA2 and HA3 formations at Ounjougou. RavindelaMouchedates appear here as simple calibrations in chronological order. Country Site N˚ Lab 14CBP −+ Cal BC 1σ Cal BC 2σ Egypt Bir Kiseiba E-79-8 SMU-757 8920 130 8274 7846 8323 7610 Niger Adrar Bous 10 N 9030 190 8535 7940 8700 7612 Egypt Bir Kiseiba E-79-8 SMU-861 9060 80 8428 8207 8536 7969 Soudan Wadi el Akhdar UtC-6536 9080 50 8310 8246 8437 8226 Niger Adrar Bous 10 9100 150 8563 8004 8713 7823 Niger Tagalagal 9100 120 8541 8221 8633 7955 Niger Adrar Bous 10 9130 65 8437 8277 8541 8245 Niger Tagalagal 9150 90 8525 8279 8610 8235 Mali Mouche HA3 ETH-27144 9150 70 8450 8285 8550 8255 Egypt Bir Kiseiba E-79-8 SMU-914 9180 140 8597 8275 8790 7971 Niger Tagalagal 9330 130 8753 8348 9120 8284 Soudan Sarurab 2 HAR-3476 9339 110 8755 8354 9116 8293 Egypt Bir Kiseiba E-79-8 SMU-927 9350 120 8780 8352 9120 8295 Mali Mouche HA3 ETH-27143 9365 70 8739 8555 8814 8348 Soudan Sarurab 2 HAR-3475 9370 110 8796 8461 9120 8308 Niger Tagalagal 9370 130 8817 8350 9132 8298 Egypt Bir Kiseiba E-79-8 SMU-758 9440 230 9147 8481 9393 8224 Mali Mouche HA3 ETH-27142 9500 75 9119 8658 9150 8628 Mali Mouche HA2 ETH-31279 9510 70 9119 8733 9150 8636 Mali Mouche HA3 ETH-28745 9515 70 9120 8743 9154 8637 Mali Mouche HA3 ETH-23540 9590 70 9147 8835 9222 8772 Egypt Bir Kiseiba E-79-8 SMU-928 9610 150 9220 8813 9336 8561 Mali Mouche HA3 ETH-31278 9610 70 9183 8839 9231 8789 Mali Mouche HA2 ETH-28746 9785 70 9313 9200 9440 8923 Egypt Bir Kiseiba E-79-8 SMU-858 9820 380 10015 8759 10660 8326

(Connor 1984), found just below ground surface, as well as at depths of 0.10 and 0.60m. In the publication, the excavator indicates for the deepest sherd: ‘it is possible that the sherd might have been moved to this depth by traffic over the surface of the site’ (Connor 1984: 240). Three other sherds were nearby surface finds. The seven 14C dates obtained on charcoal, unfortunately, have large error margins and as a result a broad range for the calibration, which ranges from the end of the eleventh millennium to the beginning of the eighth millennium cal BC (between 9820 −+ 380 BP and 8920 −+ 130 BP). Without stratigraphic context to clearly correlate the three sherds and the dates, it is not possible to go further in the interpretation of this site in terms of dating the emergence of ceramics. From a palaeoenvironmental viewpoint, geomorphological and sedimentological analyses in Ravin de la Mouche indicate a powerful hydrologic regime for this period that remodelled the landscape on the valley floor. This allows us to identify a relationship between the emergence of the ceramic and lithic assemblage with one of the humid phases of the Pleistocene–Holocene transition recently recognised in West Africa (DeMenocal et al. 2000; Duplessy et al. 2005; Lezine´ et al. 2005). This corresponds most probably to the abrupt resumption of the African monsoon after the Younger Dryas, between 10 050 and

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Research The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC

outsider and can be discarded. In complement to the posterior for each data, one can calculate the most likely interval for the transitions between the phases. The general chronological ranges used to describe the HA4-HA0 units are based on the intervals calculated for those transitions (68.2% confidence interval and μ). In particular, this allows concluding that the transition between HA1 and HA2 occurred between 9477 and 9152 cal BC with 68.2% confidence interval (between 9959 and 8932 with 95.4% confidence interval; μ = 9376. See Table 1).

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