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Farming Beyond the Escarpment: Society, Environment, and Mobility in Precolonial Southeastern Burkina Faso

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Farming Beyond the Escarpment: Society, Environment, and Mobility in Precolonial Southeastern Burkina Faso FARMING BEYOND THE ESCARPMENT: SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT, AND MOBILITY IN PRECOLONIAL SOUTHEASTERN BURKINA FASO by Daphne E. Gallagher A dissertation submitted in partial fufillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in The University of Michigan 2010 Doctoral Committee: Professor Richard I. Ford, Co-Chair Assistant Professor Rebecca D. Hardin, Co-Chair Professor Paul E. Berry Professor John D. Speth Professor Henry T. Wright © Daphne Gallagher All Rights Reserved 2010 To Stephen ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A project of this scope is never the work of one person, and I am deeply grateful to all of those who have provided support throughout the process. The pilot season of fieldwork in 2004 was funded by the University of Michigan Center for Afro- and African American Studies (CAAS-Africa Initiative) and the Museum of Anthropology Griffin Fund. A National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant provided the primary funding for the 2006 fieldwork in Burkina Faso, supplemented by additional funds from the Department of Anthropology. Additional post-field analyses were funded by The Richard I. Ford Fund for the Anthropological Study of Humans and the Environment (University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology). In Burkina Faso, field research was facilitated by Dr. Lassina Kote of the University of Ouagadougou. Dr. Kote’s insights on every aspect of the project from the practical to the theoretical were invaluable, and I am especially grateful for his taking time to visit me in the field. At the CNRST, Drs. Vincent Sedogo and Eloi Bambara ensured that we held all proper research permits, and Dr. Oumarou Nao at the Ministry of Culture granted export permits for the faunal and botanical samples. Drs. Millogo and Kiethega graciously supported the project and sponsored the participation of Marcel Zongo, a student at the University of Ouagadougou, who was an invaluable and enthusiastic assistant in the field. In Maadaga, our research was received with enthusiasm by the local community including the hundreds of farmers who answered our questions and allowed us to walk through their fields. In addition, I thank SIM for their hospitality over both field seasons. Yao Guire and his family were ambassadors for us with the local community, and provided incredible insights into the region. Finally, Diassibo “Zeze” Ouaba worked with us every day, acting as interpreter and guide. It is largely due to his dedication and patience that the project was successful. In Ouagadougou, the Tassin- Pelzer family and Scott and Liz Sommers generously invited us into their homes. iii The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology has been an incredibly stimulating environment in which to do this research- Kent Flannery, Joyce Marcus, John O’Shea, Jeff Parsons, Carla Sinopoli and Bob Whallon have all left their mark on this thesis. I also wish to thank the larger community of Africanist archaeologists who have supported and influenced me along the way including Hamady Bocoum, Mamadou Cisse, Barbara Eichorn, Alexa Hohn, Stefanie Kahlheber, Daouda Keita, Chapuruhka Kusimba, Sibel Kusimba, Shawn Murray, Katarina Neumann, Annet Schmidt, and Ibrahima Thiaw. My cohort, Liz Bridges, Dan Pugh, Kenny Sims, and Sudha Shah, have seen me through the ups and downs of graduate school. Liz in particular went above and beyond during the last few months of this process to ensure that I was able to defend and deposit the thesis on schedule. Likewise the Africanist student community in the Museum- Amy Lawson, Cameron Gokee, Amanda Logan, and Anne Compton- is a cohort of its own. A few others who require a particular mention: Christoph Pelzer and Richard Kuba for taking Shawn, Ellis, and myself to Timbuktu; Lucas Petit for answering pottery questions on short notice; Sunday Eiselt and Andy Darling for providing write-up space; Anna Marburg for the consultations on academia; and Amanda Edmonds for the moral support and tough love when I needed it. Finally, three groups of people require special mention. Susan and Rod McIntosh introduced me to the possibilities of West African archaeology and took me with them to Mali while I was still an undergraduate. Without their inspiration, this project never would have been conceived, and their input has continued to be invaluable. My committee -Richard Ford, Rebecca Hardin, Paul Berry, John Speth, and Henry Wright- has been unfailingly patient and supportive throughout the dissertation process. The influence of my co-chairs, Dick and Rebecca, is present on every page of this dissertation. Whenever I got bogged down in the details, Rebecca helped me find enthusiasm for the big picture. Dick has been my biggest supporter since the first day of graduate school, and graciously came out of retirement to see this dissertation through to its completion. Over the past ten years, both have transformed how I understand the environment and the ways people live in it, and I hope our conversations on these topics have only just begun. Finally, my family and the one I married into have been unfailingly supportive- providing advice, encouragement, and a place to write. However, the one person without whom this work truly would not have been possible is my husband Stephen. He has been with me every step of the way and hopefully we’ll have the chance to do it all again. Thanks. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................iii List of Figures ........................................................................................................vii List of Tables ........................................................................................................... ix List of Appendices ................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 Shifting Cultivation: An Introduction ......................................................... 2 The Gourmantche: Shifting Culivators in Southeastern Burkina Faso ........ 4 The Gobnangou Escarpment: Archaeological Approaches .......................... 6 Society Beyond the Escarpment: A Long View ........................................... 9 Chapter 2: Mobilities: Moving in Time, Space, and Society ........................... 11 Coming and Going: Mobility Withing Social Units ................................. 12 Moving House: Relocating the Primary Residence .................................. 13 Mobility as a Social Phenomenon .............................................................. 15 Materialization of Mobility ........................................................................ 17 Mobility as an Element of Shifting Cultivation ......................................... 20 Chapter 3: The Ethno-Ecology of Southeastern Burkina Faso ....................... 22 Geology ...................................................................................................... 22 Hydrology .................................................................................................. 25 Soils and Mineral Resources ...................................................................... 27 Climate ....................................................................................................... 33 Vegetation .................................................................................................. 35 Crop Plants ................................................................................................. 44 Wild Fauna ................................................................................................. 48 Domestic Animals.......................................................................................50 Prehistoric and Historic Climate and Vegetation....................................... 51 Conclusion..................................................................................................53 Chapter 4: Agriculture in the West African Savanna ....................................... 86 History of the Study of Agriculture in West Africa ................................... 86 The Ring Model: An Idealized Savanna Farming Systems ....................... 88 Challenges of Savanna Farming ................................................................ 90 Gourmantche Farming ............................................................................... 92 Cultural Mediation of Farming Practice .................................................... 94 Modeling Prehistoric Population Densities in the Gobnangou Region ..... 95 Discussion .................................................................................................. 97 v Chapter 5: Hunting, Gathering, Farming, Herding: The MSA, LSA, and Pwoli Occupations .......................................................................................................... 99 Previous Archaeological Work in the Gobnangou Region ........................ 99 Seeking the Middle Stone Age ................................................................. 100 Microlithic Sites and Strata: Pre-Ceramic Late Stone Age Hunter- Gatherers in the Gobnangou? ........................................................... 102 Dating Mode 5 Industries: an Exercise in Frustration? .......................... 106 Early Ceramics: Changes in
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