Recent archaeological research and radiocarbon dates from Eastern Africa

1981 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gadi G. Y. Mgomezulu
Keyword(s):  
Rift Valley ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Northern Tanzania ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Early Pottery ◽  
North Western ◽  
Central Kenya

Research over the past five years or so indicates that in north-western and central Kenya and northern Tanzania pastoralism is much older than previously supposed. Radiocarbon dates from the central Rift valley and the Serengeti plains suggest the presence of domestic cattle by about the sixth millennium b.c. Early pottery traditions in the central Rift valley and around Lake Turkana have been more precisely identified. A continuing research project in the southern Sudan has revealed early pottery with possible northern affinities and rouletted pottery of the first as well as second millennia a.d. In north-western Tanzania, iron would still seem to have been smelted as early as the sixth century b.c. The use of iron, and perhaps of rouletted ware, by pastoral peoples in central Kenya is now dated to the late first millennium a.d. In Malawi, food-production would still seem to have been introduced early in that millennium, but the introduction of cattle has now been dated to the third or fourth century a.d., some centuries earlier than had previously been supposed. In Zambia, the surprisingly early dates for Situmpa pottery have apparently been confirmed. On the east coast, excavations at Hafun, Mogadishu and Manda have enabled more precise dating of the periods during which these ancient ports flourished, while a comprehensive survey programme has refined our knowledge of monumental sites along the Kenya coast.

Archaeology in Eastern Africa: Recent Developments and More Dates

1984 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Robertshaw
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
East African ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
East African Coast ◽  
Northern Tanzania ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Historical Sequences

Obsidian hydration dating has been successfully applied to East African archaeological sites. Chemical sourcing of obsidian artefacts has documented long-distance movement of obsidian from the Central Rift valley. A date in the ninth or eighth century b.c. has been obtained for iron objects in the Er Renk District of the Southern Sudan. Tentative culture-historical sequences are available from excavations around the Sudd and in the Lake Besaka region of Ethiopia. Archaeological research has begun in the interior of Somalia. In northern Kenya, claims that Namoratunga II is an archaeo-astronomical site have been challenged. Excavations at Mumba-Höhle and Nasera have shed new light on the transition from the Middle to Later Stone Age in northern Tanzania perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. Knowledge of the Elmenteitan Tradition has been considerably advanced by excavations in south-western Kenya. Iron-smelting furnaces with finger-decorated bricks have been discovered in south-eastern Kenya, though not yet dated. New dates falling in the last few centuries have caused first millennium a.d. dates obtained previously for Engaruka to be rejected. Excavations at several sites on the East African coast indicate that the beginnings of coastal occupation from the Lamu archipelago to Mozambique fall in the ninth century a.d. In Malawi the Shire Highlands seem to have been settled around the tenth century a.d. Investigations of large smelting-furnaces in central Malawi indicate that they were used as concentrators of poor-quality iron ore. Excavations in rock-shelters on the southern edge of the Copperbelt have produced a culture-historical sequence spanning the last 18,000 years. The western stream of the Early Iron Age was established in the Upper Zambezi valley by about the mid fifth century a.d.

A Discussion on volcanism and the structure of the Earth - Volcanism of the Kenya rift valley

1972 ◽  
Vol 271 (1213) ◽  
pp. 185-208 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rift Valley ◽  
Rift Zone ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Rift System ◽  
Kenya Rift ◽  
Northern Tanzania ◽  
Eastern Uganda ◽  
Kenya Rift Valley

The Kenya rift valley is a sector of the rift system of eastern Africa which is marked by volcanic activity throughout its history from Miocene times to the present day. Activity is not confined to the rift zone but extends for distances of 200 km or more both to the west and east and is broadly centred on the Kenya ‘dome’, a topographic culmination in the course of the rift. The volcanic rocks show a considerable diversity of compositions ranging from basic to acid, but all are characteristically alkaline varying, however, from a mildly alkaline, alkali basalt-trachyte series, to strongly alkaline and undersaturated nephelinites and phonolites. The mode of extrusion and form of the volcanic accumulations are also very varied, evidently dependent in part on composition. There are thus the widespread ‘plateau’ phonolites of central and southern Kenya, possibly fissure eruptions; the large nephelinite central volcanoes of eastern Uganda, including Mt Elgon, and western Kenya; and the giant phonolite-trachyte or basalt-phonolite-trachyte volcanoes of Mts Kenya and Kilimanjaro. Extensive basalt fields were variously the products of fissure eruption, such as those of Samburu, or derived from numerous small centres as in the Nyambeni area or the Chyulu Hills. Large low-angle cones in the northern part of the rift are formed mostly of trachyte flows, whereas the axis of the rift is marked by a series of conspicuous trachyte-basalt volcanoes, often with spectacular calderas. The composition of the volcanic rocks shows variations with time, possibly indicating a dependence on the structural evolution of the rift, but sequences are not simple and cannot be easily defined. The nephelinite volcanoes of eastern Uganda are of Miocene age, but this composition also characterizes recent volcanoes of northern Tanzania. The basalt-basanite association dominates the earliest volcanic rocks of the rift zone itself, but has been repeatedly represented to the present. The flood phonolites were, however, largely confined to the upper Miocene; the Pliocene and earlier Pleistocene were marked by great eruptions of trachyte lavas and ignimbrite, whereas acid volcanic rocks, comendites and pantellarites, of Quaternary age are limited to a small area in the central part of the rift. The total volume of volcanic rocks cannot be estimated with any accuracy, but may be of the order of several 100 000 km 3 . The second part of this account presents in preliminary form the results of field mapping and chemical analytical programmes on the Cainozoic volcanics of the northern Kenya rift. It is shown that in this sector there is a distinct petrochemical evolution from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, the general trend being a decrease in silica undersaturation in both mafic and felsic rocks. The succession of lavas and sediments has a maximum thickness of 3 km and the main unconformities, indicating the major faulting episodes, coincide with the petrochemical changes.

The Early Iron Age in Zambia—Regional Variants and some Tentative Conclusions

1968 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Phillipson
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Lake Tanganyika ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
East African ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
First Millennium

The Early Iron Age people appear to have been responsible for the introduction into Zambia of pot-making, metallurgy and, less certainly, food production. Recent research has greatly increased the known number of Early Iron Age sites in Zambia and a number of regional variants have been defined, based largely on the typology of the associated pottery. Radiocarbon dates suggest that these groups are all to be dated to the first millennium a.d. and that they are contemporary with, and related to, the earliest known Iron Age in Rhodesia and some East African sites. It is suggested that the Early Iron Age people slowly spread into eastern Africa from an area west of Lake Tanganyika during the first few centuries a.d. Some related sites are known from this westerly region. This hypothesis can be compared with Oliver's interpretation of Guthrie's linguistic evidence; but the use of archaeological and linguistic arguments together is impossible until proof is available that the Early Iron Age people spoke Bantu languages.

New Views on Engaruka, Northern Tanzania

1967 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamo Sassoon
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
General Picture ◽  
Northern Tanzania ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Stone Structures

This paper describes a large area of stone-built ruins in northern Tanzania which has so far only been briefly excavated, but which is likely to prove to be a key site in the study of the Iron Age in East Africa. In addition to numerous massive stone circles, terraces and cairns, there are extensive systems of fields and enclosures defined with lines of stones. Excavations carried out in 1964 and 1966 have shown that the small terrace-platforms on the hillsides and the stone circles on the flatter land in the valley were occupied at different periods and by different peoples whose pottery is readily distinguishable. Radiocarbon dates suggest that the terrace sites on the hillsides were occupied during the first millennium A.D., and that the stone circles on the lower slopes in the valley were occupied during the fifteenth century A.D. The purpose of the numerous large and well-built cairns is not yet known, but it appears that they were not burial monuments. No evidence has been found that any of the stone structures were built or occupied by immigrants from outside Africa.It has not yet been possible to link the systems of fields and enclosures to the hillside terrace-platforms or to the stone circles. A close examination of the main area of fields and of low-level aerial photographs has not produced any evidence that the fields were irrigated, a fact which raises important agricultural and climatic problems in an area which has an average rainfall of less than 380 mm. (15 inches).The general picture of Engaruka which emerges is of an area which was occupied by different peoples at different times over a period of at least a thousand years. The stone structures which these different peoples built have accumulated to give the impression that there was once a very large population living in the area; in fact it is possible that this population was always less than 4,000 people at any one time.

A Prehistoric Ford near Rough Castle, Falkirk

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-103
Author(s):  
JAMIE HAMILTON ◽  
CIARA CLARKE ◽  
ANDREW DUNWELL ◽  
RICHARD TIPPING
Keyword(s):  
Coal Mining ◽  
Pollen Analysis ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Site Formation Processes ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Small Stream ◽  
Mining Project ◽  
First Millennium

This report presents the results of the excavation of a stone ford laid across the base of a small stream valley near Rough Castle, Falkirk. It was discovered during an opencast coal mining project. Radiocarbon dates and pollen analysis of deposits overlying the ford combine to indicate a date for its construction no later than the early first millennium cal BC. Interpreting this evidence was not straightforward and the report raises significant issues about site formation processes and the interpretation of radiocarbon and pollen evidence. The importance of these issues extends beyond the rarely investigated features such as fords and deserve a larger place in the archaeological literature.

The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Zachhuber
Keyword(s):  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Eastern Christianity ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Full Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
Philosophical Project ◽  
First Time

It has rarely been recognized that the Christian writers of the first millennium pursued an ambitious and exciting philosophical project alongside their engagement in the doctrinal controversies of their age. This book offers for the first time a full analysis of this Patristic philosophy. It shows how it took its distinctive shape in the late fourth century and gives an account of its subsequent development until the time of John of Damascus. The book falls into three main parts. The first of them starts from an analysis of the philosophical project underlying the teaching of the Cappadocian fathers, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. This philosophy, arguably the first distinctively Christian theory of being, soon becomes near-universally shared in Eastern Christianity. A few decades after the Cappadocians, all sides in the early Christological controversy take its fundamental tenets for granted. Its application to the Christological problem thus appeared inevitable. Yet it created substantial conceptual problems. Parts II and III of the book describe in detail how these problems led to a series of increasingly radical modifications of the Cappadocian philosophy. The chapters of Part II are dedicated to the miaphysite opponents of the Council of Chalcedon, while Part III discusses the defenders of the Council from the early sixth to the eighth centuries. Through this overview, the book reveals this period as one of remarkable philosophical creativity, fecundity, and innovation.

Reconstructing vegetation changes in the Ethiopian Highlands: 18000 years of Afromontane vegetation dynamics recorded in high altitude wetlands.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Femke Augustijns ◽  
Nils Broothaerts ◽  
Gert Verstraeten
Keyword(s):  
Rift Valley ◽  
Altitudinal Gradient ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Plant Domestication ◽  
Ethiopian Rift ◽  
Vegetation Changes ◽  
Afromontane Forest ◽  
Spatial Coverage

<p>Within eastern Africa, Ethiopia stands out for its steep topography, resulting in an altitudinal zonation of climate and vegetation. To understand future vegetation changes, we need information on past vegetation covers and vegetation responses to environmental and climatic changes. Pollen studies are available for low and high elevations in Ethiopia, but they are low in number and limited in spatial coverage. In addition, explicit research to altitudinal patterns of environmental changes are missing. However, archaeological evidence from SW Ethiopia suggests vertical migration of humans in response to humidity fluctuations, highlighting the need for research to spatial dynamics of human activities and vegetation in Ethiopia. On the other hand, sedimentological evidence suggests a millennia long agricultural history in Ethiopia’s highlands and several authors identify this region as a center of plant domestication. </p><p>It is clear that a thorough understanding of the past vegetation cover and its alteration by humans and climate is missing for Ethiopia. These research gaps impede identification of the timing and location of the onset of agriculture in the ancient Ethiopian landscape, resulting in poor understanding of e.g. contemporary degraded landforms. In our study, we aim to reconstruct and quantify the vegetation history along an altitudinal gradient in the Southern Ethiopian Rift Valley and to identify the role of man and climate on this evolution. Therefore, several lakes and swamps are selected as study sites along an altitudinal gradient (1100-3000 m a.s.l.) in the Gamo Highlands near the city of Arba Minch, along the Southern Ethiopian Rift Valley. Here, we will present the results of pollen, charcoal and NPP analyses from two wetland sites situated at 2300 and 3000 m a.s.l. The records show an increase of Afromontane forest taxa around 13 ka BP, at the expense of Montane ericaceous taxa. At 8 ka BP, a shift in the composition of the Afromontane forest is observed, together with a change in the fungal assemblage and decrease of grasses. Around 6 ka BP, Wooded grassland taxa increase simultaneously with <em>Delitschia</em> fungal spores. Montane forest taxa increase again at 2.5 ka BP, together with a shift in fungal spores, followed by an increase in charcoal accumulation during the last millennium. Most of the observed transitions can be linked to other vegetation records from Ethiopia, and reflect responses to climatic changes such as the African Humid Period. However, the exact timing and  nature of the vegetation changes differs substantially between records, and asks for a denser sampling of palaeoecological records across Ethiopia. In this study, we will link the reconstructed vegetation changes with anthropogenic and natural driving forces, and come up with a reconstruction of the long-term landscape development in the study area in SW Ethiopia.   </p>

scholarly journals The excavation of pit circles at Romancamp Gate, Fochabers, Moray, 1990

1994 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 255-268
Author(s):  
Gordon J Barclay
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Regional Council ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
First Millennium Bc ◽  
Mesolithic Period

The excavation was undertaken with the funding and support of Grampian Regional Council to test hypotheses relating to the interpretation of cropmark pit circles: were they Neolithic or Bronze Age ceremonial or funerary structures, or were they Iron Age houses, and to what extent could the two classifications be differentiated on aerial photographs? The excavation revealed the remains of four circles (between 8.5 m and 11.5 m in diameter) of large post- holes, fence lines (one with a gate), and many other pits and post-holes. Radiocarbon dates place the post circles late in the first millennium BC uncal. The pit circles may be interpreted as the main structural elements of four substantial round houses, two of which burned down. Flint tools of the Mesolithic period were recovered.

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