Late Holocene palaeoenvironment of Tse Dura, a Later Stone Age (LSA) rock shelter, north-central Nigeria

• Autorzy: Orijemie E. A.

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.2478/squa-2018-0003

• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Palynological and archaeobotanical analyses were conducted on excavated sediments from Tse Dura, a Later Stone Age rock shelter in north-central Nigeria with the aim of reconstructing the environment conditions at the site within the last millennium. From 933 ± 29 BP to 802 ± 29 BP, the environment alternated between Guinea savanna with dry conditions, and secondary and riverine forests with humid conditions. During these periods of environmental fluctuations, the LSA populations engaged in the management of economic plants the most significant of which included Dioscorea spp. Pennisetum glaucum and Elaeis guineensis, and exploited wild plants such as Pavetta crassipes, Sarcocephalus latifolius and Lophira cf. lanceolata for dietary and ethnomedicinal purposes. Around 310 ± 30 BP cal, the environment became very wet after which it was succeeded by a drier period. It was during this period that Sorghum bicolor became prominent, and the environment attained its current status dominated by Guinea savanna elements and secondary forests.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Microliths; Vegetation history; Plant management; Tiv; Middle Benue Valley; Nigeria

• Wydawca: Institute of Geological Science Polish Academy of Science
• Czasopismo: Studia Quaternaria
• Rocznik: 2018
• Tom: Vol. 35, Nr 1
• Strony: 41--53
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 48 poz., tab., rys.

Twórcy

autor

Orijemie E. A.

• McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom and Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Bibliografia

• 1. Alabi, R.A., 2000. Apa: A Later Stone Age occupation layer in the Southwestern Coast of Nigeria. Nyame Akuma 53, 29–34.
• 2. Alabi, R.A., 2016. Down through memory lane: history of human oc cupation of the rainforest belt of southwestern Nigeria from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. In: Oyelaran, P.A., Alabi, R.A., Adeonipekun, P.A. (Eds), Human Palaeoecology in Africa: essays in honour of Prof M. Adebisi Sowunmi. Ibadan University Press, Ibadan, 238–282.
• 3. Alabi, R.A., Aleru, J.O., Opadeji, A.O., Usman, A., 2009. A Hunter- Gatherer Community in the Rain Forest Belt of Southwestern Nigeria. Nyame Akuma 72, 74–77.
• 4. Aliyu, A.B., Musa, A.M., Oshanimi, J.A., Ibrahim, H.A., Oyewale, A.O., 2008. Phytochemical analysis and mineral elements composition of some medicinal plants of Northern Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 7, 1, 119–125.
• 5. Allsworth-Jones, P., 2015. Kariya Wuro: A Late Stone Age Site in Northern Nigeria, Africa Magna Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main.
• 6. Allsworth-Jones, P., Oyelaran, P.A., Stringer, C., Compton, T., 2012. Itaakpa, a Late Stone Age site in southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Field Archaeology 37, 3, 163–177.
• 7. Alyegba, S.S, Roy, M and Dagba, Ioryem, B., 2013. Ethnobotanical Survey of Edible Wild Plants in Tiv Communities of Benue State, Nigeria. Journal of Natural Sciences Research 3, 7, 17–23.
• 8. Amosa, S., Okwuasabab, F.K., Gamaniela, K., Akaha, P., Wambebea, C., 1998. Inhibitory effects of the aqueous extract of Pavetta crassipes leaves on gastrointestinal and uterine smooth muscle preparations isolated from rabbits, guinea pigs and rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 61, 3: 209–213.
• 9. Andah, B.W., 1983. The Bantu Homeland Project: Ethnoarchaeological investigations in parts of the Benue Valley Region. West African Journal of Archaeology 13, 23–60.
• 10. Argant, J., López-Sáez, J.A., Bintz, P., 2006. Exploring the ancient occupation of a high altitude site (Lake Lauzon, France): Comparison between pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 141, 1, 2, 151–163.
• 11. Armitage, S.J., Bristow, C.S., Drake, N.N., 2015. West African monsoon dynamics inferred from abrupt fluctuations of Lake Mega- Chad. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, 28, 8543–8548.
• 12. Awai, E.P., Igoli, J.O., 2015. Medicinal Plants used in Antenatal and Perinatal Care among the Tiv People of Benue State, Nigeria. Indo Global Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 5, 1, 90–93.
• 13. Barboni, D., Bremond, L., Bonnefille, R., 2007. Comparative study of modern phytolith assemblages from inter-tropical Africa. Palaeogeo graphy, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 246, 454–470.
• 14. Burkill, H.M., 1985. The useful plants of West Tropical Africa (Vol. 4). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom.
• 15. Cockerton, H.E., Holmes, J.A., Street-Perrott, F.A., Ficken, K.J., 2014. Holocene dust records from the West African Sahel and their implications for changes in climate and land surface conditions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 119, 8684–8694.
• 16. Connah, G., 1981. Three Thousand years in Africa: Man, and his environment in the Lake Chad region of Nigeria. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• 17. de Maret, P., 2013. Archaeologies of the Bantu Expansion. In: Mitchell, P., Lane, P. (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 627–644.
• 18. Eyre, S.R., 2013. Vegetation and Soils. A World Picture (Second Edition). Aldine Transaction, London.
• 19. Faegri, K., Iversen, J., 1988. Textbook of Pollen Analysis, John Wiley and Sons Alden Press London.
• 20. Fatunsin, F.K., 1996. Ifetedo: A Late Stone Age Site in the Forest Region of Southwestern Nigeria. West African Journal of Archaeology 26, 1, 71–87.
• 21. Hutchinson, J., Dalziel, J.M., 1958–1972. Flora of West Tropical Africa Vols I, II and III. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, Millbank, London, S.W. 1.
• 22. Keay, R.W.J., 1959. An Outline of Nigerian Vegetation. Federal Government of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria.
• 23. Korada, R.R., Naskar, S.K, Edison, S., 2010. Insect pests and their management in yam production and storage: a world review. International Journal of Pest Management, 56, 4, 337–349.
• 24. Lavachery, P., 1996. Shum Laka rock shelter Late Holocene deposits: from stone to metal (North Western Cameroon). In: Gilbert, P., Soper, R. (Eds), Aspects of African Archaeology. Papers from the10th Congress of the PanAfrican Association for Prehistory and Related Studies. University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare, 265–274.
• 25. Mohammed-Ali, A.S., Khabir, A., 2003. The wavy line and dotted wavy line pottery in the prehistory of the Central Nile and Sahara- Sahel Belt. African Archaeological Review 20, 91, 25–58.
• 26. Njokuocha, R., Akaegbobi, I. M., 2014. A contribution to the Holocene vegetation history of Nigeria: Pollen from Ohe Pond Nsukka, southeastern Nigeria. Quaternary International 338, 28–34.
• 27. Oas, S. E., D’Andrea, A.C., Watson, D.J., 2015. 10,000 year history of plant use at Bosumpra Cave, Ghana. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 24, 635–653.
• 28. Orijemie, E.A., 2013. A Palynological and Archaeological Investigation of the Environment and Human occupation of the Rainforest of South-Western Nigeria during the Late Holocene Period. An Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
• 29. Orijemie, E.A., in press. Late Holocene Archaeobotanical evidence for Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) in the Tse Dura Rock shelter 1, north-central Nigeria.
• 30. Orijemie, E.A., Aleru, J.O., Opadeji, O.A., Ajekigbe, P.G., in press. AB1: A Late Stone Age Rock Shelter in the Rainforest of Nigeria.
• 31. Oyelaran, P.A., 2002. Vegetation Change in the Pollen Assemblage of Osaru Pond. Environmental Issues 24, 32–37.
• 32. Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Bronk, R.C., Buck, C.E, Cheng, H., Edwards, R.L., Freidrich, M., Grootes, P.M., Guilderson, T.P., Haflidason, H., Hajdas, I., Hatte, C., Heaton, T.J., Hoffmann, D.G., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kaiser, K.F., Kromer, B., Manning, S.W., Nui, M., Reimer, R.W., Richards, D.A., Scott, E.M., Southon, J.R., Staff, R.A., Turney, C.S.M., van der Plicht, J., 2013. ‘IntCal13 and Marine13 Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years BP’. Radiocarbon 55, 4, 1869–1887.
• 33. Russell, J.M., Johnson, T.C., 2007. Little Ice Age drought in equatorial Africa: Intertropical Convergence Zone migrations and El Niño – Southern Oscillation variability. Geology 35, 1, 21–24.
• 34. Salzmann, U., 2000. Are modern savanna degraded forests? – A Holocene pollen record from the Sudanian vegetation zone of NE Nigeria. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 9, 1–15.
• 35. Salzmann, U., Hoelzmann, P., 2005. The Dahomey Gap: an abrupt climatically induced rain forest fragmentation in West Africa during the late Holocene. The Holocene 15, 190–199.
• 36. Shaw, T., Daniels, S.G.H., 1984. Excavations at Iwo-Eleru. West African Journal of Archaeology 14, 1–269. Soper, R.C., 1965. The Stone Age in Northern Nigeria. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 3, 175–194.
• 37. Sowunmi, M.A., 1981. Late Quaternary Environmental Changes in Nigeria. Pollen et Spores 23, 1, 125–148.
• 38. Sowunmi M.A., Awosina, E.O., 1991. Pollen analyses of Kariya Wuro Rock Shelter, Bauchi State. The Nigerian Field 56, 163–170.
• 39. Switsur, R., Otto, T., Allsworth-Jones, P., 1994. New dating evidence and wood identification of wood charcoal from Kariya Wuro Rock shelter, Bauchi State. The Nigerian Field 59, 135–145.
• 40. Tubosun, B.J., 1981. Geo-Archaeology: Tse-Dura Prehistoric Rock shelters (Benue State of Nigeria) as a case study. Unpublished M.Sc. Dissertation, Department of Archaeology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
• 41. Tubosun, B.J., 1995. Geo-Archaeological Investigations in Adikpo area of Katsina-Ala River basin, Benue State, Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.
• 42. Tubosun, B., Andah, B.W., 1983. Sedimentological Analysis of Tse-Dura Prehistoric Rock shelter Deposits. West African Journal of Archaeology 13, 61–72.
• 43. van Geel, B., Gelorini, V., Lyaruu, A., Aptroot, A., Rucina, S., Marchant,
• 44. R., Sinninghe Damsté, J.S., Verschuren, D., 2011. Diversity and ecology of tropical African fungal spores from a 25,000-year palaeoenvironmental record in southeastern Kenya. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 164, 174–190.
• 45. Van Noten, F., De Ploey, J., 1977. Quaternary Research in NorthEastern Nigeria. Musee Royal De L’Afrique Centrale-tervuren, Belgique Annales Serie IN-8°-Sciences Humaines n° 92.
• 46. Williamson, K., 1987. Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of the Niger Delta. In: Alagoa, E.J., Anozie, F.N., and Nzewunwa, N. (Eds), The Early History of the Niger Delta. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika SUGIA – Beiheft 8. Herausgegeben an den UniversitatenKoln und Bayreuth, 65–119.
• 47. Williamson, K., 1993. Linguistic evidence for the use of some tree and tuber food plants in southern Nigeria. In: Shaw, T., Sinclair,P., Andah, B, Okpoko, A., (Eds), The Archaeology of Africa. Food, Metals and Towns. Routledge, London and New York,139–153.
• 48. York, R.N., 1978. Excavations at Dutsen Kongba, Plateau State, Nigeria. West African Journal of Archaeology 8, 139–163.