First farmers in the Central African rainforest: A view from southern Cameroon

Quaternary International

Volumn 249, Issue , 2012, Pages 53-62

  Neumann, Katharina ^a   Bostoen, Koen ^b   Höhn, Alexa ^a   Kahlheber, Stefanie ^a   Ngomanda, Alfred ^a,d   Tchiengué, Barthelémy ^c  

^a GOETHE UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

^b GHENT UNIVERSITY   (Belgium)

^c Herbier National du Cameroon   (Cameroon)

^d Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale   (Gabon)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGROFORESTRY; CLIMATE VARIATION; PALEOCLIMATE; RAINFOREST; SAVANNA; SEASONALITY;

CAMEROON;

CANARIUM; ELAEIS; PENNISETUM GLAUCUM; TREMA ORIENTALIS;

EID: 84855931730     PISSN: 10406182     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.024     Document Type: Article

References (106)

1. Andrews D.J., Kumar K.A. Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, 1: Cereals and Pulses 2006, 128-133. PROTA Foundation, Backhuys, CTA, Wageningen. M. Brink, G. Belay (Eds.).
2. Ashley C. Towards a socialised archaeology of ceramics in Great Lakes Africa. African Archaeological Review 2010, 27:135-163.
3. Badu-Apraku B., Fakorede M.A.B. Zea mays L. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, 1: Cereals and Pulses 2006, 229-237. PROTA Foundation, Backhuys, CTA, Wageningen. M. Brink, G. Belay (Eds.).
4. Blench R.M. Archaeology, Language and the African Past 2006, Altamira Press, Lanham.
5. Blench R.M. Using linguistics to reconstruct African subsistence systems: comparing crop names to trees and livestock. Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives 2007, 408-438. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek. T.P. Denham, J. Iriarte, L. Vrydaghs (Eds.).
6. Bohac J.R., Dukes P.D., Austin D.F. Sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (Convolvulaceae). Evolution of Crop Plants 1995, 57-62. Longman, Harlow. second ed. J. Smartt, N.W. Simmonds (Eds.).
7. Bostoen K. Adiachronic onomasiological approach to early Bantu oil palm vocabulary. Studies in African Linguistics 2005, 34(2):143-188.
8. Bostoen K. Pearl millet in early Bantu speech communities in Central Africa: a reconsideration of the lexical evidence. Afrika und übersee 2006-07, 89:183-213. [published in 2010].
9. Bostoen K. Pots, words and the Bantu problem: on lexical reconstruction and early African history. Journal of African History 2007, 28(2):173-199.
10. Bostoen K., Grégoire C. La question bantoue: bilan et perspectives. Tradition et rupture dans les grammaires comparées de différentes familles de langues. Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique de Paris, Nouvelle Série 15. Peeters, Leuven 2007, 73-91.
11. Bostoen, K. Wild trees in the subsistence economy of early Bantu speech communities: a historical-linguistic approach. In: Fuller, D.Q., Murray, M.A. (Eds.), African Flora, Past Cultures and Archaeobotany. Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop for African Archaeobotany, London, 3-5 July, 2006. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, in press.
12. Brown D.R. Personal preferences and intensification of land use: their impact on southern Cameroonian slash-and-burn agroforestry systems. Agroforestry Systems 2006, 68:53-67.
13. Brunken J., de Wet J.M.J., Harlan J.R. The morphology and domestication of pearl millet. Economic Botany 1977, 31(2):163-174.
14. Carrière, S., 1999. Les orphelins de la forêt. Influence de l'agriculture itinérante sur brûlis des Ntumu et des pratiques agricoles associées sur la dynamique forestière du Sud Cameroun. Ph.D. thesis, Université Montpellier II, Montpellier. URL: http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers/010020958.pdf.
15. Casey J. Holocene occupations of the forest and savanna. African Archaeology. A Critical Introduction 2005, 225-248. Blackwell, Malden. A.B. Stahl (Ed.).
16. Clist B. Acritical reappraisal of the chronological framework of the early Urewe Iron Age industry. Muntu 1987, 6:35-62.
17. Clist, B.-O., 2004/2005. Des premières villages aux premiers Européens autour de l'estuaire du Gabon: Quatre millénaires d'interactions entre l'homme et son milieu. Ph.D. Thesis, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles.
18. Coursey D.G. The origins and domestication of yams in Africa. Origins of African Plant Domestication 1976, 383-408. Mouton, The Hague. J.R. Harlan, J.M. de Wet, A.B.L. Stemler (Eds.).
19. D'Andrea A.C., Logan A.L., Watson D.J. Oil palm and prehistoric subsistence in tropical West Africa. Journal of African Archaeology 2006, 4(2):195-222.
20. De Foresta H. Agriculture sur brûlis en forêt tropical humide. A propos du rôle du feu dans la compétition entre espèces cultivées et espèces pionnières. Turrialba 1984, 34(4):537-542.
21. De Langhe E. The establishment of traditional plantain cultivation in the African rain forest: a working hypothesis. Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives 2007, 361-370. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek. T.P. Denham, J. Iriarte, L. Vrydaghs (Eds.).
22. DeMenocal P., Ortiz J., Guilderson T., Adkins J., Santhein M., Baker L., Yarusinksky M. Abrupt onset and termination of the African humid period: rapid climate responses to gradual insolation forcing. Quaternary Science Reviews 2000, 19(1-5):347-361.
23. Diamond J., Bellwood P. Farmers and their languages: the first expansions. Science 2003, 300(5619):597-603.
24. Dounias E. The management of wild yam tubers by the Baka pygmies in southern Cameroon. African Study Monographs 2001, 26:135-156.
25. Eggert M.K.H. Imbonga und Lingonda: Zur frühesten Besiedlung des äquatorialen Regenwaldes. Beiträge zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archäo-logie 1984, 6:247-288.
26. Eggert M.K.H. The Bantu problem and African archaeology. African Archaeology: a Critical Introduction 2005, 301-326. Blackwell, Malden. A.B. Stahl (Ed.).
27. Eggert M.K.H., Höhn A., Kahlheber S., Meister C., Neumann K., Schweizer A. Pits, graves and grains: archaeological and archaeobotanical research in southern Cameroon. Journal of African Archaeology 2006, 4(2):273-298.
28. Ehret C. Agricultural history in central and southern Africa, ca. 1000 B.C. To A.D. 500. Transafrican Journal of History 1974, 4(1-2):1-25.
29. Ehret C. An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 B.C. to A.D. 400 1998, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville.
30. Ehret C. Bantu expansions: re-envisioning a central problem of early African history. International Journal of African Historical Studies 2001, 34(1):5-27.
31. The Archaeological and Linguistic Reconstruction of African History 1982, University of California Press, Berkeley. C. Ehret, M. Posnansky (Eds.).
32. Gasse F. Hydrological changes in the African tropics since the last Glacial maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 2000, 19(1-5):189-211.
33. Höhn A., Kahlheber S., Neumann K., Schweizer A. Settling the rain forest: the environment of farming communities in southern Cameroon during the first millennium BC. Dynamics of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa during the Holocene: Past-Present-Future. Palaeoecology of Africa 28 2008, 29-41. Taylor and Francis, London. J. Runge (Ed.).
34. Hahn S.K. Yams. Dioscorea spp. (Dioscoreaceae). Evolution of Crop Plants 1995, 112-120. Longman, Harlow. second ed. J. Smartt, N.W. Simmonds (Eds.).
35. Harlan J.R. Agricultural origins: Centers and noncenters. Science 1971, 174(4007):468-474.
36. Hladik A., Dounias E. Wild yams of the African forest as potential food resources. Tropical Forests, People and Food: Biocultural Interactions and Applications to Development 1993, 163-176. UNESCO, Paris. C.M. Hladik, A. Hladik, H. Pagezy, O. Linares, G.J.A. Koppert, A. Froment (Eds.).
37. Hoare R. The Global Historical Climatology Network, Version 1. Buttle and Tuttle, Isle of Man 1996-2007, [accessed 26.11. 09]. http://www.worldclimate.com.
38. Höhn A., Neumann K. Shifting cultivation and the development of a cultural landscape during the Iron Age (0-1500 AD) in the northern Sahel of Burkina Faso, West Africa: Insights from archaeological charcoal. Quaternary International 2012, 249:72-83.
39. Holden C.J. Bantu language trees reflects the spread of farming across sub-Sahara Africa: a maximum-parsimony analysis. Proceedings of the Royal Society London, Series B 2002, 269(1493):793-799.
40. Jansen P.C.M., Premchand V. Xanthosoma Schott. Plant Resources of South-East Asia, 9: Plants Yielding Non-Seed Carbohydrates 1996, 159-164. Backhuys, Leiden. M. Flach, F. Rumawas (Eds.).
41. Jennings D.L. Cassava. Manihot esculenta (Euphorbiaceae). Evolution of Crop Plants 1995, 128-132. Longman, Harlow. second ed. J. Smartt, N.W. Simmonds (Eds.).
42. Kahlheber S., Neumann K. The development of plant cultivation in semi-arid West Africa. Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives 2007, 320-346. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek. T.P. Denham, J. Iriarte, L. Vrydaghs (Eds.).
43. Kahlheber S., Bostoen K., Neumann K. Early plant cultivation in the Central African rain forest: first millennium BC pearl millet from South Cameroon. Journal of African Archaeology 2009, 7(2):253-272.
44. Kahlheber, S., Höhn, A., Neumann, K., in press. Plant use in southern Cameroon between 400 BC and AD 400. In: Fuller, D.Q. & Murray, M.A. (Eds.), African Flora, Past Cultures and Archaeobotany. Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop for African Archaeobotany, London, 3-5 July, 2006. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek.
45. Kilian-Hatz C. Das Baka: Grundzüge einer Grammatik aus der Grammatikalisierungsperspektive 1995, Institut für Afrikanistik, Universität zu Köln, Köln.
46. Lavachery P. The Holocene archaeological sequence of Shum Laka rock shelter(Grass fields, western Cameroon). African Archaeological Review 2001, 18(4):213-247.
47. Lavachery P., MacEachern S., Bouimon T., Gouem B.G., Kinyock P., Mbairo J., Nkokonda O. Komé to Ebomé: archaeological research for the Chad Export project, 1999-2003. Journal of African Archaeology 2005, 3(2):175-193.
48. Letouzey R., Fotius G. Carte Phytogéographique du Cameroun, 1:500,000 1985, Institut de la Carte Internationale de la Végétation, Toulouse.
49. Logan A.L., d'Andrea A.C. Oil palm, arboriculture, and changing subsistence practices during Kintampo times (3600-3200 bp, Ghana). Quaternary International 2012, 249:63-71.
50. Maley J. Mise en évidence d'une péjoration climatique entre ca 2500 et 2000 ans BP en Afrique tropicale humide. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 1992, 163(3):363-365.
51. Maley J. L'expansion du palmier à huile (Elaeis guineensis) en Afrique centrale au cours des trois derniers millénaires: nouvelles données et interprétations. L'homme et la forêt tropicale. Travaux de la Société d'Ecologie Humaine. Edition de Bergier, Châteauneuf-de-Grasse 1999, 237-254. S. Bahuchet, D. Bley, H. Pagezy, N. Vernazza-Licht (Eds.).
52. Maley J., Brenac P. Vegetation dynamics, palaeoenvironments and climatic change in the forests of western Cameroon during the last 28000 years B.P. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 1998, 99(2):157-187.
53. Maniacky J. Quelques thèmes pour 'igname' en bantu. Studies in African Comparative Linguistics with Special Focus on Bantu and Mande 2005, 165-187. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren. K. Bostoen, J. Maniacky (Eds.).
54. Manning K., Pelling R., Higham T., Schwenniger J.-L., Fuller D.Q. 4500-Year old domesticated pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) from the Tilemsi Valley, Mali: new insights into an alternative cereal domestication pathway. Journal of Archaeological Science 2011, 38(2):312-322.
55. Marshall F., Hildebrand E. Cattle before crops: the beginnings of food production in Africa. Journal of World Prehistory 2002, 16(2):99-143.
56. Matthews P.J. How and when did taro become the most widespread starchy food crop in the world?. Ancient Starch Research 2006, 22-23. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek. R. Torrence, H. Barton (Eds.).
57. Mbatchou, G.P.T., 2004. Plant Diversity in a Tropical African Rain Forest. Ph.D. thesis, Wageningen University, The Netherlands.
58. Mbida Mindzie C., Doutrelepont H., Vrydaghs L., Swennen R.L., Beeckman H., de Langhe E., De Maret P. First archaeological evidence of banana cultivation in central Africa during the third millennium before present. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 2001, 10(1):1-6.
59. Mbida C.M., Van Neer W., Doutrelepont H., Vrydaghs L. Evidence for banana cultivation and animal husbandry during the first millennium BC in the forest of southern Cameroon. Journal of Archaeological Science 2000, 2(2):151-162.
60. Mbida C., Doutrelepont H., Vrydaghs L., Swennen R.J., Swennen R.L., Beeckman H., De Langhe E., De Maret P. Yes, there were bananas in Cameroon more than 2000 years ago. InfoMusa 2004, 13(1):40-42.
61. Mbida C., Doutrelepont H., Vrydaghs L., Swennen R.J., Swennen R.L., Beeckman H., De Langhe E., De Maret P. The initial history of bananas in Africa: a reply to Vansina. Azania 2005, 40:128-135.
62. Meertens H.C.C. Oryza sativa L. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, 1: Cereals and Pulses 2006, 112-120. PROTA Foundation, Backhuys, CTA, Wageningen. M. Brink, G. Belay (Eds.).
63. Meister C. Recent archaeological investigations in the tropical rain forest of South-West Cameroon. Dynamics of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa during the Holocene: Past-Present-Future. Palaeoecology of Africa 28 2007, 43-57. Taylor and Francis, London. J. Runge (Ed.).
64. Meister C., Eggert M.K.H. On the early iron Age in southern Cameroon: the sites of Akonétye. Journal of African Archaeology 2008, 6(2):183-202.
65. Mercader J. Foragers of the Congo. The early settlement of the Ituri forest. Under the Canopy 2003, 93-116. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick. J. Mercader (Ed.).
66. Mercader J., Marti R., González I.J., Sánchez A., García P. Archaeological site formation in rain forests: insights from the Ituri rock shelters, Congo. Journal of Archaeological Science 2003, 30(1):45-65.
67. Mercader J., Marti R., Wilkins J., Fowler K.D. The eastern periphery of the Yoruba cultural sphere. Current Anthropology 2006, 47(1):173-184.
68. Neba A. Modern Geography of the Republic of Cameroon 1999, Neba Publishers, Bamenda. third ed.
69. Neumann K. The late emergence of agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: archaeobotanical evidence and ecological considerations. Food, Fuel and Fields. Progress in African Archaeobotany 2003, 71-92. Heinrich-Barth-Institut, Köln. K. Neumann, A. Butler, S. Kahlheber (Eds.).
70. Neumann K. The romance of farming: plant cultivation and domestication in Africa. African Archaeology. A Critical Introduction 2005, 249-275. Blackwell, Malden. A.B. Stahl (Ed.).
71. Neumann K., Hildebrand E. Early bananas in Africa: the state of the art. Ethnobotany Research and Applications 2009, 7:353-362.
72. Ngomanda, A., 2005. Dynamique des écosystèmes forestiers du Gabon au cours des cinq derniers millénaires. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Université Montpellier II, France.
73. Ngomanda A., Neumann K., Schweizer A., Maley J. Seasonality change and the third millennium BP rainforest crisis in southern Cameroon (Central Africa). Quaternary Research 2009, 71(3):307-318.
74. Nguetsop V.F., Servant-Vildary F., Servant M. Late Holocene climatic changes in west Africa, a high resolution diatom record from equatorial Cameroon. Quaternary Science Reviews 2004, 23(5-6):591-609.
75. Nounamo L., Yemefack M. Shifting Cultivation in the Evergreen Forest of Southern Cameroon: Farming Systems and Soil Degradation 2000, Tropenbos-Cameroon Report 00-2. Tropenbos, Kribi.
76. Nurse D. Towards a historical classification of East African Bantu languages. Bantu Historical Linguistics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives 1999, 1-41. CSLI, Stanford. J.-M. Hombert, L. Hyman (Eds.).
77. Oslisly R. The history of the human settlement in the middle Ogooué Valley, Gabon. Implications for the environment. African Rain Forest Ecology and Conservation. An Interdisciplinary Perspective 2001, 101-118. Yale University Press, New Haven. W. Weber, L.J.T. White, A. Vedder, L. Naughton-Treves (Eds.).
78. Oslisly R. Les traditions culturelles de l'Holocène sur le littoral du Cameroun entre Kribi et Campo. Grundlegungen. Beiträge zur europäischen und afrikanischen Archäologie für Manfred K.H. Eggert. Francke, Tübingen 2006, 303-217. H.-P. Wotzka (Ed.).
79. Oslisly R., White L. Human impact and environmental exploitation in Gabon during the Holocene. Rethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives 2007, 347-360. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek. T.P. Denham, J. Iriarte, L. Vrydaghs (Eds.).
80. Oumar I., Mariac C., Pham J.-L., Vigouroux Y. Phylogeny and origin of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br) as revealed by microsatellite loci. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 2008, 117(4):489-497.
81. Peel M.C., Finlayson B.L., McMahon T.A. Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. Hydrology and Earth Systems Sciences 2007, 11(5):1633-1644.
82. Philippson G., Bahuchet S. Cultivated crops and Bantu migrations in Central and Eastern Africa: a linguistic approach. The Growth of Farming Communities in Africa from the Equator Southwards. Azania 29/30 1994-1995, 103-120. British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi. J.E.G. Sutton (Ed.).
83. Phillipson D. Language and farming dispersals in sub-Saharan Africa, with particular reference to the Bantu-speaking peoples. Examining the Farming/Language Dispersal Hypothesis 2003, 177-187. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge. P. Bellwood, C. Renfrew (Eds.).
84. Phillipson D. African Archaeology 2005, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. third ed.
85. Piperno D.R., Pearsall D.M. The Origins of Agriculture in the Lowland Neotropics 1998, Academic Press, San Diego.
86. Purseglove J.W. Tropical Crops: Monocotyledons 1972, English Language Book Society, Longman, Harlow.
87. Rassel A. Le mil à chandelles (Pennisetum typhoides Burm.) et sa culture au Kwango. Bulletin Agricole du Congo Belge 1958, 49(1):1-22.
88. Renaud P. Description phonologiques et éléments de morphologie nominale d'une de pygmées du sud-Cameroun: les bajèlè (bipindi). Direction Générale de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique (DGRST) 1976, Institut des Sciences Humaines, Yaoundé.
89. Reynaud-Farrera I., Maley J., Wirrmann D. Végétation et climat dans les forêts du Sud-Ouest Cameroun depuis 4770 ans B.P: analyse pollinique des sédiments du Lac Ossa. Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences, Series 2a 1996, 322:749-755.
90. Ross R. Ecological studies on the rain forest of southern Nigeria. III. Secondary succession in the Shasha Forest Reserve. Journal of Ecology 1954, 42(2):259-282.
91. Safo Kantanka O. Colocasia esculenta L. Schott. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, 2: Vegetables. PROTA Foundation 2004, 206-211. Backhuys, CTA, Wageningen. G.J.H. Grubben, O.A. Denton (Eds.).
92. Schwartz D. Assèchement climatique vers 3000 B.P. et expansion Bantu en Afrique centrale atlantique: quelques réflexions. Bulletin de la Societé Géologique de France 1992, 163(3):353-361.
93. Shanahan T.M., Overpeck J.T., Wheeler C.W., Beck J.W., Pigati J.S., Talbot M.R., Scholz C.A., Peck J., King J.W. Paleoclimatic variations in west Africa from a record of late Pleistocene and Holocene lake level stands of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 2006, 242(3-4):287-302.
94. Sowunmi M.A. The significance of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the late Holocene environments of West and West Central Africa: a further consideration. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 1999, 8(3):199-210.
95. Stahl A.B. Reinvestigation of Kintampo 6 rock shelter, Ghana: implications for the nature of cultural change. African Archaeological Review 1985, 3:117-150.
96. Tostain S. Le mil, une longue histoire: hypothèses sur sa domestication et ses migrations. Plantes et paysages d'Afrique. Une histoire à explorer 1998, 461-490. Karthala, Paris. M. Chastanet (Ed.).
97. Van Dijk J.F.W. Assessment of non-wood forest product resources in view of the development of sustainable commercial extraction. Non-wood Forest Products of Central Africa: Current Research Issues and Prospects for Conservation and Development 1999, 37-50. FAO, Rome. T.C.H. Sunderland, L.E. Clark, P. Vantomme (Eds.).
98. Vansina J. Paths in the Rainforests: Toward a History of Political Tradition in Equatorial Africa 1990, James Currey, London.
99. Vansina J. Aslow revolution: farming in subequatorial Africa. The Growth of Farming Communities in Africa from the Equator Southwards. Azania 29/30 1994-1995, 147-160. British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi. J.E.G. Sutton (Ed.).
100. Vansina J. New linguistic evidence and the Bantu expansion. Journal of African History 1995, 36:173-195.
101. Vansina J. Bananas in Cameroon c. 500 BCE? Not proven. Azania 2003, 38:174-176.
102. Vansina J. How Societies Are Born: Governance in West Central Africa before 1600 2004, University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville.
103. Vincens A., Schwartz D., Reynaud-Farrera I., Alexandre A., Bertaux J., Mariotti A., Martin L., Meunier J.-D., Nguetsop F., Servant M., Servant-Vildary S., Wirrmann D. Forest response to climate changes in Atlantic Equatorial Africa during the last 4000 years BP and inheritance on the modern landscapes. Journal of Biogeography 1999, 26(4):879-885.
104. Wilson J.P. Pearl millet diseases. A compilation of information on the known pathogens of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.]. Agriculture Handbook 2000, 716. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Tifton, [accessed 26.11.09]. http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm%3Fdocid%3D8905.
105. Wotzka H.-P. Central African iron Age. Encyclopedia of Prehistory, 1: Africa 2001, 59-76. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York. P.N. Peregrine, M. Ember (Eds.).
106. Wotzka H.-P. Records of activity: radiocarbon and the structure of Iron Age settlement in Central Africa. Grundlegungen. Beiträge zur europäischen und afrikanischen Archäologie für Manfred K.H. Eggert. Francke, Tübingen 2006, 271-289. H.-P. Wotzka (Ed.).