Late Holocene Paleoecology and Archaeology in the Central African Rain Forest

Washington State University, Pullman WA

Investigators

Abstract

The Central African rain forest is the second largest contiguous tract of rain forest in the world and currently supports a suite of highly diverse biological communities, including a number endemic and endangered animals, as well as local and regional economies and plays an important role in global climates. Renewed efforts to protect and manage these ecosystems depend on accurate reconstructions of the prehistoric ecological trajectory of this region. With the support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Karen Lupo will lead a multi-institutional and interdisciplinary research project to build a longitudinal paleoecological record for the northern Central African rain forest spanning the last 4,500 years. This project is a collaborative effort that includes archeologists, anthropologists, ethnoarchaeologists and palynologists from Washington State University (USA), CURDHACA (Centre Universitaire de Recherche et de Documentation en Histoire et Archéologie Centrafricaines), University of Bangui, and the Boganda Museum, Central African Republic. The goal of this research is to lay the groundwork for investigating the timing, nature and cultural developments associated with the transition to food production in the northern Congo Basin. The transition to food production generated one of the earliest significant anthropogenic impacts on rain forest habitats and had far reaching effects (and interactions) on the human populations that occupied the forest. By combining paired archaeological and proxy paleoenvironmental information from fossil pollen and plant remains, the team will reconstruct the historical ecology of the northern Congo Basin. This research is important because it represents the first historical ecology study in this region. Environmental reconstructions from parts of West Africa suggest that the rain forest boundaries fluctuated and regressed dramatically during an arid period spanning from about 4,500 to 2,000 years ago. This arid period is often identified as a catalyst to the migration of Bantu-speaking farmers from a core area in northwestern Cameroun to other portions of Africa. Thus far, very little research on the historical ecology of the central African rainforest has been conducted. Limited evidence suggests a high degree of regional variation in vegetational response to Late Holocene aridity in the central African rainforest. Furthermore, the timing and nature of the arrival of farmers in this area and the subsequent impacts of horticulture are unknown and controversial. Linguistic evidence suggests that farmers migrated to this area between 2,300 and 2,500 years ago, but sparse archeological evidence support a much later date of arrival. The collaborative research partnership between scientists and students in the Central African Republic and United States created by this research presents an opportunity to exchange ideas and training. This study will also have broader impacts and practical applications to the management of rain forest communities. Outreach activities associated with this research include educational activities with local communities to promote stewardship and protection of heritage and environmental resources.