Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Subsistence and Specialization in the Inland Niger Delta, Mali

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Fiona Marshall, Ms Abigail Smith will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will investigate the interrelationship between mobile pastoral groups and urban populations in the past, focusing on the site of Jenné-jeno and its surrounding landscape. Jenné-jeno, occupied ca. 250 BCE to CE 1400, is one of Africa's earliest known urban centers. Its location in the extremely fertile floodplains of the Inland Niger Delta, Mali, allowed the site to grow rapidly and enabled occupants to forge trade links with regional populations, eventually becoming a vital cog in the emerging trans-Saharan trade. Pastoral populations have a long history in Africa and continue to be an important part of modern African society. Very little, however, is known about the relationships between pastoral peoples and their sedentary neighbors in the past. In West Africa, pastoral trajectories are particularly unclear. With this dearth of information in mind, this project uses excavation, faunal, archaeobotanical, geoarchaeological, and isotopic analysis to identify the presence of mobile pastoral herds in the area around Jenné-jeno. The study places these herds in broader context by investigating the nature of subsistence at the sites throughout the long period of occupation. A major question is whether domestic herds were moved seasonally out of the delta by mobile pastoralists, as they are today, or kept year-round by a sedentary urban population. This project is the first large-scale excavation of smaller sites in the Jenné-jeno area and will provide important information about local variability and the scale of occupation through time. As the first excavation in the area focusing on subsistence and specialization, this project will provide empirical data about the trajectories of West African pastoralism and agriculture. The information will enable discussion of the role of pastoral populations in the Jenné-jeno urban system, which will increase understanding of Jenné-jeno's intergroup interactions and political organization. Given the unique trajectories of African food production when compared to other world areas, this project could also be an important contribution to our understanding of variability in global pastoral strategies and mobile-sedentary interactions. Along with studies in other world areas this information will help to move theoretical models of mobile-sedentary interactions beyond Near Eastern configurations that too often are misapplied to other world areas. By working with several local students and Malian archaeologists, this project will forge connections between US and Malian scholars and enable the dissemination of specialized archaeological skills and methods. Furthermore, archaeological investigations that engage the local populace are a critical means of preserving Mali's archaeological heritage. Looting of archaeological sites for glass beads, terra cotta figurines, and ceramics is a major obstacle to Mali's efforts to understand and preserve its cultural patrimony. Combined efforts by local and international archaeologists, Mali's Ministry of Culture, and the Malian people are making great strides, but continued support by international scholars is vital in this endeavor. Even small projects like this one that hire local workers, engage local students, and endeavor to make information from the research available to and interesting for a nonacademic public can have a significant impact. Finally, by focusing on subsistence and interactions, this project will be of potential use to development projects working with Mali's vast agricultural population. People have thrived in the semi-arid environment of the Sahel for millennia, and the archaeological record has the potential to show how strategies and interactions shifted in the face of various climatic, epidemiological, cultural, and political changes, providing instructive information for the modern era.