Reassessing plants and pastoralist foodways in ancient eastern Africa

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

In the world today, tens of millions of people rely on livestock such as cattle, sheep, and goat to feed their families and drive local economies. Researchers and policymakers now recognize that this way of life – known as pastoralism – is highly dynamic and flexible, and therefore enables people to thrive when climate change threatens food security and, by extension, creates social or political instability. In Africa, pastoralism has been a mainstay of life for at least seven millennia. Yet archaeologists lack basic data with which to understand how pastoralism developed, expanded across the continent, and changed over time. This limits the extent to which archaeologists can use data from the past to inform present-day discussions of land use and pastoralist resilience. In particular, a key missing element of archaeological research is the plant component of pastoralism food systems. While it is known that pastoralists commonly incorporate crops and wild plants into their food systems today, past pastoralist plant use in Africa is poorly known, due to relatively poor preservation, and a lack of research in this area. This three-year, multidisciplinary research project tackles this research gap with fieldwork and associated laboratory work. The project includes training for undergraduate and graduate students. Results will be made available to a broader public via a US-based archaeological open access database. An international team of researchers investigates the roles of plants in ancient pastoralist foodways by focusing on a single location with exceptionally good preservation and a three thousand year history. Preliminary evidence for the culinary importance of plants includes plant traces detected in pottery and on grinding stones. In order to holistically reconstruct past food systems, this project supports excavation and study of ancient plant and animal remains informed by an ethnobotanical study. The latter includes interviews with pastoralist and farmer communities on plant identifications and traditional uses; collection of modern plant samples for comparison to and improved identification of ancient remains; and the development of an ethnobotanical database that pairs physical plant samples with text, audio, and video data on traditional plant knowledge and use. Broader impacts of this research also includes the creation of a permanent botanical research collection in two international locations. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.