Alexandre Livingstone Smith
Biographic Data
| ID | 3592090 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alexandre Livingstone Smith |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alexandre Livingstone |
| FAMILY NAME | Smith |
| SIGNATURE | SMITH A L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Royal Museum for Central Africa |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0929-1129 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 104 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Nouvelles données sur la technologie de la poterie au nord-est du bassin du Congo (RDC)
Le quart nord-est du bassin du Congo reste une région peu connue du point de vue des techniques de la poterie. Entre 2022 et 2024, plusieurs missions de terrain ont permis d’apporter de nouvelles données le long du fleuve Congo/Lualaba et dans la zone de Banalia, au nord-est de la République démocratique du Congo. Deux descriptions inédites de fabrication de poterie observée à Bongbangu et Bobabe (territoire de Banalia) sont d’abord présentées en…
Slavery Legacy in the Congo Basin
In the Congo Basin, a vast area between the Gulf of Guinea and the Great Lakes region, the trade in enslaved people spans multiple histories with complex geographical networks, different time frames, and a multitude of internal and external actors. Stimulated by UNESCO's slave route project, the different countries that are wholly or partially situated within the Congo Basin have increasingly engaged with the material and immaterial heritage of s…
Kasongo-Tongoni
This article is devoted to the identification and preliminary archaeological research of Kasongo-Tongoni, an important caravan settlement located in the east of Central Africa to the west of Lake Tanganyika. Along with Kabambare and Nyangwe, this site was one of the main trading centres on the central caravan route linking the interior of Central Africa to the coast of East Africa during the second half of the nineteenth century. We discuss the c…
Extraire le passé du présent
Le colloque Le présent volume spécial de la revue Afriques est issu du colloque « Extraire le passé du présent : colloque international et interdisciplinaire sur l’histoire précoloniale de l’Afrique », qui a eu lieu du 1er au 5 mars 2021, prévu à l’Université libre de Bruxelles mais finalement en ligne, suite à la pandémie Covid-19. Au cours de cette première semaine de mars 2021, des chercheurs d’Afrique, d’Europe, d’Amérique du Nord, d’Asie et …
Extracting the past from the present
The conference The present special volume of the journal Afriques is an outcome of the conference “Extracting the Past from the Present, International and Interdisciplinary Conference on African Precolonial History”, which took place 1-5 March 2021. The conference was planned to be hosted at the Université libre de Bruxelles but ended up being an online event because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this first week of March 2021, researchers from…
Paths in the eastern Congo rainforest
The early history of the lower Lualaba, the region between Kisangani and Lowa, is mostly known from Moeller’s Les grandes lignes des migrations des Bantous de la Province Orientale du Congo belge (1936). This work is largely based on vernacular histories collected and reinterpreted by various colonial administrators. Here, we present recently recorded vernacular histories and a reanalysis of relevant documents from the AIMO colonial archives. The…
« Extraire le passé du présent »
En mars 2021, des chercheurs d’Afrique, d’Europe, d’Amérique du Nord, d’Asie et d’Océanie se sont réunis en ligne, à l’occasion d’un colloque organisé par l’équipe du projet Banturivers, consacré à des questions liées au passé précolonial de l’Afrique. Il s’agissait de discuter de la démarche qui consiste à partir du présent pour explorer le passé. Le projet Banturivers est un ERC Starting Grant, intitulé « At a Crossroads of Bantu Expansions: Pr…
Hunter-gatherers on the basin’s edge
Limited excavations at Nangara-Komba Shelter along the northern margin of the Congo Basin have recovered evidence for intermittent and at times intensive human visits beginning approximately 5100 cal. BC. Numerous rock art panels adorn the shelter’s walls and ceramics appear to have initially been brought to the site between 1050 and 900 cal. BC, if not earlier. Charred Canarium schweinfurthii endocarp fragments were collected in all stratigraphi…
History, archaeology and memory of the Swahili-Arab in the Maniema, Democratic Republic of Congo
A research project focused on the cultural heritage of the Swahili-Arab in the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed the location of their former settlement in Kasongo, one of the westernmost trading entrepôts in a network of settlements connecting Central Africa with Zanzibar. This project represents the first time archaeological investigations, combined with oral history and archival data, have been used to understand the Swahili-Arab lega…
Ethnographic Methods
info:eu-repo/semantics/published
Forests and rivers
Copper, Trade and Polities
A rare, scattered resource in Central Africa, copper was produced in the Copperbelt since the 4th?7th centuries CE and traded over large distances from the 9th to the 19th centuries. It was exchanged mainly in the form of cross-shaped ingots, also called croisettes, varying in form and size over time and space. In this article, we explore and compare the spatial distribution of these ingots over time. This approach offers an opportunity to study …
High spatial resolution of late-Holocene human activities in the moist forests of central Africa using soil charcoal and charred botanical remains
Palaeoecological and archaeological studies have demonstrated that human populations have long inhabited the moist forests of central Africa. However, spatial and temporal patterns of human activities have hardly been investigated with satisfactory accuracy. In this study, we propose to characterize past human activities at local scale by using a systematic quantitative and qualitative methodology based on soil charcoal and charred botanical rema…
Pottery and Politics
The multiscalar analysis of pottery traditions in south central Africa opens a new perspective on the study of ancient polities. Focusing on an area of central Africa known for the existence of great kingdoms, I show how past political entities have left lingering traces in the cultural landscape and, more specifically, in the pottery traditions. As ceramics are one of the major tools in the archaeological arsenal, the way they can be related to …
Un Néolithique ouest-africain. Cadre chrono-culturel, économique et environnemental de l'Holocène récent en pays dogon (Mali)
Archaeological charcoals as archives for firewood preferences and vegetation composition during the late Holocene in the southern Mayumbe, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
A Century of Ceramic Studies in Africa
This article summarises the evolution of Africanist ceramic studies in ethnography and archaeology. Over a century ago, one of the first monographs devoted to ethnography announced many further developments in ceramic studies. The modernity of a publication whose overall tone and presentation are grounded in early colonial ideology heralded some major directions in African ceramic studies: close association with prevailing theories in social scie…
Pottery Traditions in Katanga (DRC). A Comparative Examination of Roughing-out Technologies
Anthropos , Seite 179 - 190
Reconstitution de la chaîne opératoire de la poterie
L'analyse de la chaîne opératoire de la poterie a connu un développement important depuis la fin des années '80. Pourtant, malgré l'importance du sujet et le nombre de publications, ce domaine connaît encore de nombreux problèmes en archéologie (méconnaissance technique, développement inégal de la recherche pour les différentes étapes de la chaîne opératoire, disparité terminologique, etc.). Dans cet article je propose de faire un bref bilan de l…
Shaping Kabambian Pottery
The excavation of a series of graveyards during the '50 and '70 in the Upemba depression (Katanga, DRC) led to the establishment of a cultural sequence spanning the 7 th to the 20 th century AD.This sequence consists in a succession of archaeological cultures displaying elements of rupture and continuity, particularly visible in the shape and decoration of pottery.To answer questions pertaining to population dynamics in central Katanga, we decide…
Histoire du décor à la roulette en Afrique subsaharienne
Used both now and in the past over a large part of the African continent, roulette decoration has often been used by archaeologists as a social or chronological marker. Despite being so widespread, this type of pottery decoration has remained problematic both in terms of the identification of its many forms and of their histories. In this paper, I intend to survey the historical and spatial distribution of this technique at a continental scale. A…
Histoire du décor à la roulette en Afrique subsaharienne
Used both now and in the past over a large part of the African continent, roulette decoration has often been used by archaeologists as a social or chronological marker. Despite being so widespread, this type of pottery decoration has remained problematic both in terms of the identification of its many forms and of their histories. In this paper, I intend to survey the historical and spatial distribution of this technique at a continental scale. A…
Copper, Trade and Polities
A rare, scattered resource in Central Africa, copper was produced in the Copperbelt since the 4th?7th centuries CE and traded over large distances from the 9th to the 19th centuries. It was exchanged mainly in the form of cross-shaped ingots, also called croisettes, varying in form and size over time and space. In this article, we explore and compare the spatial distribution of these ingots over time. This approach offers an opportunity to study …
Shaping Kabambian Pottery
The excavation of a series of graveyards during the '50 and '70 in the Upemba depression (Katanga, DRC) led to the establishment of a cultural sequence spanning the 7 th to the 20 th century AD.This sequence consists in a succession of archaeological cultures displaying elements of rupture and continuity, particularly visible in the shape and decoration of pottery.To answer questions pertaining to population dynamics in central Katanga, we decide…
Forests and rivers
Hunter-gatherers on the basin’s edge
Limited excavations at Nangara-Komba Shelter along the northern margin of the Congo Basin have recovered evidence for intermittent and at times intensive human visits beginning approximately 5100 cal. BC. Numerous rock art panels adorn the shelter’s walls and ceramics appear to have initially been brought to the site between 1050 and 900 cal. BC, if not earlier. Charred Canarium schweinfurthii endocarp fragments were collected in all stratigraphi…
High spatial resolution of late-Holocene human activities in the moist forests of central Africa using soil charcoal and charred botanical remains
Palaeoecological and archaeological studies have demonstrated that human populations have long inhabited the moist forests of central Africa. However, spatial and temporal patterns of human activities have hardly been investigated with satisfactory accuracy. In this study, we propose to characterize past human activities at local scale by using a systematic quantitative and qualitative methodology based on soil charcoal and charred botanical rema…
Pottery and Politics
The multiscalar analysis of pottery traditions in south central Africa opens a new perspective on the study of ancient polities. Focusing on an area of central Africa known for the existence of great kingdoms, I show how past political entities have left lingering traces in the cultural landscape and, more specifically, in the pottery traditions. As ceramics are one of the major tools in the archaeological arsenal, the way they can be related to …
A Century of Ceramic Studies in Africa
This article summarises the evolution of Africanist ceramic studies in ethnography and archaeology. Over a century ago, one of the first monographs devoted to ethnography announced many further developments in ceramic studies. The modernity of a publication whose overall tone and presentation are grounded in early colonial ideology heralded some major directions in African ceramic studies: close association with prevailing theories in social scie…
History, archaeology and memory of the Swahili-Arab in the Maniema, Democratic Republic of Congo
A research project focused on the cultural heritage of the Swahili-Arab in the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed the location of their former settlement in Kasongo, one of the westernmost trading entrepôts in a network of settlements connecting Central Africa with Zanzibar. This project represents the first time archaeological investigations, combined with oral history and archival data, have been used to understand the Swahili-Arab lega…
Archaeological charcoals as archives for firewood preferences and vegetation composition during the late Holocene in the southern Mayumbe, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Histoire du décor à la roulette en Afrique subsaharienne
Used both now and in the past over a large part of the African continent, roulette decoration has often been used by archaeologists as a social or chronological marker. Despite being so widespread, this type of pottery decoration has remained problematic both in terms of the identification of its many forms and of their histories. In this paper, I intend to survey the historical and spatial distribution of this technique at a continental scale. A…
Pottery Traditions in Katanga (DRC). A Comparative Examination of Roughing-out Technologies
Anthropos , Seite 179 - 190
Reconstitution de la chaîne opératoire de la poterie
L'analyse de la chaîne opératoire de la poterie a connu un développement important depuis la fin des années '80. Pourtant, malgré l'importance du sujet et le nombre de publications, ce domaine connaît encore de nombreux problèmes en archéologie (méconnaissance technique, développement inégal de la recherche pour les différentes étapes de la chaîne opératoire, disparité terminologique, etc.). Dans cet article je propose de faire un bref bilan de l…
Shaping Kabambian Pottery
The excavation of a series of graveyards during the '50 and '70 in the Upemba depression (Katanga, DRC) led to the establishment of a cultural sequence spanning the 7 th to the 20 th century AD.This sequence consists in a succession of archaeological cultures displaying elements of rupture and continuity, particularly visible in the shape and decoration of pottery.To answer questions pertaining to population dynamics in central Katanga, we decide…
Archaeological charcoals as archives for firewood preferences and vegetation composition during the late Holocene in the southern Mayumbe, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
A Century of Ceramic Studies in Africa
This article summarises the evolution of Africanist ceramic studies in ethnography and archaeology. Over a century ago, one of the first monographs devoted to ethnography announced many further developments in ceramic studies. The modernity of a publication whose overall tone and presentation are grounded in early colonial ideology heralded some major directions in African ceramic studies: close association with prevailing theories in social scie…
Un Néolithique ouest-africain. Cadre chrono-culturel, économique et environnemental de l'Holocène récent en pays dogon (Mali)
High spatial resolution of late-Holocene human activities in the moist forests of central Africa using soil charcoal and charred botanical remains
Palaeoecological and archaeological studies have demonstrated that human populations have long inhabited the moist forests of central Africa. However, spatial and temporal patterns of human activities have hardly been investigated with satisfactory accuracy. In this study, we propose to characterize past human activities at local scale by using a systematic quantitative and qualitative methodology based on soil charcoal and charred botanical rema…
Pottery and Politics
The multiscalar analysis of pottery traditions in south central Africa opens a new perspective on the study of ancient polities. Focusing on an area of central Africa known for the existence of great kingdoms, I show how past political entities have left lingering traces in the cultural landscape and, more specifically, in the pottery traditions. As ceramics are one of the major tools in the archaeological arsenal, the way they can be related to …
Forests and rivers
Copper, Trade and Polities
A rare, scattered resource in Central Africa, copper was produced in the Copperbelt since the 4th?7th centuries CE and traded over large distances from the 9th to the 19th centuries. It was exchanged mainly in the form of cross-shaped ingots, also called croisettes, varying in form and size over time and space. In this article, we explore and compare the spatial distribution of these ingots over time. This approach offers an opportunity to study …
Ethnographic Methods
info:eu-repo/semantics/published
History, archaeology and memory of the Swahili-Arab in the Maniema, Democratic Republic of Congo
A research project focused on the cultural heritage of the Swahili-Arab in the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed the location of their former settlement in Kasongo, one of the westernmost trading entrepôts in a network of settlements connecting Central Africa with Zanzibar. This project represents the first time archaeological investigations, combined with oral history and archival data, have been used to understand the Swahili-Arab lega…
« Extraire le passé du présent »
En mars 2021, des chercheurs d’Afrique, d’Europe, d’Amérique du Nord, d’Asie et d’Océanie se sont réunis en ligne, à l’occasion d’un colloque organisé par l’équipe du projet Banturivers, consacré à des questions liées au passé précolonial de l’Afrique. Il s’agissait de discuter de la démarche qui consiste à partir du présent pour explorer le passé. Le projet Banturivers est un ERC Starting Grant, intitulé « At a Crossroads of Bantu Expansions: Pr…
Hunter-gatherers on the basin’s edge
Limited excavations at Nangara-Komba Shelter along the northern margin of the Congo Basin have recovered evidence for intermittent and at times intensive human visits beginning approximately 5100 cal. BC. Numerous rock art panels adorn the shelter’s walls and ceramics appear to have initially been brought to the site between 1050 and 900 cal. BC, if not earlier. Charred Canarium schweinfurthii endocarp fragments were collected in all stratigraphi…
Extraire le passé du présent
Le colloque Le présent volume spécial de la revue Afriques est issu du colloque « Extraire le passé du présent : colloque international et interdisciplinaire sur l’histoire précoloniale de l’Afrique », qui a eu lieu du 1er au 5 mars 2021, prévu à l’Université libre de Bruxelles mais finalement en ligne, suite à la pandémie Covid-19. Au cours de cette première semaine de mars 2021, des chercheurs d’Afrique, d’Europe, d’Amérique du Nord, d’Asie et …
Extracting the past from the present
The conference The present special volume of the journal Afriques is an outcome of the conference “Extracting the Past from the Present, International and Interdisciplinary Conference on African Precolonial History”, which took place 1-5 March 2021. The conference was planned to be hosted at the Université libre de Bruxelles but ended up being an online event because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this first week of March 2021, researchers from…
Paths in the eastern Congo rainforest
The early history of the lower Lualaba, the region between Kisangani and Lowa, is mostly known from Moeller’s Les grandes lignes des migrations des Bantous de la Province Orientale du Congo belge (1936). This work is largely based on vernacular histories collected and reinterpreted by various colonial administrators. Here, we present recently recorded vernacular histories and a reanalysis of relevant documents from the AIMO colonial archives. The…
Slavery Legacy in the Congo Basin
In the Congo Basin, a vast area between the Gulf of Guinea and the Great Lakes region, the trade in enslaved people spans multiple histories with complex geographical networks, different time frames, and a multitude of internal and external actors. Stimulated by UNESCO's slave route project, the different countries that are wholly or partially situated within the Congo Basin have increasingly engaged with the material and immaterial heritage of s…
Kasongo-Tongoni
This article is devoted to the identification and preliminary archaeological research of Kasongo-Tongoni, an important caravan settlement located in the east of Central Africa to the west of Lake Tanganyika. Along with Kabambare and Nyangwe, this site was one of the main trading centres on the central caravan route linking the interior of Central Africa to the coast of East Africa during the second half of the nineteenth century. We discuss the c…
Nouvelles données sur la technologie de la poterie au nord-est du bassin du Congo (RDC)
Le quart nord-est du bassin du Congo reste une région peu connue du point de vue des techniques de la poterie. Entre 2022 et 2024, plusieurs missions de terrain ont permis d’apporter de nouvelles données le long du fleuve Congo/Lualaba et dans la zone de Banalia, au nord-est de la République démocratique du Congo. Deux descriptions inédites de fabrication de poterie observée à Bongbangu et Bobabe (territoire de Banalia) sont d’abord présentées en…
Archaeology (14 works) · Geography (13 works) · History (11 works) · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies (9 works) · Colonialism, slavery, and trade (7 works) · History (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · African history and culture studies (6 works) · Ancient history (5 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (5 works)