An elusive record further exposed
Additional excavations and chronometric data on human settlement in the northern Congo Basin rain forest, southern Central African Republic
Bibliographic Data
Recently, Lupo et al. (2015, 2018) reported novel data on the nature and timing of late Holocene human settlement and iron production in the northern Congo Basin rain forest, southern Central African Republic. This paper expands those data by presenting new archaeological and chronological information discovered in field investigations conducted in 2017–2018. Twenty-five archaeological sites were identified and radiocarbon dates from 14 signal human habitation over some 1900 years. Together with the previously reported investigations a diverse suite of sites has been identified, including slag mounds, ceramic scatters, habitation sites and the only documented series of iron ore quarries in the Central African forest. Cumulatively, the results of radiocarbon assay of charcoal samples from 32 sites indicate nearly continuous human activity in the Lobaye River Basin over the past 2300 years. Among others, these data: 1) indicate, for the first time, an Early Iron Age interval in the region with evidence of iron production; 2) include multiple calibrated age estimates on sites/components dating within the c. 1400–800 BP hiatus in human occupations reported elsewhere in Central Africa forests; and 3) afford a number of additional radiocarbon age estimates that fall during the Late Iron Age increase in human use of the forest reported in neighbouring contexts
Archaeological record · Archaeology · Charcoal · Excavation · Geography · Holocene · Human settlement · Iron Age · Physical geography · Radiocarbon dating · Structural basin · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Geology · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Vanishing Potters in the Ubangi River Basin
New Holocene Radiocarbon Dates from the Heart of the Sangha River Interval, Southwestern Central African Republic
The Sangha River Interval, Its Earliest Village Settlements, and the Bantu-Speakers’ Expansion During the Late Holocene (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo Republic)
Using the radiocarbon dates of Central Africa for studying long-term demographic trends of the last 50,000 years
Hunter-gatherers on the basin’s edge
Red gold of Africa
Late Holocene forest contraction and fragmentation in central Africa
How "Virgin" Is Virgin Rainforest?
Past tree cover of the Congo Basin recovered by phytoliths and δ13C along soil profiles
Early Metal Working in Sub-Saharan Africa
Histoire du décor à la roulette en Afrique subsaharienne
Prehistory and the present
High spatial resolution of late-Holocene human activities in the moist forests of central Africa using soil charcoal and charred botanical remains
Ceramic Tradition in the African Forest
A Catastrophic Destruction of African Forests about 2,500 Years Ago Still Exerts a Major Influence on Present Vegetation Formations
Forests and rivers
Imbonga and Batalimo
First farmers in the Central African rainforest
IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP
New Evidence of Human Activities During the Holocene in the Lowland Forests of the Northern Congo Basin
West Central African Peoples
An elusive record exposed
The Central African rain forest
Middle to Late Holocene Paleoclimatic Change and the Early Bantu Expansion in the Rain Forests of Western Central Africa
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |