Archaeology of African Plant Use. 2023. 293 p. gr8vo. Hardcover.

The first major synthesis of African archaeobotany in decades, this book focuses on Paleolithic archaeobotany and the relationship between agriculture and social complexity. It explores the effects that plant life has had on humans as they evolved from primates through the complex societies of Africa, including Egypt, the Buganda Kingdom, southern African polities, and other regions. With over 30 contributing scholars from 12 countries and extensive illustrations, this volume is an essential addition to our knowledge of humanity’s relationship with plants.

Contents

1. African Archaeobotany Expanding, Dorian Q Fuller, Sam Nixon, Chris J. Stevens and Mary Anne Murray2. Primate Archaeobotany: The Potential for Revealing Nonhuman Primate Plant-Use in the African Archaeological Record, Michael Haslam3. Dietary Diversity: Our Species-Specific Dietary Adaptation, Gordon Hillman and Michele Wollstonecroft4. Seeds at Sibudu: A Glimpse of Middle Stone Age Vegetation at Sibudu Cave, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Christine Sievers5. Understanding Late and Terminal Pleistocene Vegetation Change in The Western Cape, South Africa: The Wood Charcoal Evidence from Elands Bay Cave, Caroline Cartwright, John Parkington and Richard Cowling6. Early Millet Farmers in the Lower Tilemsi Valley, Northeastern Mali, Katie Manning and Dorian Q Fuller7. Holocene Vegetation Change and Land Use at Ounjougou, Mali, Barbara Eichhorn and Katharina Neumann8. Early Agro-Pastoralism in The Middle Senegal Valley: The Botanical Remains from Walalde, Shawn Sabrina Murray and Alioune Deme9. Humans and the Mangrove in Southern Nigeria, Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie and M. Adebisi Sowunmi10. Plant and Land Use in Southern Cameroon Between 400 BC and AD 400, Stefanie Kahlheber, Alexa HAhn and Katharina Neumann11. Wild Trees in the Subsistence Economy of Early Bantu Speech Communities: A Historical-Linguistic Approach, Koen Bostoen12. Archaeobotany of Two Middle Kingdom Cult Chambers at North Saqqara, Egypt, Ahmed Gamal-El-Din Fahmy, Nozomu Kawai and Sakuji Yoshimura13. Botanical Insights into the Life of an Ancient Egyptian Village: Excavation Results from El-Amarna, Chris J. Stevens and Alan J. Clapham14. Agricultural Innovation and State Collapse in Meroitic Nubia: The Impact of the Savannah Package, Dorian Q Fuller15. Islands of Agriculture on Victoria Nyanza, Andrew Reid and Ceri Ashley16. Archaeobotanical Investigations of the Iron Age Lundu State, Malawi, Ingrid Heijen17. Prehistoric Plant Use on La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain): An Example of the Disappearance of Agriculture in an Isolated Environment, Jacob Morales, Amelia Rodriguez and Aguedo Marrero18. Patterns in the Archaeobotany of Africa: Developing a Database for North Africa, the Sahara and The Sahel, Ruth Pelling19. The Archaeobotany of Farming Communities in South Africa: A Review, Alexander Antonites, Annie Raath Antonites20. Linguistic Evidence and the Origins of Food Production in Africa: Where Are We Now?, Christopher Ehret21. African Agricultural Tools: Implications of Synchronic Ethnography for Agrarian History, Roger Blench22. Leaving a Lasting Impression: Arable Economies and Cereal Impressions in Africa and Europe, Meriel McClatchie and Dorian Q Fuller23. The Use of Plants In Iron Production: Insights from Smelting Remains from Buganda, Louise Iles / Index