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Editorial

Editorial While the last volume of the Journal of African Archaeology had a particular focus on archaeological science, the present one is more heterogenous in its topics. Central are considerations on prehistoric economy. Kintampo economy in Ghana is discussed by A. Catherine D'Andrea, Amanda L. Logan and Derek J. Watson on the base of macrobotanical remains from recent excavations of rock shelter deposits. In particular, the role of the oil palm and arboriculture as a component of the prehistoric subsistence of tropical West Africa -- a matter of many speculations in the past -- is considered. Another economic aspect is presented by Achilles Gautier and Wim Van Neer. Their article deals with faunal remains from the southern Atbai in Sudan, and its potential to identify the arrival of pastoralism in the area. Karim Sadr and C. Garth Sampson discuss the evidence on earliest pottery in southern Africa. Different from the thick-walled and coarse surfaced wares of the Iron Age, the thin-walled and smooth surfaced earliest pottery might indicate an earlier infiltration which is so far archaeologically invisible. A similar topic of archaeological visibility or invisibility is discussed by François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, Karim Sadr, François Bon and Detlef Gronenborn using the example of settlement remains of pastoral Khoekhoe from the early contact period in the Cape area. Exciting new archaeological and archaeobotanical discoveries from the tropical rain forest in southern Cameroon, dated to 1st millennium BC, are presented by Manfred K. H. Eggert, Alexa Höhn, Stefanie Kahlheber, Conny Meister, Katharina Neumann and Astrid Schweizer. From Niger, Anne Haour, Vicky Winton, Oumarou A. Idé, Helen Rendell and Michèle Clarke introduce the results of surveys carried out in the Mékrou Valley of the Parc W in 2004. The last article is written by Alioune Deme and Susan Keech McIntosh on excavations at the site of Walaldé in the Middle Senegal Valley and its significance on the origins of iron metallurgy in West Africa. Among the book reviews of recent publications, we emphasize the reply J. David Lewis-Williams has written on John Parkington's review of "Early San spirituality: Evidence from the Howieson's Poort Industry". The wide geographical and thematic range of topics presented in this volume elucidate that the Journal of African Archaeology apparently has passed the test to bridge the gap that existed among a pan-African archaeological forums. In this regard, the editors would like to thank all authors and reviewers for their respective contributions. Particular thanks to our copy-editors Gaby Franke, Richard Byer and Annabelle Gallin. Frankfurt a. M., December 2006 Peter Breunig Sonja Magnavita Journal of African Archaeology Vol. 4 (2), 2006 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of African Archaeology Brill

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Copyright 2006 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1612-1651
eISSN
2191-5784
DOI
10.1163/21915784-90000009
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

While the last volume of the Journal of African Archaeology had a particular focus on archaeological science, the present one is more heterogenous in its topics. Central are considerations on prehistoric economy. Kintampo economy in Ghana is discussed by A. Catherine D'Andrea, Amanda L. Logan and Derek J. Watson on the base of macrobotanical remains from recent excavations of rock shelter deposits. In particular, the role of the oil palm and arboriculture as a component of the prehistoric subsistence of tropical West Africa -- a matter of many speculations in the past -- is considered. Another economic aspect is presented by Achilles Gautier and Wim Van Neer. Their article deals with faunal remains from the southern Atbai in Sudan, and its potential to identify the arrival of pastoralism in the area. Karim Sadr and C. Garth Sampson discuss the evidence on earliest pottery in southern Africa. Different from the thick-walled and coarse surfaced wares of the Iron Age, the thin-walled and smooth surfaced earliest pottery might indicate an earlier infiltration which is so far archaeologically invisible. A similar topic of archaeological visibility or invisibility is discussed by François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar, Karim Sadr, François Bon and Detlef Gronenborn using the example of settlement remains of pastoral Khoekhoe from the early contact period in the Cape area. Exciting new archaeological and archaeobotanical discoveries from the tropical rain forest in southern Cameroon, dated to 1st millennium BC, are presented by Manfred K. H. Eggert, Alexa Höhn, Stefanie Kahlheber, Conny Meister, Katharina Neumann and Astrid Schweizer. From Niger, Anne Haour, Vicky Winton, Oumarou A. Idé, Helen Rendell and Michèle Clarke introduce the results of surveys carried out in the Mékrou Valley of the Parc W in 2004. The last article is written by Alioune Deme and Susan Keech McIntosh on excavations at the site of Walaldé in the Middle Senegal Valley and its significance on the origins of iron metallurgy in West Africa. Among the book reviews of recent publications, we emphasize the reply J. David Lewis-Williams has written on John Parkington's review of "Early San spirituality: Evidence from the Howieson's Poort Industry". The wide geographical and thematic range of topics presented in this volume elucidate that the Journal of African Archaeology apparently has passed the test to bridge the gap that existed among a pan-African archaeological forums. In this regard, the editors would like to thank all authors and reviewers for their respective contributions. Particular thanks to our copy-editors Gaby Franke, Richard Byer and Annabelle Gallin. Frankfurt a. M., December 2006 Peter Breunig Sonja Magnavita Journal of African Archaeology Vol. 4 (2), 2006

Journal

Journal of African ArchaeologyBrill

Published: Oct 25, 2006

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