The massive production of iron in the Sahelian belt: Archaeological investigations at Korsimoro (Sanmatenga – Burkina Faso)

Serneels, Vincent

doi:10.1080/10426914.2016.1244842

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…These intervals correspond to the four techniques, which cover a total time period of 650-1700 AD. For more details on the structures and techniques please refer to Serneels et al [56][57][58] .…”

Section: Korsimoro (Burkina Faso)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel insights on the geomagnetic field in West Africa from a new intensity reference curve (0-2000 AD)

Kapper

Serneels

Panovska

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The geomagnetic field variations on the continent of Africa are still largely undeciphered for the past two millennia. In spite of archaeological artefacts being reliable recorders of the ancient geomagnetic field strength, only few data have been reported for this continent so far. Here we use the Thellier-Coe and calibrated pseudo-Thellier methods to recover archaeointensity data from Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast (West Africa) from well-dated archaeological artefacts. By combining our 18 new data with previously published data from West Africa, we construct a reference curve for West Africa for the past 2000 years. To obtain a reliable curve of the archaeointensity variation, we evaluate a penalized smoothing spline fit and a stochastic modelling method, both combined with a bootstrap approach. Both intensity curves agree well, supporting the confidence in our proposed intensity variation during this time span, and small differences arise from the different methodologies of treating data and uncertainties. Two prominent peaks at around 740 AD and 1050 AD appear to be common in ours and several reference curves from other locations, indicating a general westward movement from China to Hawaii of a rather stable feature of the geomagnetic field. However, independent smaller peaks that do not correlate in different locations may hint to localized expressions of the geomagnetic field as a result of temporarily varying non-dipole sources.Archaeological artefacts have already in the 1930s been proven to be excellent recorders of the geomagnetic field (GMF) for the past 10 millennia 1 . This type of material acquires a thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) at the time of its heating and subsequent cooling that is proportional to the ancient GMF intensity, or archaeointensity. This TRM is dependent on many factors including the ancient heating temperature, the type of magnetic mineral carrying the magnetization, and the reheating process.Since the beginning of archaeomagnetism, retrieving archaeointensities has been considered a demanding process. Several methods have been developed, for example the thermal Thellier-family methods 2-4 , the microwave technique 5,6 , the multispecimen methods 7,8 and non-heating methods 9,10 . One of the non-heating methods, the relative pseudo-Thellier technique 11 , makes use of alternating magnetic fields to demagnetize the samples and has recently been successfully calibrated and applied to volcanic rocks 12-14 . However, the calibrated pseudo-Thellier method has never been applied to archaeological artefacts before. The Thellier-family methods are considered as the most reliable of all techniques, because they have been used since nearly 100 years and include many quality assessments. These methods can comprise up to 50 time-consuming heating steps. On the contrary, the pseudo-Thellier method is much faster and avoids chemical alteration of the samples.Archaeological artefacts have been collected from many locations world wide to construct palaeosecular variation curves, or reference c...

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Section: Korsimoro (Burkina Faso)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel insights on the geomagnetic field in West Africa from a new intensity reference curve (0-2000 AD)

Kapper

Serneels

Panovska

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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“…Plant and faunal remains point to farming having been well-established from the beginning of the mound sequence, with subsistence based on crop cultivation and livestock husbandry, supplemented by the gathering of wild plants, fishing and hunting (Kahlheber and Neumann, 2007). While iron metallurgy had been well-established in Africa from the middle of the first millennium BC (Chirikure, 2013), iron artefacts remained rare until larger scale production began in the second millennium cal AD (Barros, 1986;Serneels, 2017). There is evidence for trade in exotic goods from the second half of the first millennium AD (Magnavita, 2013), which may have supported the rise of urban centres and the emergence of the first West African kingdoms of Ghana, Gao, Mali and Songhai (MacDonald, 2013: 838-840).…”

Section: The First Two Millennia Ad In West Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct evidence for agricultural intensification during the first two millennia AD in northeast Burkina Faso

Styring

Höhn

Linseele

et al. 2019

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Archaeobotanical evidence from archaeological sites in northeast Burkina Faso dating to the first and second millennia AD has provided a useful insight into crop cultivation and the development of the West African savanna landscape. Nitrogen isotopic analysis of charred pearl millet grains from the same sites now provides the first opportunity to investigate how increased crop production and permanence of cultivated fields related to the intensity of household waste/manure application. Nitrogen isotope values of pearl millet grains increased during the first two millennia AD, indicating an intensification of manuring that would have enabled soil to stay fertile for longer, reducing the agricultural footprint of shifting cultivation. This may have been advantageous as population and settlement density increased, thereby increasing competition over land. The intensity of manure application in the second millennium AD at sites close to the Mare d'Oursi suggests that manure was likely sourced from outside the farming settlements, from livestock herded by nomadic pastoralists who would have been drawn to the mare for water. This is rare evidence for specialisation of sedentary farmers and pastoralists, demonstrating how the novel combination of fruit/seed, charcoal, faunal and isotopic evidence used in this study can enrich our knowledge of past lifeways in West Africa.

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Reconnecting the Forest, Savanna, and Sahel in West Africa: The Sociopolitical Implications of a Long-Networked Past

Dueppen

2024

J Archaeol Res

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The massive production of iron in the Sahelian belt: Archaeological investigations at Korsimoro (Sanmatenga – Burkina Faso)

Cited by 7 publications

References 6 publications

Novel insights on the geomagnetic field in West Africa from a new intensity reference curve (0-2000 AD)

Novel insights on the geomagnetic field in West Africa from a new intensity reference curve (0-2000 AD)

Direct evidence for agricultural intensification during the first two millennia AD in northeast Burkina Faso

Reconnecting the Forest, Savanna, and Sahel in West Africa: The Sociopolitical Implications of a Long-Networked Past

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