Abstract:
The histories of African crops remain poorly understood despite their contemporary importance. Integration of crops from western, eastern and northern Africa probably first occurred in the Great Lakes Region of eastern Africa; however, little is known about when and how these agricultural systems coalesced. This article presents archaeobotanical analyses from an approximately 9000-year archaeological sequence at Kakapel Rockshelter in western Kenya, comprising the largest and most extensively dated archaeobotanical record from the interior of equatorial eastern Africa. Direct radiocarbon dates on carbonized seeds document the presence of the West African crop cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) approximately 2300 years ago, synchronic with the earliest date for domesticated cattle (Bos taurus). Peas (Pisum sativum L. or Pisum abyssinicum A. Braun) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) from the northeast and eastern African finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) are incorporated later, by at least 1000 years ago. Combined with ancient DNA evidence from Kakapel and the surrounding region, these data support a scenario in which the use of diverse domesticated species in eastern Africa changed over time rather than arriving and being maintained as a single package. Findings highlight the importance of local heterogeneity in shaping the spread of food production in sub-Saharan Africa.
摘要:
尽管非洲作物具有当代重要性,但其历史仍然知之甚少。整合来自西方的农作物,东部和北部非洲可能首先发生在东部非洲的大湖区;然而,人们对这些农业系统何时以及如何合并知之甚少。本文介绍了来自肯尼亚西部KakapelRockshelt的大约9000年考古序列的考古植物学分析,包含赤道东非内部最大,最广泛的古植物学记录。碳化种子上的直接放射性碳年代证明了西非作物cow豆的存在(Vignaunguiculata(L.)沃尔普)大约2300年前,与驯养牛(Bostaurus)的最早日期同步。豌豆(PisumsativumL.或PisumabhyssinicumA.Braun)和高粱(高粱双色(L.)Moench)来自东北和东部非洲手指小米(Eleusinecoracana(L.)Gaertn。)后来被合并,至少1000年前。结合来自Kakapel和周边地区的古老DNA证据,这些数据支持这样一种情景,即东非不同驯化物种的使用随着时间的推移而变化,而不是作为一个单一的包装到达和维持.调查结果强调了当地异质性在塑造撒哈拉以南非洲粮食生产传播方面的重要性。