Settlement and economic history during the Iron Age and Early Medieval times in the West African Sahel

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Recent field research in Central Senegal shows that, analogue to SW Niger, the visible wealth of some Sahelian human groups during the Iron Age and early Middle Ages cannot be solely attributed to agricultural surpluses. Those investigations show that both regions imported copper alloys from far away and used them for demonstrating socio-economic status. In contrast to the Niger bend, gold likewise rose to a visible status symbol in Senegal. Since the Central Senegal has no own gold deposits, a connection to distant southeast regions must have existed. An archaeometric investigation of the gold and copper artefacts may give more precise information about where the metals came from. It is likely that the gold originates from areas that were important for the early Arab trans-Saharan trade, presumably somewhere in the upper reaches of the Niger River, while the copper alloys were probably imported from northern Africa. Objectives of the prolongation phase of the previous project are the completion of ongoing documentation and further studies of the Senegalese artifacts, as well as their restoration and conservation. The main objective is the detailed publication of the overall project results.