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

最近在塞内加尔中部进行的实地研究表明，与西南部的尼日尔类似，在铁器时代和中世纪早期，萨赫勒地区一些人类群体的可见财富不能仅仅归因于农业剩余。这些调查表明，这两个地区都从遥远的地方进口铜合金，并用它们来显示社会经济地位。与尼日尔的弯曲不同，黄金在塞内加尔同样成为一种可见的身份象征。由于塞内加尔中部没有自己的金矿，因此与遥远的东南部地区的联系一定存在。对黄金和铜制品的考古调查可能会提供有关金属来源的更准确信息。这些黄金很可能来自早期阿拉伯跨撒哈拉贸易的重要地区，可能是尼日尔河上游的某个地方，而铜合金可能是从北方非洲进口的。上一个项目延长阶段的目标是完成对塞内加尔文物的持续记录和进一步研究，以及文物的修复和保护。主要目标是详细公布整个项目的成果。

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.