Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Prehistoric Subsistence Change in Southeastern Burkina Faso

在Augustin Holl博士的监督下，Daphne Gallagher将在西非布基纳法索东南部的Gobnangou Escpment基地调查史前从狩猎和采集到耕作的转变。悬崖高出稀树大草原100米，是一个砂岩悬崖，在加入沃尔塔河排水系统之前，有一个广泛的分水岭延伸到泛滥平原15公里。其众多的微环境使其成为对人类具有吸引力的地点，7000年的文化序列(目前已知的西非最长的文化序列)证明了这一点，该地区的调查发现了许多不同类型的考古遗址。其中包括层次分明的岩石掩体、短暂的露营地、小占用丘、分散的村庄以及用于岩画、储存和炼铁等特殊用途的地点。加拉格尔将对这项调查进行扩展，以更全面地了解该地区的定居点情况。约在公元1000年被遗弃的占领丘陵，是该地区第一个定居的地方，可能是第一批当地农民的家园。这些遗址将是挖掘的重点。由于农业技术可以产生更高的产量和更高的人口密度，将其纳入经济系统可能涉及社会制度的许多其他方面的变化。通过彻底检查这种收养发生的过程，考古学家可以开始了解文化变化的一个要素。加拉格尔将评估戈布南古两种相互竞争的生存转型模式：(1)驯化资源最初被用作现有资源基础的补充，只是逐渐在饮食中变得重要；或(2)驯化资源取代现有资源，几乎立即成为主食。为了确定不同类型遗址的生存策略，她将使用直接证据(例如挖掘出的植物和动物遗骸)和间接证据(例如调查得出的遗址位置和组织，以及挖掘出的研磨石等物质物品)。由此产生的案例研究将是对西非有限的原始考古数据的宝贵补充。该项目还为记录农业扩散的全球研究机构增加了地理多样性。该项目将对布基纳法索的考古产生重大影响，最直接的是通过清查受棉花种植威胁的地点。由于布基纳法索的大部分考古实地工作是由外国来源资助的，将瓦加杜古大学的一名高级学生纳入实地小组是对发展当地学者社区的重要贡献。结果将广泛传播给讲法语和讲英语的受众，并通过翻译成古尔曼切语的口头陈述传达给调查区域的现代居民。

Under the supervision of Dr. Augustin Holl, Daphne Gallagher will investigate the prehistoric transition from hunting and gathering to farming at the base of the Gobnangou Escarpment in southeastern Burkina Faso, West Africa. Rising 100 meters above the savanna, the escarpment is a sandstone cliff with an extensive watershed stretching 15km into the floodplain before joining the Volta River drainage system. Its numerous micro-environmental zones make it an attractive locale for humans, as evidenced by a 7000 year cultural sequence (the longest currently known in West Africa), and survey in the region has identified many different types of archaeological sites. These include deeply stratified rockshelters, ephemeral campsites, small occupation mounds, and dispersed villages as well as sites used for special purposes such as rock paintings, storage, and iron smelting. Gallagher will expand on this survey to develop a more comprehensive understanding of settlement in the region. The occupation mounds, which were abandoned ca. AD 1000, are the first sedentary habitations in the region and may have been the homes of the first local farmers. These sites will be the focus of excavation. Since agricultural techniques can produce higher yields and enable higher population densities, their incorporation into an economic system can involve changes in many other aspects of the social system. Through a thorough examination of the process by which this adoption occurs, archaeologists can begin to understand one element of culture change. Gallagher will evaluate two competing models for subsistence transformations in the Gobnangou: (1) domesticated resources were first adopted as supplements to an existing resource base and only gradually become important in the diet or (2) domesticated resources replaced existing resources and almost immediately became staples. To identify the subsistence strategies in the various types of site, she will use both direct evidence (e.g. botanical and faunal remains from excavations) and indirect evidence (e.g. site location and organization from survey, and material items such as grinding stones from excavation). The resulting case study will be a valuable addition to the limited body of primary archaeological data available for West Africa. This project also adds geographic diversity to a global body of research documenting the dispersal of agriculture.This project will have a significant impact on Burkinabe archaeology, most immediately through the inventory of sites threatened by cotton farming. As most archaeological fieldwork in Burkina Faso is funded by foreign sources, the inclusion of an advanced student from the University of Ouagadougou in the field team is an important contribution to developing a local community of scholars. Results will be widely disseminated to both Francophone and Anglophone audiences, and communicated to modern residents of the survey region through oral presentations translated into Gourmantche.