Late Holocene Paleoecology and Archaeology in the Central African Rain Forest

中非雨林是世界上第二大连续雨林，目前支持着一系列高度多样化的生物群落，包括许多地方性和濒危动物，以及地方和区域经济，并在全球气候中发挥着重要作用。保护和管理这些生态系统的新努力取决于对该地区史前生态轨迹的准确重建。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，Karen Lupo博士将领导一个多机构和跨学科的研究项目，为中非北部热带雨林建立一个跨越4500年的纵向古生态记录。这个项目是由来自华盛顿州立大学（美国）的考古学家、人类学家、民族考古学家和孢粉学家、中非共和国班吉大学、中非共和国博干达博物馆的研究人员共同努力完成的。本研究的目的是为调查刚果盆地北部向粮食生产过渡的时间、自然和文化发展奠定基础。向粮食生产的过渡对雨林栖息地产生了最早的重大人为影响之一，并对居住在森林中的人口产生了深远的影响（和相互作用）。通过结合来自化石花粉和植物遗骸的成对考古和代用古环境信息，该团队将重建刚果盆地北部的历史生态。这项研究具有重要意义，因为它代表了该地区第一次历史生态学研究。西非部分地区的环境重建表明，在大约4500年至2000年前的干旱时期，雨林边界剧烈波动和倒退。这一干旱时期通常被认为是说班图语的农民从喀麦隆西北部核心地区向非洲其他地区迁移的催化剂。到目前为止，对中非雨林历史生态学的研究很少。有限的证据表明，中非雨林植被对晚全新世干旱的响应存在高度的区域差异。此外，农民到达该地区的时间和性质以及园艺的后续影响是未知和有争议的。语言学上的证据表明，农民在2300年至2500年前迁移到这个地区，但稀少的考古证据支持更晚的到达日期。这项研究在中非共和国和美国的科学家和学生之间建立了合作研究伙伴关系，为交流思想和培训提供了机会。本研究也将对热带雨林群落的管理产生更广泛的影响和实际应用。与这项研究相关的外展活动包括与当地社区的教育活动，以促进遗产和环境资源的管理和保护。

The Central African rain forest is the second largest contiguous tract of rain forest in the world and currently supports a suite of highly diverse biological communities, including a number endemic and endangered animals, as well as local and regional economies and plays an important role in global climates. Renewed efforts to protect and manage these ecosystems depend on accurate reconstructions of the prehistoric ecological trajectory of this region. With the support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Karen Lupo will lead a multi-institutional and interdisciplinary research project to build a longitudinal paleoecological record for the northern Central African rain forest spanning the last 4,500 years. This project is a collaborative effort that includes archeologists, anthropologists, ethnoarchaeologists and palynologists from Washington State University (USA), CURDHACA (Centre Universitaire de Recherche et de Documentation en Histoire et Archéologie Centrafricaines), University of Bangui, and the Boganda Museum, Central African Republic. The goal of this research is to lay the groundwork for investigating the timing, nature and cultural developments associated with the transition to food production in the northern Congo Basin. The transition to food production generated one of the earliest significant anthropogenic impacts on rain forest habitats and had far reaching effects (and interactions) on the human populations that occupied the forest. By combining paired archaeological and proxy paleoenvironmental information from fossil pollen and plant remains, the team will reconstruct the historical ecology of the northern Congo Basin.This research is important because it represents the first historical ecology study in this region. Environmental reconstructions from parts of West Africa suggest that the rain forest boundaries fluctuated and regressed dramatically during an arid period spanning from about 4,500 to 2,000 years ago. This arid period is often identified as a catalyst to the migration of Bantu-speaking farmers from a core area in northwestern Cameroun to other portions of Africa. Thus far, very little research on the historical ecology of the central African rainforest has been conducted. Limited evidence suggests a high degree of regional variation in vegetational response to Late Holocene aridity in the central African rainforest. Furthermore, the timing and nature of the arrival of farmers in this area and the subsequent impacts of horticulture are unknown and controversial. Linguistic evidence suggests that farmers migrated to this area between 2,300 and 2,500 years ago, but sparse archeological evidence support a much later date of arrival.The collaborative research partnership between scientists and students in the Central African Republic and United States created by this research presents an opportunity to exchange ideas and training. This study will also have broader impacts and practical applications to the management of rain forest communities. Outreach activities associated with this research include educational activities with local communities to promote stewardship and protection of heritage and environmental resources.