The Tumuli Zone of Central West Senegal: Geophysical and Archaeological Investigations into a Buried Cultural Landscape

塞内加尔全国有数千个土丘，但密度最高的是该国中西部。值得注意的是，除了突出的纪念碑的存在，人类占领该地区的其他痕迹在考古学上仍然难以捉摸。在过去40年中进行的标准侦察调查只能记录土丘附近的考古“空虚”，最多也就是一些“场外”的人工制品分散。与前者相反，由申请人指导的DFG资助的先前项目的结果表明，如果采用适当的方法，可以相对容易地找到各个史前时期和史前时期的定居遗迹。在一个将结合联合收割机最新技术和传统方法的非洲考古项目范围内，申请人期望对非洲考古学作出两项重大贡献。在地方和区域层面，该项目将首次深入了解太平间结构所嵌入的考古景观的长期发展。在非洲大陆范围内，该项目将树立一个基准，示范性地展示采用现代技术的大规模调查如何有助于探索和更好地了解离散的非洲考古文化景观。

Thousands of burial mounds are known throughout Senegal, but the highest density occurs in the central West of the country. Remarkably, apart from the presence of the prominent monuments, other traces of the human occupation of that region remain archaeologically elusive. Standard reconnaissance surveys conducted within the past 40 years were only able to record the archaeological "emptiness" near the mounds, and at best a few "off-site" artefact scatters. Contrary to the former, the results of a preceding DFG-funded project directed by the applicant have demonstrated that settlement remains from various pre- and protohistorical periods can be relatively easily located, if suitable methodology is employed. In the scope of a landscape-based archaeological project that will combine state-of-the-art technologies and conventional methodologies, the applicant expects to make two major contributions to African archaeology. On the local and regional level, the project shall provide a first insight into the long-term development of the archaeological landscapes into which the mortuary structures were embedded. On a continental scale, the project shall set a benchmark by demonstrating exemplarily how large-scale surveys employing modern technologies can be useful for exploring and better understanding discrete African archaeological cultural landscapes.