Abstract
AbstractThe emergence of agriculture in Central Africa has previously been associated with the migration of Bantu-speaking populations during an anthropogenic or climate-driven ‘opening’ of the rainforest. However, such models are based on assumptions of environmental requirements of key crops (e.g. Pennisetum glaucum) and direct insights into human dietary reliance remain absent. Here, we utilise stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O) of human and animal remains and charred food remains, as well as plant microparticles from dental calculus, to assess the importance of incoming crops in the Congo Basin. Our data, spanning the early Iron Age to recent history, reveals variation in the adoption of cereals, with a persistent focus on forest and freshwater resources in some areas. These data provide new dietary evidence and document the longevity of mosaic subsistence strategies in the region.
Funder
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,Medicine (miscellaneous)
Reference88 articles.
1. Hiernaux, J. Bantu expansion: the evidence from physical anthropology confronted with linguistic and archaeological evidence. J. Afr. Hist. 9, 505–515 (1968).
2. Vansina, J. New linguistic evidence and ‘the Bantu expansion’. J. Afr. Hist. 36, 173–195 (1995).
3. de Filippo, C., Bostoen, K., Stoneking, M. & Pakendorf, B. Bringing together linguistic and genetic evidence to test the Bantu expansion. Proc. Biol. Sci. 279, 3256–3263 (2012).
4. Li, S., Schlebusch, C. & Jakobsson, M. Genetic variation reveals large-scale population expansion and migration during the expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples. Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 281, 20141448 (2014).
5. Phillipson, D. W. The Later Prehistory of Eastern and Southern Africa (Heinemann, London, 1977).
Cited by
20 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献