Establishing a West African chrono-cultural framework: First luminescence dating of sedimentary formations from the Falémé Valley, Eastern Senegal

Lebrun, Brice; Tribolo, Chantal; Chevrier, Benoît; Rassé, Michel; Lespez, Laurent; Leplongeon, Alice; Hajdas, Irka; Camara, Abdoulaye; Mercier, Norbert; Huysecom, Éric

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.001

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The samples with an asterix are those that were processed by Lebrun et al . (2016) [ 22 ] and mentioned here as a reminder.…”

Section: Osl Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We give here the Bayes estimator as well as a calculated error of 68% from the credibility interval. *: data presented in part in Lebrun et al 2016 [ 22 ].…”

Section: Osl Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The OSL measurements, necessary for determining the De, were performed using quartz grains (100-140 μm) extracted from the sediments following a series of mechanical and chemical procedures, according to a method presented in Lebrun et al (2016) [22]. All preparatory steps and measurements were performed under a red-orange light with no effect on the OSL signal.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

New data on settlement and environment at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in Sudano-Sahelian West Africa: Interdisciplinary investigation at Fatandi V, Eastern Senegal

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The end of the Palaeolithic represents one of the least-known periods in the history of western Africa, both in terms of its chronology and the identification of cultural assemblages entities based on the typo-technical analyses of its industries. In this context, the site of Fatandi V offers new data to discuss the cultural pattern during the Late Stone Age in western Africa. Stratigraphic, taphonomical and sedimentological analyses show the succession of three sedimentary units. Several concentrations with rich lithic material were recognized. An in situ occupation, composed of bladelets, segments, and bladelet and flake cores, is confirmed while others concentrations of lithic materials have been more or less disturbed by erosion and pedogenic post-depositional processes. The sequence is well-dated from 12 convergent OSL dates. Thanks to the dating of the stratigraphic units and an OSL date from the layer (11,300–9,200 BCE [13.3–11.2 ka at 68%, 14.3–10.3 ka at 95%]), the artefacts are dated to the end of Pleistocene or Early Holocene. Palaeoenvironmental data suggest that the settlement took place within a mosaic environment and more precisely at the transition between the open landscape of savanna on the glacis and the plateau, and the increasingly densely-wooded alluvial corridor. These humid areas must have been particularly attractive during the dry season by virtue of their rich resources (raw materials, water, trees, and bushes). The Fatandi V site constitutes the first stratified site of the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in Senegal with both precise geochronological and palaeoenvironmental data. It complements perfectly the data already obtained in Mali and in the rest of western Africa, and thus constitutes a reference point for this period. In any case, the assemblage of Fatandi V, with its bladelets and segments and in the absence of ceramics and grinding material, fits with a cultural group using exclusively geometric armatures which strongly differs from another group characterized by the production of bifacial armatures, accompanied in its initial phase by ceramics (or stoneware) and grinding material.

show abstract

“…The samples with an asterix are those that were processed by Lebrun et al . (2016) [ 22 ] and mentioned here as a reminder.…”

Section: Osl Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We give here the Bayes estimator as well as a calculated error of 68% from the credibility interval. *: data presented in part in Lebrun et al 2016 [ 22 ].…”

Section: Osl Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

New data on settlement and environment at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in Sudano-Sahelian West Africa: Interdisciplinary investigation at Fatandi V, Eastern Senegal

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…More recently, work on various localities at Ounjougou and in the Lower Falémé valley have identified lithic assemblages from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 to MIS 2 which feature varied technologies within an MSA umbrella (e.g. 22 , 27 – 29 ). This work is further elaborated by work at Tiémassas, coastal Senegal, where three classic MSA assemblages span 62–25 ka 30 , 31 and in the Lower Senegal Valley 32 , 33 where MSA assemblages have been dated to 12 ka.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critically, these assemblages lack technological features attributed to the earliest LSA assemblages in the region, including bipolar and blade reduction and backing, which do not appear until ca. 16–12 ka 17 , 21 , 22 , 27 , 34 . However, the majority of West African MSA sites offer limited chronological control (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuity of the Middle Stone Age into the Holocene

Scerri

Niang

Candy

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The African Middle Stone Age (MSA, typically considered to span ca. 300–30 thousand years ago [ka]), represents our species’ first and longest lasting cultural phase. Although the MSA to Later Stone Age (LSA) transition is known to have had a degree of spatial and temporal variability, recent studies have implied that in some regions, the MSA persisted well beyond 30 ka. Here we report two new sites in Senegal that date the end of the MSA to around 11 ka, the youngest yet documented MSA in Africa. This shows that this cultural phase persisted into the Holocene. These results highlight significant spatial and temporal cultural variability in the African Late Pleistocene, consistent with genomic and palaeoanthropological hypotheses that significant, long-standing inter-group cultural differences shaped the later stages of human evolution in Africa.

show abstract

A fluid past: Socio‐hydrological systems of the West African Sahel across the long durée

Coutros

2019

WIREs Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since the end of the last glacial period (~12.4 ka bp) the African continent has undergone no less than 30 dramatic climate transitions. West Africa in particular witnessed abrupt climate oscillations-between humid optima and hyper-aridity-which lasted anywhere between 10 and 15 years and a millennium. Such unpredictable shifts forced local communities to develop a suite of risk-buffering strategies that could withstand climate change on various scales. Both archeological and palaeoclimatic research has begun to reveal how these societies engaged with their erratic environment over the span of the Holocene. The adoption of pastoral lifeways, the domestication of cereal crops, and the emergence of monumentality or urbanism may indeed be viewed through the lens of environmental risk-buffering strategies. Yet, these developments proceeded along trajectories that belie traditional narratives rooted in environmental determinism and underscore the unique cultural processes at play, which do not conform to presumptions imported from outside regions. Revised narratives, therefore, must take into account cultural perceptions of climate change, and the localized nature of landscape.

show abstract

Establishing a West African chrono-cultural framework: First luminescence dating of sedimentary formations from the Falémé Valley, Eastern Senegal

Abstract: International audienc

Cited by 14 publications

References 30 publications

New data on settlement and environment at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in Sudano-Sahelian West Africa: Interdisciplinary investigation at Fatandi V, Eastern Senegal

New data on settlement and environment at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary in Sudano-Sahelian West Africa: Interdisciplinary investigation at Fatandi V, Eastern Senegal

Continuity of the Middle Stone Age into the Holocene

A fluid past: Socio‐hydrological systems of the West African Sahel across the long durée

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About