Settlement history and chronology in the Savè area of central Bénin

Gurstelle, Andrew W.; Labiyi, Nestor; Agani, Simon

doi:10.1080/0067270x.2015.1020631

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Consistent with ADMIXTURE inferences, both GLOBETROTTER analysis and the three-population test (ƒ 3 statistic) inferred episodes of gene flow from Gambian tribes, and also from Nilotics, to Ghana and Nigeria that occurred during the last 4000 years ( Fig 2 , S13 Fig and S4 Table ). The pattern of genetic structure in Ghanaians and Nigerians, and the inferred episodes of gene flow into West-Central Africa show that historical cultural exchanges between West and West-Central Africa [ 8 , 9 ] and migrations across the Sahel (historical events i-iii of the Introduction) involving populations from East Africa have shaped the genetic composition of West-Central African populations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our three dozen Ghanaian tribes showed high genetic homogeneity, but also evidence of gene flow from Gambian tribes in West Africa. Historically, the West and West-Central African regions have experienced extensive interactions between local kingdoms and tribes in the last 2000 years [ 8 , 9 ]. For Ghanaians, these interactions led some tribes to change their language due to social or economic motivation [ 7 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The eBL belt was the scenario of several human migrations over the last 3000 years and archaeological and linguistic evidence have described the following historical events: in West Africa: (i) interaction between West and West-Central Africa [ 7 ], (ii) cultural interaction between the local kingdoms of West-Central Africa [ 8 , 9 ], and (iii) migrations across the Sahel that include the westward Nilotic expansion [ 7 , 10 , 11 ]. In East Africa: (iv) Eastern Cushitics migrated from the Horn of Africa [ 7 ] into the Great Lakes region ~3000 years ago, maintaining (v) interactions with Nilotic groups that migrated from Southern Sudan [ 10 , 11 ], and subsequently, (vi) with Bantu speakers from West-Central Africa who reached the Great Lakes region ~2000 years ago [ 7 , 12 – 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Genetic signatures of gene flow and malaria-driven natural selection in sub-Saharan populations of the "endemic Burkitt Lymphoma belt"

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Populations in sub-Saharan Africa have historically been exposed to intense selection from chronic infection with falciparum malaria. Interestingly, populations with the highest malaria intensity can be identified by the increased occurrence of endemic Burkitt Lymphoma (eBL), a pediatric cancer that affects populations with intense malaria exposure, in the so called “eBL belt” in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the effects of intense malaria exposure and sub-Saharan populations’ genetic histories remain poorly explored. To determine if historical migrations and intense malaria exposure have shaped the genetic composition of the eBL belt populations, we genotyped ~4.3 million SNPs in 1,708 individuals from Ghana and Northern Uganda, located on opposite sides of eBL belt and with ≥ 7 months/year of intense malaria exposure and published evidence of high incidence of BL. Among 35 Ghanaian tribes, we showed a predominantly West-Central African ancestry and genomic footprints of gene flow from Gambian and East African populations. In Uganda, the North West population showed a predominantly Nilotic ancestry, and the North Central population was a mixture of Nilotic and Southern Bantu ancestry, while the Southwest Ugandan population showed a predominant Southern Bantu ancestry. Our results support the hypothesis of diverse ancestral origins of the Ugandan, Kenyan and Tanzanian Great Lakes African populations, reflecting a confluence of Nilotic, Cushitic and Bantu migrations in the last 3000 years. Natural selection analyses suggest, for the first time, a strong positive selection signal in the ATP2B4 gene (rs10900588) in Northern Ugandan populations. These findings provide important baseline genomic data to facilitate disease association studies, including of eBL, in eBL belt populations.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Genetic signatures of gene flow and malaria-driven natural selection in sub-Saharan populations of the "endemic Burkitt Lymphoma belt"

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Cowries in the archaeology of West Africa: the present picture

Haour

Christie

2019

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite the perceived importance of cowrie shells as indicators of long-distance connections in the West African past, their distribution and consumption patterns in archaeological contexts remain surprisingly underexplored, a gap that is only partly explicable by the sparse distribution of archaeological sites within the sub-continent. General writings on the timeline of importation of cowries into West Africa often fail to take into account the latest archaeological evidence and rely instead on accounts drawn from historical or ethnographic documents. This paper is based on a first-hand assessment of over 4500 shells from 78 sites across West Africa, examining chronology, shell species and processes of modification to assess what distribution patterns can tell us about the history of importation and usage of cowries. These first-hand analyses are paralleled by a consideration of published materials. We reexamine the default assumption that two distinct routes of entry existedone overland from North Africa before the fifteenth century, another coming into use from the time sea links were established with the East African coast and becoming predominant by the middle of the nineteenth century. We focus on the eastern part of West Africa, where the importance of imported cowries to local communities in relatively recent periods is well known and from where we have a good archaeological sample. The conclusion is that on suitably large assemblages shell size can be an indication of provenance and that, while the present archaeological picture seems largely to confirm historical sources, much of this may be due to the discrepancy in archaeological data available from the Sahara/Sahel zone compared to the more forested regions of the sub-continent. Future archaeological work will clarify this matter. RÉSUMÉ Malgré l'importance supposée des cauris comme indicateurs de connexions à longue distance dans le passé ouest-africain, la question de leur distribution et leur consommation dans les contextes archéologiques demeure étonnamment peu explorée, un écart qui est seulement partiellement explicable par la distribution clairsemée des sites archéologiques. Les écrits généralistes traitant de la chronologie de l'importation des cauris en Afrique de l'Ouest ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract