The Daima Sequence and the Prehistoric Chronology of the Lake Chad Region of Nigeria

Abstract

An intensive archaeological field research programme conducted between 1963 and 1969 in the Lake Chad region of Nigeria has established the outlines of a prehistoric chronological sequence for the area. The excavations at Daima form the key to this sequence which also includes excavated evidence from Bornu 38, Kursakata, Shilma, Yau, Ajere and Birnin Gazargamo together with surface information from 70 other sites. Twenty radiocarbon dates indicate settlement of the area from the end of the second millennium B.C. (or the last quarter of the second millennium if the dates are corrected to calendar years) to the sixteenth or seventeenth century A.D. Evidence of occupation earlier than the second millennium B.C. may have to be sought in the highlands south of the lake area.In the firki clay plains, south of the lake, it may be possible to trace the evolution of a Late Stone Age pastoralist economy into an Iron Age cereal cultivator economy. In the undulating sandy country, west of the lake, village settlements focused around the Yobe River seem to have developed, in response to external stimulus, the urban civilization which historical sources indicate at Birnin Gazargamo by the sixteenth century A.D. The contrasting environments designated ‘Firki’ and ‘Yobe’ had an important influence on the character of human settlement indicated by the archaeological evidence.It is suggested that the prehistory of this region merits far greater attention than it has yet received and that the presence in this area of settlement mounds, with substantial depths of deposit, offers a wonderful opportunity for large-scale excavation programmes. Further surface investigations would also be justified, however, as the writer suspects that more prehistoric sites remain to be located in the area.

New research on the Holocene settlement and environment of the Chad Basin in Nigeria

“…Furthermore, in late 1993 excavations were begun to the south of Lake Chad on settlement mounds in the vicinity of Daima. These mounds, all with stratified deposits several meters in thickness, represent archaeological potential comparable with that of Near EaStern tells --as shown by Connah (1976Connah ( , 1981 in the case of Daima. The reasons for the formation of the tells in the southern Chad basi~) arise from the seasonal flooding of the clay plain during the rainy season.…”

Four thousand years of plant exploitation in the Chad Basin of northeast Nigeria I: The archaeobotany of Kursakata

“…The initial, late Stone Age settlement seems to have been situated very close to thefirki Clays, probably right on the edge of the flooded areas (Connah 1976). Between …”

“…1), first the Chad Lagoonal Complex (or firki clay plains) and secondly the Bama Deltaic Complex (Aitchison et al 1972). In the sixties, the firki were the object of intensive archaeological investigations conducted by Connah (1976Connah ( , 1981. In 1965, Connah excavated a test trench at Kursakata down to a depth of 6.40 m (Connah 1981).…”

Evolution of the African Rice: A Historical and Biological Perspective

“…The climate, ecology, and physiology of the region have had profound influence on all aspects of human endeavor, including agriculture and food habits, right from prehistoric times (Connah, 1976; Insoll and Shaw, 1977; Neumann, 1999; MacEachern 2005; McIntosh 2006).…”