The continent of Africa has played an important and independent role in the history of plant exploitation. The International Workshop on African Archaeobotany (IWAA) provides a meeting for archaeobotanists and specialists on African languages to enhance the archaeobotanical research in the African continent. The proceedings of these workshops have provided us with a major insight into the vegetation development and plant exploitation in Africa. Papers presented at earlier workshops have been published by Stuchlik & Wasylikowa (1995), Van der Veen (1999) and Neumann et al. (2003).
This book presents papers presented at the 4th International Workshop on African Archaeobotany, held in Groningen from 30th of June until the 2nd of July 2003. Several papers deal with the domestication history and related aspects of specific plants, including wheat (Triticum), rice (Oryza), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), fig (Ficus), cotton (Gossypium), silk-cotton (Ceiba pentandra) and baobab (Adansonia digitata). Other contributions discuss the exploitation of woody vegetations, members of the sedge family (Cyperaceae) and the botanical composition of mummy garlands. Three papers present the subfossil plant remains from Egyptian sites: Pharaonic caravanserais along theTheban Desert Road, Predynastic Adaïma and Napatan to Islamic Qasr Ibrim. The last contribution presents an update inventory of the ancient plant remains present in the Agricultural Museum (Dokki, Cairo). The book covers a wide range of countries and includes Namibia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Canary Isles, Libya and Egypt.
Reviews
Katharina Neumann, Journal of African History 7, 2009, ?
Krystyna Wasylikowa, Wiadomosci Botaniczne 52(3/4), 2008, 175-177
R.T.J. Cappers
Preface vii
R.M. Blench
The intertwined history of the silk-cotton and baobab 1
B. Eichhorn
Use of firewood resources in a hyperarid environment: charcoal analysis from sites in the Skeleton Coast Park, Northern Namib Desert 21
A. Höhn
Where did all the trees go? Changes of the woody vegetation in the Sahel of Burkina Faso during the last 2000 years 35
S.S. Murray
Medieval cotton and wheat finds in the middle Niger Delta (Mali) 43
S.S. Murray
Identifying African rice domestication in the middle Niger Delta (Mali) 53
M.A. Murray, D.Q. Fuller & C. Cappeza
Crop production on the Senegal River in the early First Millennium AD: preliminary archaeobotanical results from Cubalel 63
D.Q. Fuller, K. Macdonald & R. Vernet
Early domesticated pearl millet in Dhar Nema (Mauritania): evidence of crop processing waste as ceramic temper 71
J. Morales & T. Delgado
Figs and their importance in the prehistoric diet in Gran Canaria Island (Canary Isles) 77
A.M. Mercuri & E.A.A. Garcea
The impact of hunter/gatherers on the vegetation in the Central Sahara during the Early Holocene 87
P.L. Crawford
Beyond paper: use of plants of the Cyperaceae family in ancient Egypt 105
R. Hamdy
Plant remains from the intact garlands present at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo 115
R.T.J. Cappers, L. Sikking, J.C. Darnell & D. Darnell
Food supply along the Theban desert roads (Egypt): the Gebel Romaa, Wadi el-Huôl, and Gebel Qarn el-Gir caravansary deposits 127
C. Newton
Growing, gathering and offering: Predynastic plant economy at Adaïma (Upper Egypt) 139
A.J. Clapham & P.A. Rowley-Conwy
New discoveries at Qasr Ibrim, Lower Nubia 157
R.T.J. Cappers & R. Hamdy
Ancient Egyptian plant remains in the Agricultural Museum (Dokki, Cairo) 165
