Abstract
Settlement mounds in the Chad basin of north-east Nigeria provide excellent archaeobotanical evidence for the use of wild and domesticated grasses over the last 4000 years. Plant impressions in potsherds were investigated from Gajiganna. Casts of these well-preserved impressions revealed Paniceae and wild rice together with the earliest domesticated Pennisetum americanum in the area, dating to 1200–1000 cal BC. The occupation of Gajiganna ended when the occupation at Kursakata and Mege began, around 1000–800 cal BC. The macroremains of these two mounds indicate two different patterns of plant use. In Kursakata, one of the oldest domesticated Pennisetum americanum in West Africa was found charred together with wild grasses, mostly of the tribe Paniceae. In contrast to this mixed agriculture and hunter-gatherer economy, subsistence at Mege was probably based on wild grasses.
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Klee, M., Zach, B. (1999). The Exploitation of Wild and Domesticated Food Plants at Settlement Mounds in North-East Nigeria (1800 cal BC to Today). In: van der Veen, M. (eds) The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6730-8_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6730-8_8
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