Anne Mayor
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Disappearing Pottery Traditions? The Influence of Socio-economic Factors on Technical Innovations in Senegal and The Gambia Open
Nowadays, ceramic productions in sub-Saharan Africa are often described as “declining” or “in danger,” due for example to a growing concurrence of modern containers (metallic, plastic) during the twentieth century or changing lifestyles. H…
A Later Stone Age quartz knapping workshop and fireplace dated to the Early Holocene in Senegal: The Ravin Blanc X site (RBX) Open
Well-dated and well-preserved Later Stone Age sites are unfortunately scarce in West Africa. The few known ones exhibit significant typo-technical variability, reflecting diverse socio-cultural behaviors that remain poorly understood. The …
Archaeological Glass Beads as Evidence of Exchange Dynamics in West Africa Open
Glass beads are among the oldest objects in the glassmaking industry. In West Africa, archaeological glass beads are evidence of short-, medium- and long-distance trade within the continent and with the rest of the world, in relation to so…
Food Globalization in the Early Modern Period: Isotopic Evidence of Maize Introduction and Dietary Diversification on Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain (16th–18th <span>CE</span>) Open
Objectives The European expansion of the Early Modern period led to unparalleled intercontinental plant and animal translocations. This study explores the dietary changes resulting from the movement of plants and animals, such as maize, in…
The systematic techno-stylistic and chemical study of glass beads from post-15th century West African sites Open
The systematic chemical analysis of large collections of archaeological glass beads is essential to better understand trade patterns at different times around the world. Glass beads’ trade towards and within sub-Saharan West Africa grew ex…
View article: From pottery use-alteration to food habits: Perspectives from a 20th century Diola Kassa midden (Lower Casamance, Senegal)
From pottery use-alteration to food habits: Perspectives from a 20th century Diola Kassa midden (Lower Casamance, Senegal) Open
International audience
Beyond Uniformity: Technical and historical dynamics among pottery traditions in the Falémé Valley, eastern Senegal Open
Ceramic traditions are constantly evolving, but the pace of change is variable and not all stages of the chaîne opératoire are affected in the same way, depending on the causes of borrowing, abandonment, or innovation. Few ethnoarchaeologi…
View article: Investigating grandmothers’ cooking: A multidisciplinary approach to foodways on an archaeological dump in Lower Casamance, Senegal
Investigating grandmothers’ cooking: A multidisciplinary approach to foodways on an archaeological dump in Lower Casamance, Senegal Open
Because they hold information about cultural identity, foodways have been the focus of a variety of disciplines in archaeology. However, each approach documents different stages of culinary preparation and is constrained by the preservatio…
Identifying Past Beer Production: Contributions from an Ethnoarchaeological Study in Bedik Villages, Senegal Open
The identification of beer production in past societies remains a challenge as very few studies have discussed its material evidence. Our investigation in Senegal aimed at filling this gap. We documented 14 beer houses and several beer coo…
Agricultural diversification in West Africa: an archaeobotanical study of the site of Sadia (Dogon Country, Mali) Open
While narratives of the spread of agriculture are central to interpretation of African history, hard evidence of past crops and cultivation practices are still few. This research aims at filling this gap and better understanding the evolut…
Compositional and provenance study of glass beads from archaeological sites in Mali and Senegal at the time of the first Sahelian states Open
The presence of glass beads in West African archaeological sites provides important evidence of long-distance trade between this part of the continent and the rest of the world. Until recently, most of these items came from historical Sub-…
Radiocarbon Dating and the Protection of Cultural Heritage Open
The modern antiquities market uses radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating to screen for forged objects. Although this fact shows the potential and power of the method, the circumstances where it is applied can be questionable and call for our attentio…
Peopling history of Africa: a multidisciplinary perspective Open
A scientific conference entitled Peopling history of Africa: a multidisciplinary perspective was organised in Geneva on 6ñ7 June 2019 (http://ua.unige.ch/peoplingafrica2019/). A total of 23 speakers from 12 different countries and represen…
Ethno-archaeometry in eastern Senegal: The connections between raw materials and finished ceramic products Open
For an ethnoarchaeological study of the ceramic traditions in the Falémé Valley (eastern Senegal),we have developed an ethnoarchaeometric approach to describe the variability in the clayeymaterials used by the potters and to stimulate disc…
Ceramic technology between past and present : a study of Malian traditions Open
Ceramic studies in archaeology have long focussed only on the stylistic classication of artefacts, through space and in time, based on morphological and decorative criteria. Few researchers were interested in the technical and functional a…
Tracking Humans in Pre-colonial West Africa : a bio-archaeological study in the Dogon Country (Mali) Open
This research, funded by the Swiss National Foundation, aims to investigate the dynamic of what life was during pre-colonial times for pre-ldogon and early dogon people from the Bandiagara Escarpment in the Republic of Mali. The work forma…
Diet, health, mobility, and funerary practices in pre-colonial West Africa : a new bio-archaeological project in the Dogon Country Open
In this communication, we announce a new study, which aims to investigate the dynamics of what life was like during pre-colonial times for pre-Dogon and early Dogon people from the Bandiagara Escarpment in the Republic of Mali. This resear…
Cultural pathways to development among communities Open
Illicit trade in cultural goods lead to heritage impoverishment and social destabilization of rural communities in Mali, whose cultural richness contrasts with economic poverty. Cultural banks were born in this context, to link actions of …