Sahelian crossroads: Some aspects on the Iron Age sites of Kissi, Burkina Faso

79

Some Aspects on the Iron Age Sites of Kissi, Burkina Faso

Sahelian Crossroads: Some Aspects on the Iron Age Sites of Kissi, Burkina Faso

Sonja Magnavita

IntroductIon

The Goethe-University of Frankfurt, by means of its research project “Man and Environment in the West African Savanna” in co-operation with the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, carried out archaeological research in the Sahel of Burkina Faso for a period of fourteen years, from 1989 to 2002. One of the investi-gation foci was the study of cultural processes, which took place in the region during the Iron Age. Among other investigated locations (cf. Vogelsang 2000; BreunIg & neumann 2004; Von czernIewIcz 2004), surveys and archaeological excavations were conducted at sites situated on the northern border of the Mare de Kissi, a freshwater lake in the north-east of the province Oudalan (Fig. 1). Kissi first drew our attention in 1996, when almost a hundred sites were identified in that area. Most of the sites consist of Iron Age settlement mounds, various clusters of stone structures and a few cemeteries. From 1996 to 2001, several excavations in both settlement and inhumation areas were undertaken,

revealing an apparently uninterrupted human occupa-tion of the place at least between the 1st and 12th century AD (magnaVIta et al. 2002; magnaVIta 2006).

While excavations in the settlement mounds did not reveal that ranked communities inhabited the region, investigations in some of the cemeteries demonstrate that those people were members of a possibly hierarchi-cal society, in whose development trade contacts played an important socio-economic role. The fact that exotic goods from some of the graves, such as brass jewellery, swords, cowries and glass beads, antedate the Arab-Islamic conquest of North Africa appears to support assumptions of an incipient trans-Saharan trade system during Byzantine or even Late Roman times.

Some results of the archaeological investigations at Kissi will be presented in this paper, with a focus on the cemeteries and graves. To raise the question about Kissi’s archaeological and historical importance, the archaeological finds will be discussed in the context

AbstractSurveys and excavations at the archaeological sites of Kissi in NE Burkina Faso revealed settlements sites and graveyards dating to the first and early second millennium AD. Some of the grave goods found associated with burials, like swords and daggers, glass beads, cowries, and textiles, are among the oldest of their kind in Burkina Faso and sub-Saharan West Africa. The type and amount of goods found in discrete graves seemingly indicate both the existence of a hierarchical social system and trade connections of interregional and long-distance character. The Kissi sites shed light on vital topics of discussion concerning the history of the region in the first millennium AD: the River Niger as a commercial axis, trans-Saharan trade and the socio-political development of West Africa before the Arab influence. RésuméLes fouilles des sites archéologiques à Kissi au NE du Burkina Faso ont révélé des sites d’habitation et des tombeaux de l’Age du Fer, datant au premier et début du deuxième millénaire AD. Quelques offrandes funéraires se placent parmi les plus anciennes de ce genre au Burkina Faso et même de l’Afrique de l’Ouest subsaharienne, p.ex. des cauris, des perles de verre, des épées, des poignards à lame courbe, et particulièrement des fragments de textile. De plus, les différences dans les offrandes funéraires indiquent que les défunts appartenaient à une société hierarchisée et qu’il existait des relations économiques inter-régionales et de longue-distance. Les découvertes de Kissi apportent un nouvel éclairage sur différents thèmes de discussion concernant l’histoire de la région au premier millénaire AD, le fleuve du Niger comme axe commercial, les échanges commerciaux trans-sahariennes et le développement politique avant l’influence arabe dans la région.

80

S. Magnavita

Fig. 1. Location of Kissi (satellite image source: Visible Earth, vID 10687, NASA).

of documentary evidence for the early emergence of a centralised political entity at the eastern Niger Bend and its participation in local, interregional and long-distance exchange systems.

the settlement sequence

The reconstruction of settlement phases at Kissi is primarily based on key traits from a ceramic sequence established for the area (magnaVIta et al. 2002; Von czIernewIcz 2004). This sequence enabled us to roughly date the time of abandonment of a site into an early, middle and late phase of the Iron Age by means of its surface finds. As several excavations of settle-ment mounds in NE Burkina Faso proved, the time span between founding and abandonment of settlement sites is relatively short, between 100 and 300 years (magnaVIta et al. 2002). An overlapping of several phases is, therefore, improbable. All settlement mounds at Kissi were surveyed for those key ceramic traits. What follows are the results of the surveys and some chronological information derived from excavations.

First traces of iron smelting (ca 5th – 3rd century cal BC)

The oldest site (Kissi 49, see Fig. 2) revealing traces of iron-using people at Mare de Kissi dates back to the 2nd half of the first millennium BC. It is the only site that is known to date to this period. This location is characterised by an isolated stone setting situated to the northeast and apart from the main cluster of sites. A test-excavation here revealed a concentration of tap slag beneath the stone setting, associated with a ceramic assemblage that differs from those of later periods. No furnace remains were found. Taking the type of slag found into account, it is likely that the furnace consisted of an above-surface construction, which was only used once and then destroyed to gather the metal bloom. As no organic material was associated with the finds, the organic temper of the ceramics was used for C14 AMS dating. The sample (KIA-12488, 2294 ± 36 bp) yielded a 2-sigma calibrated age range between 410–340 cal BC (60.1 % probability) and 300–200 cal BC (35.3 % probability) (Fig. 3). The very poor preservation of the ceramic sherds did not allow the identification of

81


Fig. 2. The archaeological sites of Kissi on a topographic model, mapped by means of a total station and GPS. The marker indicates the location, but not the extension of a site.

m

m

Mare

Mare

r

settlement mound

stone setting

cemetery

early occupation phase

middle occupation phase

late occupation phase

Key:

82

S. Magnavita

Fig. 3. Radiocarbon dates of settlements and graves. Site and context (Gr.=grave; the minus indicates the depth below surface in cm) and dated material are indicated..

Settlement areas

Cemeteries

wood from dagger sheath

Dated material

rope fragments

wood from dagger sheath

charcoalcharcoal

Ki 49/-40

Ki 22/-190

Ki 3B/-190

Ki 22B/-380

Ki 40/-120

Ki 40/-240

Ki 14B/-40

Ki 40S/-100

plant fibres on bracelet

plant fibres on arrow

wood on iron fragment

organic remains on iron zylinder

charcoal, close to Gr. 12

pelt fibres on iron bracelet

wool string on bracelet

leather on iron beads

charcoal

leather string in iron beads

wood on arrow

pelt fibres on dagger

plant fibres on ring-handled dagger

charred seed (Vitex sp.)

charcoal from fire place

charcoal from fire place

charcoal from a pit

charcoal (Von czernIewIcz 2004)

charred grass temper in sherds

83


vessel forms or significant decorations. Nevertheless, a few characteristics are evident: the clay was mainly tempered with vegetal remains derived from seasonal grasses and some sand. The sherds are relatively thin-walled and seem to derive mainly from hemispherical or globular vessels. Mat impressions could be recognised on some sherds. As the ceramics were found above and below the tap slag, as well as mixed with it, it is likely that slag and ceramics are contemporaneous. This sug-gests that the technique of iron smelting was known in the region by the 2nd half of the first millennium BC, initiating at this time the prosperous and stable Iron Age occupation at the Mare de Kissi.

Early occupation phase (ca 1st – 4th century AD)

The key ceramic traits of this period are restricted bowls, a special flattened rim that is sometimes decorated with twisted string roulette, and abundant channelled ware. The main decoration technique is mat impressing. Only a few settlement sites in the southern and eastern part of the site cluster belong to this period (Fig. 2), seemingly building an occupational nucleus. A charred fruit sample from one of these sites was radiocarbon dated to the 1st–3rd centuries cal AD, confirming the chronological position of the location in this occupation phase. Addi-tionally, a part of cemetery Kissi 14 (Kissi 14C) belongs to this early phase with a grave dated by AMS method between 60 cal BC and cal AD 430 (2-sigma, Erl-3315, 1829 ± 105 bp). This date represents a terminus ante quem for several undisturbed graves underneath. In this phase, iron working and agriculture based on pearl millet and small livestock were fully developed at this place, and both short- and long-distance exchange of goods took place.

Middle occupation phase (ca 4th – 8th/9th century AD)

Compared to the previous phase, a major change in the ceramic sequence is the disappearance of re-stricted bowls and flattened rims and an increase in string roulette decoration. Within this period, there is a clear rise in the number of settlement mounds (Fig. 2). Although it is unknown if they all were contemporaneous, it is apparent that the number of inhabitants was higher than in the period before. In case of contemporaneity, the area covered by the sites would have had about 100 ha or more. The sites of this phase concentrate in the western half of Kissi and are not as close to the lake as before. Most of the dated graves fall into this period, i.e., between the 4th and 7th centuries AD (cemeteries Kissi 3, 13 and 14). The grave goods associated with the inhumated persons

and the results of excavations at settlement sites reveal a wealthy rural society with far-reaching contacts.

Late occupation phase (ca 9th – 12th century AD)

New ceramic key forms are large flasks with polished necks and the initial use of strip rouletting as decora-tion technique. Channelled ware completely disap-peared. Large storage vessels that are often decorated with string rouletting are also typical of this period. Mat impressions are less common than in the earlier periods, and string rouletting is the main decoration technique. The number of settlement mounds is similar to the previous phase, but sites are now predominantly located in the eastern part of the site cluster (Fig. 2). Their position and number are the most realistic of all phases, as for the earlier two we cannot exlude that settlements were covered by Middle or Late occupa-tion phase settlement mounds. Only a few graves of cemetery Kissi 13 seem to belong to this period. After the 12th century AD, the permanent human occupation at Mare de Kissi, inhabited for more than 1500 years, ceased. Significantly, other long-time settlements of the region were also abandoned between this period and the 15th century AD. One of the reasons for this development might have been the arrival of nomadic pastoralists in the region in the early to mid 2nd mil-lennium AD (Pelzer et al. 2004). In this respect, it is possible that the immigrating pastoralists with large cattle herds were competing with the sedentary com-munities with their small livestock and millet-based agriculture for the limited resources at the small lakes of the region. This finally led to an emigration of most sedentary groups. From that time on, no sedentary population has occupied the margins of the Mare de Kissi, but nomadic people like the Fulani and Bella and a semi-nomadic fraction of the Touareg Udaalan, the Kel Tamasgayt, dwell close to the Mare in the dry season. From time to time, the latter also use the ancient sites at the southeastern edge of the concentra-tion for funerary purposes.

the cemeterIes

Burial types

Most of the graves found at Kissi are marked by stone slabs (Fig. 4) and bear body inhumations. Similar stone slab cemeteries can be found in the region near villages such as Oursi, Darkoye, Tin Agadel, and oth-ers. These are still used by modern populations. In Kissi, three (Kissi 1, 2 and 4) of the seven cemeteries visible on the surface are currently in use by the Kel

84

S. Magnavita

Fig. 4. Stone slabs marking graves at cemetery Kissi 13.

Fig. 5. A jar burial in cemetery Kissi 13. It is not certain if the stone slab above the jar is a grave marker to this or to another grave close to it.

Tamasgayt dwellers. As cemeteries at the locations mentioned could not be investigated, the source of information about Iron Age burial types in the Ouda-lan province is unfortunately not very extensive and comparative material lacks so far. Although, with exception of the results of archaeological research at Kissi, no data on any other cemetery in the immedi-ate surroundings is available, it is very probable that some of them date back to Early Iron Age times. This is especially the case for the cemetery at Oursi, which is situated between Iron Age settlement mounds dated to about the same periods as the ones at Kissi.

Along with simple inhumations, another type of burial found at Kissi is that of funerary jars placed into the ground. Interments of this kind are sometimes found within impressive graveyards like that at Gandéfabou (mIllogo & Koté 2001) and Gountouré Irbidi (Vogel-sang 2000) in Oudalan. For a long time, inhumations in funerary jars have been thought to be the main pre-Islamic burial type in NE Burkina Faso (KIéthéga et al. 1993: 425, 435). Although no jar cemetery was found at Kissi yet, one burial in a single horizontally placed jar was discovered in cemetery Kissi 13 (Fig. 5). This grave was not directly dated, but an undisturbed grave of the 4th–5th century AD situated beneath and a typo-logical dating of the funerary jar to the Late occupation phase, i.e., the 9th – 12th century AD, hint at the grave’s possible age.

As already mentioned, with the exception of one

jar burial, the usual burial type in Kissi is inhumation often marked by stone slabs. During the excavations it became clear that the general conservation of human

bones in the cemeteries was so poor that physical anthropological studies were mostly difficult. A dis-tinction between single graves located close to each other and collective burials was sometimes not pos-sible, although a few clearly collective graves could be identified (Fig. 6). As the usually greyish grave pits were only visible when situated in the light-coloured dune sand in the lowest part of an archaeological cut, just the very close arrangement of skeletons suggested the existence of collective burials in the upper parts of our excavations. The collective burials discovered consisted in most cases of two, and only in a few cases of three or more individuals. Worth mentioning is the presence of some skull burials in Kissi, which were found both as single and collective graves (Fig. 7).

Along with the preferential placement of bodies on their right side, their orientation in the excavated cemeteries Kissi 3, 13 and 14 is clearly dominated by a more or less west-east axis with the head to the west and the face to the south (Fig. 6–8). Only few

85


Fig. 6. A badly preserved double burial in cemetery Kissi 14C (grave 14).

Fig. 7. A skull burial in cemetery Kissi 3 (grave 12): three skulls are positioned around another skeleton that only shows skull and upper body parts.

Fig. 8. A single burial in cemetery Kissi 3 (grave 3). The skeleton is positioned in a more or less W-E axis with vue to the South. The only discernible grave good is a stone bead collar.

inhumed had their faces turned to the north, lying on the left body side. Most of the skeletons show an elongated position with only slightly flexed legs. Flexed postures are rare exceptions. When the hands were visible, they were often folded above the pelvis (Fig. 8).

Many burials were accompanied by grave goods such as jewellery and/or weaponry, the most common being bead collars (Fig. 8) and/or arrows. No tools in-dicating a kind of ‘specialist’s grave’ have been found. Nevertheless, there is a substantial contrast in the quan-tity of grave goods associated with some buried persons: some graves have none or at least no preserved grave goods at all, while a few others contain an extremely numerous amount of objects.

The grave goods

Jewellery

The most abundant kind of grave goods were beads (Fig. 9). Almost 5000 were found during excavations in the cemeteries Kissi 3, 13 and 14, mainly as necklaces (Fig. 8 and 10) and sometimes as belts or ‘cache-sexe’ (Fig. 11). Preferred material were siliceous stones, as almost 3000 beads are made out of quartz, jasper and chalcedony. The stone beads are almost exclusively shaped into vari-ous cylindrical forms. More than 1300 glass beads and

86

S. Magnavita

Fig. 9. A selection of different types of beads found in Kissi.

Fig. 10. Bead necklace (cemetery Kissi 14C, grave 23).

Fig. 11. Stone and iron beads in the pelvis area, as well as an iron and a brass bracelet on the lower right arm (Kissi 14C, grave 2).

probably not much less made of iron1 were also found in Kissi. While the iron beads have similar shapes as the stone beads, those made of glass are mainly discoid or short cylinders. Apparently, they were almost exclusively produced by the drawing technique with re-heating after cutting, so that smoothed ends could be obtained. Their dominant colours are different shades of blue, turquoise and yellow, and, to a lesser extent, shades of green. Rarely occurring glass colours are opaque white, brick red (so-called “Indian Red”) and translucent purple red. Most are monochrome. The very few examples of bi- and polychrome beads are all longitudinally striped, having mainly a dark purple red or dark blue translucent matrix with white stripes, with a few being Indian Red with white stripes. One polychrome bead has an opaque green matrix with yellow and white stripes. Very rare as grave goods, but common as finds in the settlement complexes, are beads made of ceramic and bone, while ostrich egg shell and wooden beads are rare in all locations. An ex-ception of this rule is the oldest part of cemetery Kissi 14 (i.e., excavation Kissi 14C) with graves dated to the first centuries AD, where numerous bone and shell beads were found in some graves.

Besides beads, other very common ornamental objects were bracelets, rings and anklets (Fig. 11 and 12). While most of the bracelets were made of iron, rings and anklets were predominantly made of copper alloys. Interesting is the fact that Kissi’s iron jewellery was worked into more elaborated forms than the copper-based objects. While iron jewellery seems to have been a common good, copper alloys mainly occur in richly adorned graves.

Other ornamental artefacts from the graves con-sisted of cowrie shells (Cypraea moneta), which were found aligned on the skulls of two deceased (Fig. 13). The back sides of the snail shells were cut or ground off, so that they could be sewn or stringed. Possibly, the dead wore some kind of headpieces.

Weaponry

Several daggers of different types were found in the graves: large arm daggers with curved blades are the most impressive examples (Fig. 14). The illustrated arm dagger was found in situ on the left upper arm of the inhu-mated person, with the grip towards the shoulder. In most cases, remains of sheaths made of wood and leather were

1 Due to the high grade of corrosion, the exact number of iron beads is not determinable. Hundreds of iron beads have been found in one single grave (Kissi 14C, grave 2, see Fig. 11), many other beads were only determined as such on X-ray pictures.

87


Fig. 12. Metal jewellery. a: upper arm iron bracelets (Kissi 3, grave 10); b: lower arm iron bracelet (Kissi 3, grave 1); c: brass anklets (Kissi 3, grave 10); d: copper alloy ear(?) ring (Kissi 3, grave 14); e: copper alloy anklet (Kissi 14C, grave 7).

a

b

c

d

e

88

S. Magnavita

Fig. 14. Curved arm dagger with preserved wood-leather sheath, iron

awl and textile remains (cemetery Kissi 3, grave 10).

Fig. 13. Cowries on a skull (cemetery Kissi 3, grave 5).

2 cm

conserved on the iron blades. Also fragments of woollen textiles and an angular mat of plant fibres remained adhered to the sheaths. All the daggers very probably had wooden handles, of which only very scarce fragments were preserved. A common type of dagger was one with an iron handle forged into an oval ring (Fig. 15a). In many graves, such ring-handled daggers were associated with arrows (Fig. 15b), and, in some graves, were found next to the feet of the buried. In two cases, bundles of arrows could be identified as contents of quivers made of wood and leather. Ethno-graphic examples demonstrate the use of such daggers for spanning the bow as well as for fighting in a close combat (lagercrantz 1937). The association of these daggers with quivers in the Kissi graves suggests a similar function. In two graves, swords were found along the legs of the skeletons. One has a double-edged and curved blade with a decoration of dotted lines (Fig. 15c). The length of the sword including the grip is about 76 cm, with an average width of 2.5 cm. The other sword is shorter with only 70 cm in length and 2 cm in width and has a rectilinear blade without any decoration (Fig. 15d). Some remains of their scabbards were found conserved and, as those of the daggers, were made out of wood, leather and skin. Their handles were also made of wood.

Archaeobotanical investigations by means of Scan-ning Electron Microscopy permitted a more precise identification of the wooden material. The material of the scabbard of the shorter, straight sword was identified as wood from the Burseraceae family: Commiphora. If made in West Africa, Commiphora africana would be the species in question, but this could not be ascertained by the archaeobotanical analysis (A. Höhn, pers. comm., University Frankfurt). The sword handle was made of wood of the Anacardiaceae family, but the type could not be safely identified (Lannea or, more likely, Sclerocarya). For the wooden handle of the curved sword, Mimosacea was used. In case it was manufactured in West Africa, this was possibly either Faidherbia albida or Pterocarpus sp. (A. Höhn, pers. comm., University Frankfurt). The type of wood used for the scabbard of the curved sword could not be determined.

It is not clear whether the swords had been in fact used as weapons or rather were status symbols and lux-ury goods. However, the latter seems to be more likely, if we consider the occurrence of curved swords in most richly appointed graves and the rarity of comparable objects in other first millennium AD sites in sub-Saharan West Africa. The only well-known examples of ‘high-rank graves’ containing swords or sword-like daggers are

89


10 cm

2 cm

1 cm

a

b

c

d

Fig. 15. Weapon types from graves in Kissi. a - ring-handled dagger with bast fibres (Kissi 3, grave 8); b - examples of iron arrows with preserved organic remains of quiver and shafting (Kissi 3, grave 14); c - double-edged, curved sword (Kissi 3, grave 10); d - double-edged, short sword (Kissi 3, grave 13).

El Oualedji in Mali (desPlagnes 1951), Rao-Nguiguéla in Senegal (JoIre 1955: 262), and Igbo-Ukwu in Nigeria (shaw 1970: 186–191). However, with a date ranging from the 11th to the 12/13th century AD for the first two (for El Oualedji cf. Fontes 1991: 263–265) and from the 9th to the 11th century AD for the latter, they are not only considerably younger than those found at Kissi, dated to the 5th to 7th century AD and 6th to 7th century AD, respectively. They were also locally produced or imported at a time when the Arab-Islamic influence on West Africa started and exotic goods began being used

by the indigenous elites as status and prestige symbols. The examples of Kissi, on the contrary, suggest that similar processes of status and prestige demonstration through possession of foreign items were being practised in West Africa already before the arrival of the Arabs. A glance at the symbolic significance of swords in display-ing power can be gained from a passage of a work by Al-Bakri written in AD 1068. He commented that for the enthronement of new rulers at Gao (Mali), among other gifts, a sword was sent by the Caliph of Baghdad as insignia of office (hunwIcK 1966: 297).

90

S. Magnavita

Fig. 16. “Ghourma” baked clay beads from settlement Kissi 22B (ca 9th century AD). Scale 1:1.

-50

-55

-60

-70

-90

-95

-115

-120

-125

-130

-135

-140

-145

Kissi 22 B Sonderfunde

5cm

-180

-185

-170

-150

-175

-155

-165

-190

-160

1 cm

the trade relatIons

The artefacts recovered from the settlements and cem-eteries hint at the kinds of commercial contacts the Kissi people were involved in: regional, interregional and long-distance (magnaVIta et al. 2002; magnaVIta 2006). While trade goods from regional and interre-gional connections are more likely to be found in the settlements and within supposedly ‘low-rank graves’, the contrary can be stated for objects that originate from long-distance contacts. They are rare in the settlements and can be found mainly in ‘high-rank graves’ (for a full catalogue of excavated graves and their inventories, cf. magnaVIta 2006).

Local production, regional and interregional contacts

Goods that were likely manufactured locally are pottery, stone artefacts of amphibolithe and presumably some of the iron objects. Besides these, comestible goods might have been traded within the region when a surplus was achieved. According to the archaeobotanical analyses, the staple food at Kissi was pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and cow peas (Vigna unguiculata) (Kahlhe-Ber 2004: 161–168). It is also possible that millet, pulses and perhaps fruits were traded to more distant, drier regions, where cultivation was difficult. In this context, Insoll (1996) supposed that the hinterland on the right bank of the Niger River served as some kind of granary for populations living closer to the desert.

Several types of beads, such as those made of clay, wood, bone and shell as well as some large discoid stone beads, of which half-products were found locally and at other sites of the region, were possibly produced in or close to Kissi. On the other hand, it can not be definitely ruled out that these and other objects were traded from within the region. This is, for example, the case with several of the grindstones found at Kissi. Apart from those made out of the locally occurring amphibolithe, these were manufactured of rocks such as granite and rhyolithe, of which the nearest sources are situated 20–40 km from Kissi. Most of the gravestones must have been transported from even farther away, as their nearest raw material sources (among others, coloured schiste, basalte and gneiss) are found at distances of up to 60 kilometres.

A very common find category excavated from the cultural deposits of Kissi’s settlement mounds (magnaVIta et al. 2002; magnaVIta 2003) and other archaeological sites of the region (Vogelsang 2000: 194) are fine-segmented clay beads (Fig. 16). This kind

of beads could have been manufactured locally or in the Ghourma region, where they are a widespread and very common find. On the other side of the River Niger, the region of Gao is thought to have been a production centre for them, possibly from at least the 10th century AD onwards (Insoll 1996: 82; roy 2000: 102)

Perishable items probably had a greater commercial importance than we are able to realise in the archaeo-logical context. Several kinds of items made of organic matter, of which some have been preserved in the Kissi graves, could have been produced locally and perhaps traded within the Ghourma and other regions. Wood- and leatherwork maybe played an important role as trade goods: the sheaths and scabbards found in Kissi are, for example, made of wood and leather (or pelt), as are the small fragments of quivers. Leather was used to thread beads and some fragments even suggest that parts of the funerary robes were made of leather. Vegetal fibres were used for mats and attachments. While the mat used for pottery manufacture was made of strings (similar to a “dogon-mat”), the kind of plain and angu-lar mat found on the metal objects was never used for decorating the pottery (magnaVIta et al. 2002).

Textile remains were also discovered in some of the graves, and fragments of a woollen rope, very probably used for attachments, have been preserved (magnaVIta 2008). Their preservation was possible due to the large amount of metal objects in the graves: the corrosion products of iron and copper created a bactericid envi-ronment in the direct vicinity of the metals and hence stopped the natural decay of some of the organic mate-rials. All examined garments were manufactured in the plain weave technique and were made of wool or fine animal hair (Goedecker-Ciolek, pers. comm., RGZM Mainz). Measurements of the fibre strength proved that only two animal species could have provided the wool for the production of these garments: camel/dromedary or wool sheep. For several reasons, it is unclear whether the textiles were produced locally, within the region or were imported from farther away. First, no spindle whorls were found yet at Kissi. A priori, this could be seen as an indication for a non-local production. However, this lack of material evidence is less conclusive, as for spinning the fine yarn used in the Kissi textiles a spindle whorl is not necessary, or might have consisted of a light, perishable

91


material such as wood or leather. Second, the evidence for the introduction of wool sheep and dromedaries is either late or extremely rare for the period antedating Arab-driven trans-Saharan trade. Thus, the appearance of the Goundam or Macina sheep, a relative of the Merino sheep, is thought to only have occurred concomitantly with the Arab invasion (Blench, in lInseele 2007: 70), while dromedary remains are only known from Siouré, Senegal, dating to the 3rd/4th century AD (macdonald & macdonald 2000: 141). Finally, it is yet unknown when weaving was introduced into West Africa. Based on these arguments, it is most likely that the early Kissi textiles, presently the oldest of their kind in West Africa, were produced somewhere farther north or at least with techniques derived from northern regions.

Further evidence for interregional trade relations is shown in the presence of particular beads at Kissi. Thus, most of the stone beads (mainly quartz and chalcedony) show strong similarities with beads manufactured in SW Niger (cf. Vernet 1996: 311–314) and in the Tilemsi val-ley of eastern Mali (gaussen & gaussen 1988). Many of the siliceous red stone beads found at Kissi might derive from the area of Kareygorou in Niger, close to Niamey, where unfinished beads of the same type have been found. Glass beads also hint at contacts between the Ghourma region of the Niger valley and other West African regions. A very rare type of glass bead from Kissi very likely originated in southern Nigeria, probably at Ife. This can be assumed by comparing the results of chemical analyses conducted on some Kissi glass beads (see below) and on Ife glass dated to the 9th to 13th century AD (lanKton et al. 2006). It is interesting to see that interregional contacts also occurred along the Niger River, which likely func-tioned as the preferential commercial axis between the West African Sahel to the north and the forest to the south (cf. also Insoll & shaw 1997). In fact, even further down-stream, the people who lived at the site of Igbo-Ukwu (cf. shaw 1970), dated to the 9th–11th century AD, were receiving beads similar to those encountered at Kissi (see below, and roBertshaw et al., this volume), including the Ife glass types (cf. BrIll 1999, sampled beads No. 5551, 5556 and 5558c; P. Robertshaw, pers. comm).

Long-distance trade

Long-distance, trans-Saharan trade is suggested by several “exotic” object types found in Kissi. Qualita-tive and quantitative metallurgical analyses were done by D. Killick and T. Fenn on a number of copper-based objects, in order to identify the type of alloy and to trace the region of origin of the ores used (for details, see Fenn et al., this volume). Most of the copper objects are dif-ferent types of alloys, no alloy in one grave being similar

to an alloy in another grave (T. Fenn, pers. comm.). An exception is perhaps the pair of anklets found in the 6th/7th century AD grave 14 of cemetery Kissi 3, as these consist of native copper. Another pair of anklets, found in the richly adorned grave 10 of cemetery Kissi 3, was made of brass, a copper-zinc alloy. This grave has been directly dated by AMS on wood of an associ-ated dagger sheath as well as on a woollen rope to the period between the 5th–7th centuries cal AD (Fig. 3 and Tab. 1). As the technique of alloying copper with zinc into brass had not been adopted in West Africa until late in the 2nd millennium AD (herBert 1984: 97; chIlds & KIllIcK 1993: 323), the import of these objects or of the metal as ingots or rods from North Africa is highly probable (D. Killick, pers. comm.). Originating from graves of the oldest part of cemetery Kissi 14 (14C), two further objects, an anklet and a bracelet, are brasses. The bracelet derives from grave 2 of Kissi 14C, prob-ably a female burial, and was dated to the 1st century cal BC to the 4th century cal AD (Fig. 3 and Tab. 1). The anklet found in grave 7 in the same cemetery, close to the dated grave 2, is similar to the bracelet made of a low-zinc brass (see Fenn et al., this volume). Most of the cuprous objects bearing similar early dates have no distinct forms, so that their provenance can not be traced back by means of morphological comparisons. However, there are several small rings or fragments of rings (Fig. 17) that are probably an exception; associated with the severely disturbed grave 12 in cemetery Kissi 14 and dated approximately to the 2th to 9th centuries AD (Tab. 1), the rings all have the same wire thickness of 1 mm and an inner ring diameter of about 7 mm, matching comparable rings of Mediterranean chainmail armor or ornamental parts of chainmail dated to the 3rd century AD (waurIcK 1979: 319). In fact, a few rings were found still connected to each other in a 2 in 1 pattern (Fig. 17) giving the impression of a very light construction. In this respect, they can be seen as elements of a probably decorative rather than defensive object. The chemical analysis of these rings has shown that the ore used to produce the alloy presumably has a western Mediter-ranean origin (see Fenn et al, this volume).

The two iron swords found in graves of cemetery Kissi 3, dated between the 5th and 7th centuries AD, are an exotic element in sub-Saharan West Africa before the Arab conquest. Although it is not clear where they

Fig. 17. Chainmail fragments (Kissi 14, grave 12) Scale: 1:1.

92

S. Magnavita

originated from, even as products of a West African blacksmith they very probably would have had im-ported examples from the north as prototypes.

A special type of carnelian bead, consisting of long and thin cylinders with light facets and narrow drill holes, was found in small numbers in all cemeteries of Kissi (Fig. 18, Tab. 1). While most of the stone beads (including quartz, jasper, agates and carnelian) were presumably produced somewhere in West Africa, these possibly have a quite exotic origin. As each of these beads has a standardised diameter of 4.2 mm, it can be supposed that they were produced at a workshop with skilled, full-time specialists. As no sub-Saharan manu-facture centre for similar beads is known, it is likely that the workshops for their production were located somewhere beyond the desert. Analysis of perforations seems to rule out the Indian subcontinent as their region of origin (J. M. Kenoyer, pers. comm.). Possible regions of manufacture are Egypt and the Near East. Indeed, there is a great deal of similarity between the beads of Kissi and the carnelian beads from Igbo-Ukwu, Type E1 (shaw 1970: 230, Plate V[a]), which also have been seen as possible imports from Egypt or India (Insoll & shaw 1997: 20; sutton 2001: 52–53).

The evidence that goods of an inter-continental trade, i.e., between Africa and Asia, were also reaching West Africa during the first millennium AD becomes less speculative considering Kissi’s finds. A convincing argument for contacts between ‘entrepots’ at the Red Sea or Mediterranean regions and West Africa comes from the ca 1300 glass beads found in the cemeteries of Kissi. Although ‘only’ 56 of them from different graves and cemeteries can be yet securely ascribed to the period antedating the 8th century AD, this figure considerably surpasses the three glass beads coming from deposits of the same period in Jenné-jeno (cf. BrIll 1995: 252)2. Moreover, the quantity of glass beads dating to the 1st to 7th century AD in Kissi must have been substantially higher than we are able to tell at the moment. If one con-siders that only a small fraction of the graves in each of

2 As far as the author is informed, the three glass beads of Jenné-jeno and those of Kissi are the only samples found at West African archaeological sites dating prior to the 8th century AD.

the three investigated cemeteries has been yet excavated (possibly less than 2 % of the total number of existent graves), and that levels containing the remaining burials and the other ca 1200 excavated glass beads found are undated so far, the amount of beads imported before the 8th century AD can be estimated at several hundreds or even thousands. The significance of recognising the amount of glass beads entering Kissi prior to the Arab conquest of North Africa can be better understood when knowing that glass beads were a highly valued luxury good in the Sudan in early Islamic times, a period when they were massively imported. Based on this, how valu-able must have been the beads found in the cemeteries of Kissi, in a period when, following current doctrine, trans-Saharan trade supposedly did not exist at all? As with other Kissi long-distance trade items, we suppose that a satisfactory answer to this question only will arise when we have a general idea about the real volume of an early traffic in luxury goods and about the nature and range of contacts.

Chemical analyses of the glass beads

Three sets of compositional analyses were run on a total of 64 glass beads from Kissi (cf. magnaVIta 2006). The first analyses of seven beads from cem-etery Kissi 3 were conducted by G. Brey from Uni-versity of Frankfurt by means of Electron Microprobe Analysis (EMPA). The results have been published (magnaVIta 2003) but were rejected only recently by the analyst because of a programme error that occurred during the time our beads were analysed (G. Brey, pers. comm).

A second set of analyses was carried out by R. Brill and his team from the Corning Museum of Glass on 20 beads from the cemeteries 3, 14 and 14C (Tab. 2)3. Some of these beads come from contexts predating the 8th century AD. This analysis included the oldest

3 Robert Brill, research scientist at the Corning Museum of Glass, has submitted the following comment: “We are very pleased to have been given the opportunity to analyze these beads. Their analyses should prove helpful not only for learning more about this site and its place in African archaeology, but also for what they can add to our understanding of the history of glass in general. Owing to the pressures of time and previous commitments, it is not possible right now for me to assist in the interpretation of the data or to devote to it the careful attention that these important glass finds deserve. But we do plan to undertake a thorough graphical examination and statistical analysis of the data which might cast further light on the subject. We hope that in the near future we will be able to collaborate with Dr. Magnavita and publish some additional thoughts on the chemical classification of these beads and their origins. Our electron microprobe analyses were performed by Colleen P. Stapleton and the ICP and OES analyses by Brandt R. Rising and Charles Avalone. Robert H. Brill, Corning, NY, September 21, 2009.”

Fig. 18. Special type of carnelian beads (Kissi 3, grave 10).

2 cm

93


glass bead found in Kissi, deriving from the necklace of the probably woman’s grave 2 in cemetery Kissi 14C, dated to the 1st century cal BC – 4th century cal AD (Tab. 2). The beads were analysed by the ICP and OES methods as well as by Electron Microprobe (EMPA) (see BrIll 1999: II, Appendix 2, for details about the methods and analytical procedures).

P. Robertshaw and collegues performed another set of analyses on additional 37 glass beads, exclusively deriving from cemetery Kissi 13 (see roBerthaw et al., this volume). According to the project’s focus, the analysed beads were selected from contexts possibly contemporaneous with Igbo-Ukwu (ca 9th–11th century AD). As no undisturbed grave was dated to this period, beads deriving from a glass bead-rich horizon in cem-etery Kissi 13, containing disturbed graves presumably from this period, were chosen. The beads were all ana-lysed by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MC) (see roBertshaw et al., this volume, for details about the method and analytical procedures). The following summarises the results of all available analyses.

The base glassTo study the basic glass composition, i.e., the major in-gredients used to fuse the glass without the additives used to colour or opacify it, the amounts of the oxides of the elements Si, Na, Ca, K, Mg, Fe and Al were normalised to 100 wt. % (cf. BrIll 1987: 6). These normalised val-ues allowed differentiating between different base glass groups within the Kissi inventory (magnaVIta 2006: 72–85, tab. 5, Appendix C). According to the results, almost of the analysed beads were manufactured from a soda-lime glass, with soda deriving from the plant ash of halophytic plants (ibid.). This is visible by the elevated amount of both magnesia and potash in the glass (> ca 1.5 wt. %, respectively, cf. hall & yaBlonsKy 1998). Two of these plant ash beads show a significant amount of lead oxide that did not serve as a colouring agent, but belongs to the base glass (or was added to it, as suggested by roBertshaw et al., this volume). Besides these, two other beads have a very different base glass composition: PR715 from Robertshaw’s analyses and No. 9009 from Brill’s analyses have unusually high amounts of both lime and alumina (magnaVIta 2006: 82). lanKton et al. (2006) have recently described such HLHA-beads (High-Lime-High-Alumina) as being original West Af-rican products deriving from primary production at Ife in southern Nigeria from the 9th–13th century AD onwards, approximately. Besides the high amounts of lime and alumina in the glass, both beads show low percentages of magnesia (< 0.2 wt. %) and soda (< 5.5 wt. %). While the alkalis in Brill’s No. 9009 are both relatively low, PR715 shows an elevated amount of potassium. It is

still unknown which raw materials have been used to produce glass with such compositions (lanKton et al. 2006; Freestone 2006).

The vast majority of the analysed beads belongs to a soda-lime plant ash glass (named vNC-glass in roBertshaw et al., this volume). This group can be clearly differentiated from both the HLHA-glass and the lead glass, both represented by only two beads in the Kissi inventory, respectively. The plant ash group is also easy distinguishable from soda-lime glass of the natron type due to the amount of earth alkalis in the glass (Fig. 19). Nevertheless, the plant-ash group is not as homogenous as it may seem at first glance. In fact, at least three subgroups (Tab. 3) within this glass type can be differentiated, each hinting at the use of different raw materials to fuse the glass (magnaVIta 2006: tab. 5, 96–102). This is not surprising, given that the analysed beads may date to a period spanning several hundred years. Soda-lime group 1, to which the majority of the Kissi plant-ash beads belongs, is characterised by a moderate soda content and a rela-tively high potash-magnesia composition, while the amount of iron in the glass is quite low. Soda-lime group 2 differs from group 1 by its relatively higher soda and lower potash-magnesia content and a higher amount of iron. Soda-lime group 3, only represented by five samples, shows a significantly higher amount of lime while alumina is lower compared to the other two groups.

The additives In addition to the major ingredients for fusing the glass, some additives were used to change the natural colour or appearance of the glass. According to the analyses, the following colouring agents were probably employed. Manganese was added sometimes as purifier to counter-act natural colouring agents and thus obtain bright col-ours. It was also responsible for the colour of translucent purple-red beads. A combination of lead and tin oxide (lead stannate) was used for obtaining yellow opaque glass. It also acted as an opacifier in white opaque beads. The use of copper oxide resulted in greenish tones, and a combination of copper and cobalt was responsible for the blue colour of all analysed Kissi blue beads. Opaque turquoise beads were coloured by copper and tin, with tin very likely acting as an opacifier, as in the case of the yellow and white beads. Opaque brick red (so-called “Indian Red”) resulted from a combination of iron, copper and lead.

Provenance of the glass beadsIt is difficult to trace the origin of the glass beads just by means of their morphology. It must be stated, how-ever, that most of them are comparable in colour, size,

94

S. Magnavita

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

wt.%

K2O

*

wt.% MgO*

Kissi glass analyses

LMG(Natron type )

LMHK

HMHK (plantash glass)

Fig. 19. Diagram show-ing magnesia (MgO) versus potash (K2O) in wt.%, normalised val-ues (after magnaVIta 2006: fig. 54).

9009

PR715

shape, as well as in manufacturing technique to Indian Ocean or Trade Wind Beads (cf. Van der sleen 1956; daVIson 1972; FrancIs 2002), which are thought to have an (south) Asian origin. As stated in roBertshaw et al. (this volume), several of the Kissi beads might belong to the Zhizo series of beads, which have also been found in southern Africa and in Igbo-Ukwu in Nigeria, respectively. These, too, have presumably an Asian origin (roBertshaw et al. 2003; roBertshaw et al., this volume).

Origin tracing is more efficient by means of chemi-cal analyses, but this method can only trace the origin of the raw materials or, at best, the workshop where the raw glass was produced, but not the place where the beads themselves were manufactured. Comparisons between the Kissi glass compositions and hundreds of glass artefact analyses from Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe, the Near East and Asia have been undertaken (cf. magnaVIta 2006; roBertshaw et al., this volume), resulting in the determination that the region of origin of the raw glass used to produce the Kissi beads was quite plausibly lying in the Near or Middle East (ibid.). The largest group very likely originated from Sassanian workshops.

Not only glass beads indicate the existence of early long-distance, trans-continental contacts between regions to the north and to the south of the Sahara. Other Kissi finds also show that such connections had a terminus in the Ghourma region. This is, for example, the case with the two graves containing cowries, one of

which has been dated to the 5th–7th centuries AD4. As the snail shells were identified as Cypraea (Erosaria) moneta (F. Lorenz, pers. comm.), their region of origin must lie somewhere between the Red Sea and the south-ern Pacific. As sources in the Indo-Pacific and mainly around the Maledives had been exploited already in antiquity, it is very likely that the cowries from Kissi originated from the same stream of trade, connecting the Indo-Pacific regions with the Mediterranean area. Comprising such widespread exchange networks, the Byzantine empire, with important trade centres in North Africa, Egypt and the Near East, could have been in-volved in this trade system, at least reaching up to the Garamantes territories.

Early trans-Saharan contacts?

The hypothesis that the Garamantes were engaged in early trans-Saharan commercial activities between West and North Africa is an old one (law 1967), how-ever without tangible evidence so far. More recently, lIVeranI (2000) has shown that at the beginning of the first millennium AD the southern frontier of the Garamantian settlements reached as far as the region of Ghat in today’s southwestern Libya. In fact, it has been suggested that Garamantian ‘checkpoints’ were founded in the 1st century AD in a region where later on, in the

4 Apparently similar dates for cowries were reported for the site of Akumbu in the Mema region of Mali (togola 1996).

95


8th–9th centuries, the Arab-Islamic caravans transport-ing commodities from the south and north would pass. lIVeranI (2000: 41–42, 2005: 434–436, 455) considered the presence of these ‘checkpoints’ as indication that people and, possibly, goods early found their way across the Sahara. However, commercial trans-Saharan items that could give more support to this theory remain yet undiscovered in the Garamantian territories.

The paucity of archaeological finds from secure contexts in both North and West Africa has been the largest obstacle for accepting the existence of some form of trans-Saharan contacts in pre-Islamic times. The great difficulty in this respect concerns the nature of the data used to support that view. The alleged evidence so far mainly consisted of rock art and sources of classical authors, both sources that are inherently problematical and, therefore, a matter of much discussion. In course of the last fifty years or so, several authors considered the possibility that people, ideas and perhaps goods were moving through the Sahara by means of horse- and ox-drawn carts via the ‘chariot routes’ (mauny 1961: 192–193, 456; BoVIll 1968: 15; lhote 1982; camPs 1982: 16). Other scholars, however, are of the opinion that the chariots themselves were not suitable vehicles for long-distance travels (law 1967: 181–182; PosnansKy 1973: 150), so that they should be ruled out as a means of transport for any kind of trans-Saharan enterprises. Similarly, there is a great deal of scepticism concerning the stories mentioned in classical sources (Herodotus, Pliny, Ptolomy), which apparently describe journeys into and through the Sahara in Punic and Ro-man times (wheeler 1955: 129–133; law 1967; BoVIll 1956, 1968: 13–15). The same applies for the object of our interest: trans-Saharan trade in pre-Arab-Islamic times. Though some researchers seem to hold that some kind of exchange might have taken place (wheeler 1955: 121; olIVer & Fage 1962: 60; law 1967: 196; lIVeranI 2000, 2005), there was so far no convincing evidence (written or non-written) supporting the idea that people were crossing the desert and trading in any kind of commodity, let alone that a regular trade existed (BoVIll 1968: 40–44; swanson 1975, cf. also mcIntosh & mcIntosh 1980: 462–463).

Less conjectural than the debate about the occurrence or non-occurrence of early trans-Saharan contacts is the fact that an incipient and informal as well as a sustained and regular trade between the regions to the north and south of the Sahara only did become more practicable with the use of camels as means of transport. The Garamantes were perhaps one of the first indigenous people of North Africa, who used camels in the trade with Roman Africa. One of the few documents possibly describing such ac-tivities are Roman inscriptions made on ostrakas (clay

tablets), dated to the 3rd century AD, found in a Roman garrison, the castle of Bu Ngem (Gholaia), located beyond the Limes Tripolitanus in Libya. On these,Garamantes, among other people, were mentioned as passing areas under control of the Imperium Romanum with packed dromedaries northwards (reBuFFat 1987: 56, 66–67). Due to the documentary gap, a precise date for the intro-duction of camels into Roman Africa remains uncertain, but BoVIll (1956: 21, 1968: 38) and BullIet (1990: 139) suggested that the use of camels by the Romans around Tripolitania as beast of burden, for plowing and pulling carts and perhaps for military purposes, probably started in the 1st to 2nd century AD. As finds of Camelus dromedarius in Senegal were dated back to the 3rd to 4th century AD (mcIntosh et al. 1992: 52; macdonald & macdonald 2000: 141), and recent finds were equally made in the Garamantian castle of Aghram Nadharif in the Central Sahara (Libya) dating to the 1st to 4th century AD (lIVeranI 2005), the line of reasoning for early contact and even incipient commerce between North and West Africa gains a great deal of possibility.

Albeit these and other pieces of evidence are ad-mittedly few and somewhat fragile as arguments for an ongoing trans-Saharan trade in pre-Islamic times, the results of the archaeological research carried out at Kissi have the potential for re-stimulating old discus-sions and strengthening existing theories. Based on some of the evidence presented here (see also Fenn et al. and roBertshaw et al., this volume), it can be therefore hypothesised that at least a low-scale, infor-mal exchange of ‘northern’ for ‘southern’ commodi-ties was being carried out between the nomads of the desert and the peoples living in the Sudan prior to the 8th century AD, though this trade was probably never well organised nor supported by the large Sahelian kingdoms, as would be the case in later times.

conclusIon

The archaeological evidence recovered at Kissi throws light on a series of significant themes pertaining the later prehistory of West Africa: a putative pre-Islamic trans-Saharan trade, the early use of the Niger as a major trade route, and the role of foreign influences on the rise of indigenous cultural complexity.

The fact that objects coming from the other side of the desert were reaching populations in rural areas like the Oudalan in Burkina Faso from the first centuries AD onwards is highly significant for our understanding of cultural processes on the subcontinent. The evidence yet available indicates that the Kissi inhabitants possibly stood somewhere at the one end of a trade network

96

S. Magnavita

consisting of distinct levels of commercial connections: regional, interregional and trans-Saharan. Although we do not know routes and means by which goods from the other side of the desert reached Kissi, the existence of an incipient and informal trade between North and West Africa by the mid-first millennium AD, or even earlier, becomes probable. Such traffic is not least likely, as the crucial factor, a means of transport in the form of pack animals suitable for crossing the desert (cam-els), was already available in regions to the north and to the south of the Sahara from at least the 3rd century AD onwards.

In the light of the Kissi evidence with its far-reaching trade contacts, the economic importance of the Niger Bend as a gateway for a north-south move-ment of goods into the rain forest must be reconsid-ered. Thus, the trade connections of Igbo-Ukwu from the 9th century AD onwards are probably much more closely related to the regions of the Niger Bend than suggested recently by sutton (2001: 51–52). Insoll & shaw (1997) already have demonstrated that trade between Igbo-Ukwu and Gao might have occurred and claimed that the River Niger was possibly used for that purpose as a natural connection that extended the com-mercial Saharan routes into the forest to the south. In contrast to this, sutton (2001: 52) proposed routes of commerce between the Nigerian rain forest and Egypt via the Chad Basin or regions farther south. He based his argumentation on the fact that Gao’s exotic items postdate the Igbo-Ukwu ones and that hard evidence of finds contemporaneous to or predating those of Igbo-Ukwu hitherto are missing in the eastern Niger Bend. We believe that Kissi, with its exotics and a location not far away of the Niger, can preliminarily fill this gap and thus resolve the problem of the missing ‘entrepot’ for the route linking North Africa with the West African forest via the ‘River Niger Road’.

However, the role of the Kissi people in the trans-Saharan contact itself remains unclear. Perhaps they were only taking part in such a commerce as mere ‘final consumers’, possibly exchanging agricultural products for the imported goods. On the other hand, the Gourma region of the Niger River is gold-bearing and it might be that gold was traded already before the Arab involve-ment in trans-Saharan trade, as suggested by garrard (1982). In case that gold was, in fact, exchanged in the Kissi region, we will have to assign to them a more primary, active position within early trans-Saharan con-tacts. Less ambiguous than the source of Kissi’s wealth is the recognition that some of the foreign items of Kissi possibly had symbolic purposes. Thus, the presence of objects like swords, cowries and brass anklets seems to demonstrate that a few individuals were aware of the

emblematic value of the exotic and expensive imports from distant regions and were possibly employing these as insignia of status, authority and, feasibly, power. Such behaviour perhaps is for this period of time not exceptional among West African societies. However, the archaeological (hard) evidence indicative of similar patterns of status ostentation reflecting the existence of ranked individuals in hierarchical societies has been rather poor, so that alternative systems of authority in pre-Islamic Africa have been proposed (mcIntosh 1999; mcIntosh 2000).

Though more and more archaeological evidence supports claims for an indigenous development of cultural complexity in West Africa (mcIntosh & mcIn-tosh 1984; mcIntosh & mcIntosh 1988; magnaVIta & BreunIg 2008), some of the trade items discovered at Kissi indicate that, from about the middle of the first millennium AD, West Africa may have been exposed to a higher degree of ideological influence from the north as believed so far. In this context, the Kissi settlements and associated cemeteries are possibly just one of several rural locations adjoining the Niger Bend, which were inhabited by communities organised similarly. In fact, considering the large extension of the West African Sahel and savannah and the dearth of archaeological research in those regions, it is hard to believe that Kissi’s graveyards are unique in their own. Cemeteries perhaps bearing the same archaeological potential are, for ex-ample, known in other locations of the Oudalan and it is probable that comparable locations are to be found over parts of northwestern Burkina Faso, southern Mali and southwestern Niger. In this context, if ‘hinterland areas’ such as the Oudalan were involved in a traffic of trans-Saharan commodities, then we can suppose that possibly urbanised locations situated at the eastern Niger Bend, such as Bentia-Kukyia at Ansongo in Mali (rouch 1953; arazI 1999), may even provide more extraordinary insights into the intensity and relevance of such early contacts, revealing the wealth of Sahelian communities prior to the arrival of the Arabs.

acKnowledgements

The following institutions and persons deserve special recognition for their administrative and professional engagement concerning field research, laboratory analy-sis and publication of the results: the German Research Council (DFG) for guaranteeing financial support; Prof. Peter Breunig for the enthusiastic incentive of the work; Prof. J.-B. Kiéthéga for the academic co-operation; Dr. M. Egg and his team at the RGZM at Mainz for con-servation, restauration, and analysis of some of Kissi’s metal and organic remains; Prof. D. Killick and T. Fenn

97


and their team from the University of Arizona for inves-tigating the copper-based objects; Prof. G. Brey from the University of Frankfurt and Prof. R.H. Brill and his research team from the Corning Museum of Glass for their chemical analyses of glass beads, with special thanks to R.H. Brill for his note; Prof. J.M. Kenoyer from the University of Madison for analysing drilling techniques on some stone beads; Dr. F. Lorenz for the

taxonomic identification of the cowrie shells; the physi-cal anthropologists Dr. M. Webster, Dr. L. Ulhaas and M. Renders for their help and scientific support during the excavations; Dr. A. Höhn for the identification of some of the wood remains; R. Byer and G. Franke for their kind help as proof-readers and all students and excavation assistents from both Germany and Burkina Faso who spent their time digging at Kissi.

98

S. Magnavita

Cem

eter

y/G

rave

no.

Dep

th

(cm

)C

ondi

tion

of g

rave

Dat

ed m

ater

ial

Lab

. No.

Rad

ioca

rbon

ag

eC

alib

rate

d(2

-sig

ma)

Century

No. of glass beads

No. of cowries

No. of long-cylindricalcarnelian Beads

No. of copper-based objects

Total No. of beads

Total No. of artefacts (excl. beads)

Kis

si 1

4C /

2-5

0/-8

0co

mpl

ete,

und

istu

rbed

Leat

her s

tring

in ir

on

bead

sEr

l-331

518

29 ±

105

bp

60 B

C –

AD

430

Prior to mid-5th century

1-

1>3

>8

004

Kis

si 3

/ 14

-270

/-280

com

plet

e, u

ndis

turb

edW

ood

of d

agge

r she

ath

UtC

-567

113

93 ±

33

bpA

D 6

13–6

80

Prior to 8th century

2-

-10

22

028

Kis

si 3

/ 10

-250

/-270

com

plet

e, u

ndis

turb

edW

ood

of d

agge

r she

ath

UtC

-567

014

95 ±

45

bpA

D 4

45–6

5340

>69

>13

165

>62

Woo

llen

rope

KIA

-854

814

56 ±

38

bpA

D 5

38–6

59K

issi

3 /

11(N

ext t

o gr

ave

10)

-250

/-270

only

skul

l with

in ex

cava

tion

limits

--

--

3-

--

111

Kis

si 3

(leve

l gra

ve 1

0+11

)-2

40/-2

70(w

ithou

t gra

ve co

ntex

t, sie

ved

sedi

men

t)-

--

-10

--

-n.

c.n.

c.

Kis

si 3

/ 13

-270

/-280

dist

urbe

d1

-3

Kis

si 3

/ 15

-300

not

com

plet

e, u

ndis

turb

ed-

--

--

--

3-

3

dist

urbe

d

Kis

si 1

4 / 1

2-6

0le

athe

r on

iron

bead

sEr

l-521

917

15 ±

80

bpA

D 1

30–5

40

Prior to mid-9th century

>7-

->9

>14

>17

-110

Ass

ocia

ted

char

coal

UtC

-932

316

16 ±

36

bpA

D 3

40–3

70, 3

80–5

50

-90

Hai

r/pel

t on

iron

brac

elet

Erl-5

220

1363

± 6

9 bp

AD

540

–820

-100

woo

l stri

ng o

n iro

n br

acel

etU

tC-5

221

1431

± 6

0 bp

A

D 4

30–4

90, 5

20–6

90

Tota

l>6

3>6

10>3

9>1

210

>118

Tab.

1. N

umbe

r, co

ntex

t and

dat

ing

of so

me s

igni

fican

t gra

ve g

oods

from

Kiss

i (n.

c.= n

ot co

unte

d).

99


Tab. 2. (continued). Chemical analyses of glass beads from Kissi (Corning Museum of Glass). All values in wt.%.

Corning Lab. no.

100

S. Magnavita


Corning Lab. no.

101


Corning Lab. no.


102

S. Magnavita

Tab. 3. Soda-lime plant-ash sub-groups in Kissi, Type 1 to 3. Amounts of major oxides, in wt.% (after magnaVIta 2006: tab. 5)

BIBlIograPhy

Arazi, N. 1999. An archaeological survey in the Songhay heart-land of Mali. Nyame Akuma 52, 25–43.

Bovill, E.W. 1956. The camel and the Garamantes. Antiquity 30, 19–21.

Bovill, E.W. 1968. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press, London.

Breunig, P. & Neumann, K. 2004. Zwischen Wüste und Regen-wald. Besiedlungsgeschichte der westafrikanischen Savanne im Holozän. In: Albert, K.-D., Löhr, D. & Neumann, K. (eds.), Mensch und Natur in Westafrika. Ergebnisse aus dem Sonderforschungsbereich 268 “Kulturentwicklung und Sprachgeschichte im Naturraum Westafrikanische Savanne”, Wiley-VHC, Weinheim, pp. 93–138.

Brill, R.H. 1987. Chemical Analyses of some early Indian glasses. In: Archaeometry of Glass, Proceedings of the Archaeometry Session of the XIVth International Congress on Glass, 1986, New Delhi. Section 1. Indian Ceramic Society, New Delhi, pp. 1–25.

Brill, R.H. 1995. Chemical analysis of some glasses from Jenné-jeno. In: McIntosh, S.K. (ed.), Excavations at Jenné-jeno, Hambarketolo and Kaniana (Inland Niger Delta, Mali), the 1981 Season. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 252–256.

Brill, R.H. 1999. Chemical Analyses of Ancient Glasses. 2 Vols. The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning.

Bulliet, R.W. 1990. The Camel and the Wheel. Columbia Uni-versity Press, New York.

Camps, G. 1982. Le cheval et le char: dans la préhistoire Nord-Africaine et Saharienne. In: Camps, G. & Gast, M. (eds.), Les chars préhistoriques du Sahara. Archéologie et techniques d’attelage. Actes du Colloque de Sénanque. Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, pp. 9–22.

Childs, S.T. & Killick, D. 1993. Indigenous african metallurgy: na-ture and culture. Annual Review of Anthropology 22, 317–337.

Davison, C.C. 1972. Glass beads in African Archaeology. Re-sults of neutron activation analysis, supplemented by results of X-ray fluorescence analysis. Umpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley.

Desplagnes, L. (Lt.) 1951. Fouilles du tumulus d’El Oualedji (Soudan). Bulletin de l’Institut Francais d’Afrique Noire 13 (4), 1159–1173.

Fontes, P.-B. 1991. Sites archéologiques de la Région des Lacs au Mali: élements chronologiques. In: Raimbault, M. & Sanogo, K. (eds.), Recherches archéologiques au Mali. Prospections et inventaire, fouilles et études analytiques en zone lacustre. Editions Karthala, Paris, pp. 259–271.

Francis, P. Jr. 2002. Asia’s Maritime Bead Trade 300 BC to the Present. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.

Freestone, I.C. 2006. An indigenous technology? A commentary on Lankton et al. “Early primary glassmaking in southern Nigeria”. Journal of African Archaeology 4 (1), 139–141.

Garrard, T.F. 1982. Myth and metrology: the early trans-Saharan gold trade. Journal of African History 23, 443–461.

Gaussen, J. & Gaussen, M. 1988. Le Tilemsi préhistorique et ses abords: Sahara et Sahel malien. Cahiers du Quaternaire 11. Editions du CNRS, Bordeaux.

Hall, M.E. & Yablonsky, L. 1998. Chemical analyses of Sarmatian glass beads from Pokrovka, Russia. Journal of Archaeological Science 25 (12), 1239–1245.

Herbert, E. 1984. Red Gold of Africa. Copper in Precolonial Histo-ry and Culture. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison.

Hunwick, J. 1966. Religion and state in the Songhay Empire, 1464–1591. In: Lewis, I.M. (ed.), Islam in Tropical Africa. Oxford University Press, London, pp. 296–317.

Insoll, T. 1996. Islam, Archaeology and History: Gao Region (Mali) ca. AD 900–1250. Cambridge Monographs in Afri-can Archaeology 39, BAR International Series 647. Tempus Reparatum, Oxford.

Die Funde

83

Mischalkali-GlasIm Grunde gibt es drei Mischalkaligläser, von denen eine Gruppe aus nur zwei Bele-

gen (PR683 und PR712) besteht. Die dritte Perle (9009) hat keine Ähnlichkeit mit denbeiden anderen und wurde bereits als Aluminosilikat-Glas eingeordnet (s.o.). Diese Misch-alkaligläser stellen möglicherweise keine spezielle Glassorte dar, sondern haben durch Glas-verwitterung veränderte Anteile; Glasverwitterung kann zu einem Auswaschen der Alkali-oxide führen, dadurch steigt scheinbar der Siliziumwert an (R.H. Brill und P. Robertshawpers. Mitteilung).

Low-Alkali-GlasDiese Gruppe umfasst alle Perlen, die durch G. Brey analysiert worden sind (Brey Nr.

1-7). Ihre charakteristischsten Merkmale sind ein Gesamtalkaligehalt von unter 2 wt.% undein sehr hoher Siliziumgehalt über 80 wt.%. Der Magnesium-Gehalt ist auch recht hoch,zumal der Gesamtalkaligehalt so niedrig ist.

Alkali-Kalk-Glas

Natrium-Kalk MischalkaliTyp 1 (n=37) Typ 2 (n=9) Typ 3 (n=5) (n=2)Mean s.d. Mean s.d. Mean s.d.

SiO2* 67.9 2.49 69.00 3.02 68.90 1.31 72.96 - 76.11Na2O* 13.6 1.91 16.60 0.97 13.10 1.53 6.4 - 8.01K2O* 3.47 0.38 2.40 0.36 2.75 0.32 2.6 - 2.65MgO* 4.66 0.72 2.60 0.84 2.49 0.54 2.67 - 3.88CaO* 6.50 0.84 5.81 1.08 9.52 0.42 5.78 - 6.99Fe2O3* 0.76 0.21 1.45 1.18 0.93 0.17 0.74 - 1.77Al2O3* 3.06 0.73 2.05 0.35 2.32 0.53 2.82 - 6.6

SiO2* 56.77 - 57.74 52.86 - 54.71Na2O* 2.07 - 5.41 9.97 - 10.18K2O* 3.21 - 10.99 2.0MgO* 0.13 - 0.15 3.33 - 3.84CaO* 12.47 - 18.57 6.59 - 6.91Fe2O3* 0.54 - 0.63 0.62 - 0.66Al2O3* 14.41 - 16.92 3.33 - 3.99PbO* 19.16 - 19.77

Low-Alkali-Glas(n=7)

Aluminosilikat-Glas(n=2)

Silizium-Blei-Glas(n=2)

Tab. 5. Ermittelte Durchschnittszusammensetzungen des Basisglases der verschiedenen Glassortenund -typen. Natrium-Kalk-Glas wird in drei Typen unterteilt. Die Glassorten Aluminosilikatglas undSilizium-Bleiglas sind jeweils mit nur zwei Perlen vertreten; Durchschnittswerte mit Standardabwei-chung konnten daher nicht ermittelt werden. Es sind lediglich die Spannbreiten angegeben (alle Anga-ben in wt. %; *: die Anteile der Hauptoxide wurden 100 % gesetzt).

Mean s.d.84.10 2.580.61 0.120.62 0.354.12 0.816.82 1.281.56 1.852.20 0.85

Type 1 Type 2 Type 3

103


Insoll, T. & Shaw, T. 1997. Gao and Igbo-Ukwu: beads, inter-regional trade and beyond. African Archaeological Review 14 (1), 9–23.

Joire, J. 1955. Découvertes archéologiques dans la région de Rao (Bas-Sénégal). Bulletin de l’Institut Francais d’Afrique Noire 17, B (3–4), 249–333.

Kahlheber, S. 2004. Perlhirse und Baobab: archäobotanische Untersuchungen im Norden Burkina Fasos. Ph.D. Thesis, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt a. M.

Kiéthéga, J.-B., Sidibé, S. & Bedaux, R.M.A. 1993. Les pratiques funéraires. In: Devisse, J. (ed.), Vallées du Niger. Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 425–440.

Lagercrantz, S. 1937. Ringdolche, Armdolche und Schlagringe in Afrika. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 69, 389–443.

Lankton, J.W., Ige, O.A. & Rehren, Th. 2006. Early primary glassmaking in southern Nigeria. Journal of African Archaeol-ogy 4 (1), 111–138.

Law, R.C.C. 1967. The Garamantes and trans-Saharan enter-prise in classical times. Journal of African History 8 (2), 181–200.

Lhote, H. 1982. Les chars rupestres sahariens: des syrtes au Niger, par les pays des Garamantes et des Atlantes. Editions des Hespérides, Toulouse.

Linseele, V. 2007. Archaeofaunal Remains from the Past 4000 Years in Sahelian West Africa. Domestic Livestock, Subsist-ence Strategies and Environmental Changes. BAR Interna-tional Series 1658. Archaeopress, Oxford.

Liverani, M. 2000. Looking for the southern frontier of the Ga-ramantes. Sahara 12, 31–44.

Liverani, M. (ed.) 2005. Aghram Nadharif. The Barkat Oasis.(Sha’abiya of Ghat, Libyan Sahara) in Garamantian Times. AZA Monographs 5. All’Insegna del Giglio, Firenze.

MacDonald, K.C. & MacDonald, R.H. 2000. The origins and devel-opment of domesticated animals in arid West Africa. In: Blench, R. & MacDonald, K.C. (eds.), The Origins and Development of African Livestock: Archaeology, Genetics, Linguistics and Ethnography. UCL Press, London, pp. 127–162.

Magnavita, C. & Breunig, P. 2008. Facts and speculations: a reply to D. Lange’s “The emergence of social complexity in the southern Chad Basin towards 500 BC: archaeological and other evidence”. Borno Museum Society Newsletter 72/73 & 74/75, 71–83.

Magnavita, S. 2003. The beads of Kissi, Burkina Faso. Journal of African Archaeology 1 (1), 127–138.

Magnavita, S. 2006. 1500 Jahre am Mare de Kissi. Eine Fall-studie zur Besiedlungsgeschichte des Sahel von Burkina Faso. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Frankfurt, Frankurt a. M.

Magnavita, S. 2008. The oldest textiles from sub-Saharan West Africa: woolen facts from Kissi, Burkina Faso. Journal of African Archaeology 6 (2), 243–257.

Magnavita, S., Hallier, M., Pelzer, C., Kahlheber, S. & Linseele, V. 2002. Nobles, guerriers, paysans. Une nécropole de l’Age de Fer et son emplacement dans l’Oudalan préhistorique. Beiträge zur Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Archäologie 22, 21–64.

Mauny, R. 1961. Tableau géographique de l’Ouest Africain au Moyen Age d’après les sources écrites, la tradition et l’archéologie. IFAN, Dakar.

McIntosh, R.J. 2000. Clustered cities of the Middle Niger: alter-native routes to authority in prehistory. In: Anderson, D.M. & Rathbone, R. (eds.), Africa’s Urban Past. Heinemann, Potsmouth, pp. 19–35.

McIntosh, R.J. & McIntosh, S.K. 1988. From Siècles Obscures to revolutionary centuries on the Middle Niger. World Archaeol-ogy 20 (1), 141–165.

McIntosh, S.K. 1999. Pathways to complexity: an African perspective. In: McIntosh, S.K. (ed.), Beyond Chiefdoms: Pathways to Complexity in Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1–30.

McIntosh, S.K. & McIntosh, R.J. 1980. Prehistoric Investigations in the Region of Jenne, Mali. A Study in the Development of Urbanism in the Sahel. Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 2, BAR International Series 89. Oxford.

McIntosh, S.K. & McIntosh, R.J. 1984. The early city in West Africa: towards an understanding. The African Archaeologi-cal Review 2, 73–98.

McIntosh, S.K., McIntosh, R.J. & Bocoum, H. 1992. The Middle Senegal Valley Project: preliminary results from the 1990–91 field season. Nyame Akuma 38, 47–61.

Millogo, K.A. & Koté, L. 2001. Recherches archéologiques à Gandefabou. Proceedings of the international symposium 1999, Frankfurt am Main. Berichte des SFB 268 14, 353–365.

Oliver, R. & Fage, J.D. 1962. A Short History of Africa. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth.

Pelzer, C., Müller, J. & Albert, K.-D. 2004. Die Nomadisierung des Sahel. Siedlungsgeschichte, Klima und Vegetation in der Sahelzone von Burkina Faso in historischer Zeit. In: Albert, K.-D., Löhr, D. & Neumann, K. (eds.), Mensch und Natur in Westafrika. Ergebnisse aus dem Sonderforschungsbereich 268 “Kulturentwicklung und Sprachgeschichte im Natur-raum Westafrikanische Savanne”, Wiley-VHC, Weinheim, pp. 256–288.

Posnansky, M. 1973. Aspects of early West African trade. World

Archaeology 5, 149–162.

Rebuffat, R. 1987. Les fermiers du désert. L’ Africa Romana (Sassari) 5, 33–68.

Robertshaw, P., Glascock, M.D., Wood, M. & Popelka, R.S. 2003. Chemical analysis of ancient African glass beads: a very preliminary report. Journal of African Archaeology 1 (1), 139–146.

Rouch, J. 1953. Contribution à l’histoire des Songhay. Mémoires de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noir 29, 137–259.

104

S. Magnavita

Roy, B. 2000. The beads. In: Insoll, T. (ed.), Urbanism, Archae-ology and Trade. Further Observations on the Gao Region (Mali).The 1996 Fieldseason Results. BAR International Series 829. Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 98–126.

Shaw, T. 1970. Igbo-Ukwu. An Account of Archaeological Discov-eries in Eastern Nigeria, Vol. 1. Faber & Faber, London.

Stuiver, M. & Reimer, P.J. 1993. Extended 14C data base and revised CALIB 3.0 14C age calibration program. Radiocarbon 35 (1), 215–230.

Sutton, J.E.G. 1991. The international factor at Igbo-Ukwu. African Archaeological Review 9, 145–160.

Sutton, J.E.G. 2001. Igbo-Ukwu and the Nile. African Archaeo-logical Review 18 (1), 49–62.

Swanson, J.T. 1975. The Myth of trans-Saharan trade during the Roman era. The International Journal of African Historical Studies 8 (4), 582–600.

Togola, T. 1996. Iron Age occupation in the Méma Region, Mali. African Archaeological Review 13 (2), 91–110.

Van der Sleen, W.G.N. 1956. Trade-wind beads. Man 27.

Vernet, R. 1996. Le Sud-Ouest du Niger de la Préhistoire au Début de l’Histoire. IRSH/Sépia, Niamey/Paris.

Vogelsang, R. 2000. Archäologische Forschungen in der Sahel-Region Burkina Fasos - Ergebnisse der Grabungskampagnen 1994, 1995, 1996. Beiträge zur Allgemeinen und Ver-gleichenden Archäologie 20, 173–203.

von Czerniewicz, M. 2004. Studien zur Chronologie der Eisenzeit in der Sahel-Zone von Burkina Faso. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt a. M. [http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/volltexte/2004/373/].

Waurick, G. 1979. Die Schutzwaffen im numidischen Grab von Es Soumâa. In: Horn, H.G. & Rüger, C.B. (eds.), Die Nu-mider. Reiter und Könige nördlich der Sahara. Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, pp. 305–332.

Wheeler, S.M. 1955. Rome Beyond the Imperial Frontier. Pen-guin Books, Middlesex.

Sahelian crossroads: Some aspects on the Iron Age sites of Kissi, Burkina Faso

Documents

Transcript of Sahelian crossroads: Some aspects on the Iron Age sites of Kissi, Burkina Faso