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sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Studien zur Chronologie der Eisenzeit in der Sahel-Zone von Burkina Faso, Westafrika

Auteur : Czerniewicz, Maya von

Université de soutenance : Frankfurt (Main), Universität

Grade : Doktorgrade 2002

Résumé
The analysis of the excavation material of the sites Oursi, Oursi Village and Saouga has allowed the ceramic finds to be organised into discrete time phases. Three such phases can be distinguished on the basis of the development of vessel forms, production processes and ceramic ornaments. The early Iron Age - from the birth of Christ until the middle of the first millennium AD - is distinguished by channelling of the vesselrim and incised decorations on the body of the vessel in combination with other elements of ornaments, and by the introduction of the vessel form "pot" which has been unknown in the Late Stone Age. The middle Iron Age is initiated by a new decoration style : the stab mark, polished after being pressed in the vessels’ surface. The late Iron Age starts around 1000 AD. It can be established up to the 14th century on the settlement mounds of the Oudalan. The former spectrum of ceramics is extended by the introduction of the ornament item "strip roulette" as well as the vessel forms "bottle with pot lid", "straining vessel" and "tripod". During excavations in the Oudalan, the northern most province of the country, settlement mounds were discovered, which showed on the surface the typical ceramic elements of the Iron Age. They can therefore be chronologically classified. The pattern of the settlements in the Iron Age shows a preference for fertile soil, such as the soil found on the dune courses and on the foot of the mountain islands, as well as a preference for nearby water for the choice of the location of settlements. The accumulation of waste from the settlements, where people settled for a long time on the same place, let to the formation of settlement mounds. The economic live in the Iron Age consisted of the cultivation of millet and animal farming (sheep, goat and cattle). The diet was enriched by the collection of wild berries and seeds, hunting and fishing. The continuity of settlements in the Oudalan over 14 centuries during the Iron Age shows parallels in a supraregional context. Comparisons of the settlement forms and the ceramic ornaments of northern Burkina Faso with other regions show the relationships between the groups of savannah people of West Africa, in particular with those of the Niger bend in southern Mali. The manifold parallels between the finds of the Oudalan and southern Mali give the impression of an epoch of stability in the Iron Age, during which settlements developed and expanded over a long time. The exchange of goods with the more rural areas, such as the Oudalan, was as much intensive as the exchange with the settlements along the trading routes. The Iron Age in the savannah of West Africa manifests itself through the occurrence of settlement mounds and the usage of varying types of rouletting as ceramic ornaments, which may be viewed as a key form. The Iron Age in the Oudalan probably did not end until the political changes took place in wide areas of West Africa around the 14th century.

Mots clés : Oudalan ; Eisenzeit ; Keramik ; Funde ; Chronologie

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