Sociabilités Intellectuelles et Librairie Révolutionnaire

From the proclamation of the « liberties » in 1789 to the law on bookselling of 1810, the dynamics of the world of print continue to be an interesting and original field of study when one is seeking to gain a deeper understanding of intellectual activity, both from an institutional and epistemological point of view. Because traditional modes of scientific and literary production were challenged from 1789 onwards, the study of printing and publishing can shed light on the social, institutional and theoretical changes which characterized this moment of « transition ». This article, although not exhaustive, aims to put the printing press at the heart of a better understanding of the changes in social relations, social identities and intellectual output during the Revolution.     

4500-Year old domesticated pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) from the Tilemsi Valley,Mali: new insights into an alternative cereal domestication pathway

We report here new evidence from the Lower Tilemsi Valley in northeastern Mali, which constitutes the earliest archaeobotanical evidence for domesticated pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), predating other finds from Africa or India by several centuries. These materials provide further morphological details on the earliest cultivated pearl millet. Our results demonstrate that pearl millet non-shattering evolved earlier than the start of grain size increases and that once domesticated, pearl millet spread widely and rapidly. Additional attention is given to the dating of these materials, highlighting potential flaws in the use of organic chaff tempered pottery to date occurrences of pearl millet. A revised chronology, based on detailed Bayesian modelling, is presented for the Lower Tilemsi region.