On the Origins and Dissemination of Domesticated Sorghum and Pearl Millet across Africa and into India: a View from the Butana Group of the Far Eastern Sahel

Four decades have passed since Harlan and Stemler (1976) proposed the eastern Sahelian zone as the most likely center of Sorghum bicolor domestication. Recently, new data on seed impressions on Butana Group pottery, from the fourth millennium BC in the southern Atbai region of the far eastern Sahelian Belt in Africa, show evidence for cultivation activities of sorghum displaying some domestication traits. Pennisetum glaucum may have been undergoing domestication shortly thereafter in the western Sahel, as finds of fully domesticated pearl millet are present in southeastern Mali by the second half of the third millennium BC, and present in eastern Sudan by the early second millennium BC. The dispersal of the latter to India took less than 1000 years according to present data. Here, we review the middle Holocene Sudanese archaeological data for the first time, to situate the origins and spread of these two native summer rainfall cereals in what is proposed to be their eastern Sahelian Sudan gateway to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean trade.     

Reassessing the diet of Upper Palaeolithic humans from Gough's Cave and Sun Hole,Cheddar Gorge,Somerset, UK

Richards et al. (2000) reconstructed the diet of the human remains found in Gough's and Sun Hole Cave through isotope analysis. They concluded that these people consumed an entirely terrestrial-based diet. Their reconstruction was based upon comparison of the results from human bones with those from a very small number of associated animals. The diets of the Gough's and Sun Hole Cave human were different from the other six Upper Palaeolithic humans from the British Isles for which dietary information has been obtained through isotope analysis. The work of Richards et al. (2000) suggests that they were the only ones for whom marine or freshwater resources did not play a significant role in their diets. We test this through further analyses of faunal remains from Gough's Cave, Sun Hole and other contemporary sites (Kent's Cavern, Aveline's Hole, Kendrick's Cave). Despite the limited faunal sample, the original palaeodietary reconstruction is broadly consistent with our findings. The isotope values of the main protein sources consumed by the humans from both sites are consistent with those of red deer and bovines, and, for a single individual, with that of horse and red deer. Reindeer was postulated in the original reconstruction as a potential food source, but this seems very unlikely based on our isotope reconstruction and the archaeological remains.     

Reviews

Ireland and Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age, HOWARD B. CLARKE, M#AAAIRE NI MHAONAIGH & RAGHNALL #AAO FL#AAOINN (eds), 1998, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.468, ISBN 1.85182.235.6, £25.00 (hb)

The Making of Ireland, From Ancient Times to the Present, JAMES LYDON, 1998, London and New York, Routledge, pp.425, ISBN 0.415.01348.8, £14.99 (pb)

Pathways to Ulster's Past: Sources and Resources for Local Studies, PETER COLLINS, 1998, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University, pp.xi + 158, ISBN 0.85389.693.3, £6–50 (pb)

If The Irish Ran The World: Montserrat, 1630–1730, DONAL HARMAN AKENSON, 1997, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, pp.273, ISBN 0.85323.952.5, £29.95 (hb); ISBN 0.5232.962.2, £14.95 (pb)

Propagating the Word of Irish Dissent 1650–1800, K. HERLIHY (ed.), 1998, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.137, ISBN 1.85182.411.1, £30.00 (hb); ISBN 1.85182.412.X, £11.99 (pb)

Ireland Since 1690: A Concise History, ROY DOUGLAS, LIAM HARTE & JIM O'HARA, 1999, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, pp. 247, ISBN 0–85640–645–7, £8.99 (pb)

Ireland: Towards New Identities?, KARL‐HEINZ WESTARP & MICHAEL BOSS (eds), 1998, Denmark, Aarhus University Press [Dolphin Series: 29, General Editor Tim Caudery], pp. 180, ISBN 87.7288.380.4, £14.95 (pb)

The Bellews of Mount Bellew: A Catholic Gentry Family in Eighteenth‐Century Ireland, KAREN J. HARVEY, 1998, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.218, ISBN 1.85182.351.4, £30.00 (hb)

Henry Flood: Patriots and Politics in Eighteenth‐Century Ireland, JAMES KELLY, 1998, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.486, ISBN 1.85182.365.4, £39.50 (hb)

Counties of South Ulster 1834–8: Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Volume 40, ANG#AAELIQUE DAY & PATRICK MCWILLIAMS (eds), 1998, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast, pp. 200, ISBN 0.85389.661.5, £8.75 (pb)

Famine Diary, BRENDAN #AAO CATHAOIR, 1999, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, pp. xix + 201, ISBN 0.7165.2655.7, £18.95 (hb)

Famine, Land and Politics: British Government and Irish Society 1843–50 PETER GRAY, 1999 Dublin, Irish Academic Press pp. ix +384, ISBN 0.7165.2564.X, £39.50, US$57.50 (hb)

The Great Shame: A Story of the Irish in the Old World and the New, THOMAS KENEALLY, 1998, London, Chatto and Windus, pp.xvii +732, ISBN 0.091.83736.7, £25.00 (hb)

Some Ethical Questions of Peace and War, WALTER MCDONALD, 1919; TOM GARVIN (ed.), 1998, Dublin, University College Dublin Press, pp. 140, ISBN 1.900621.18.5, £9.95 (pb)

The Victory of Sinn Fein, P. S. O'HEGARTY, 1924; TOM GARVTN (ed.), 1998, Dublin, University College Dublin Press, pp. 164, ISBN 1.900621.17.7, £10.95 (pb)

Dividing Ireland: World War I And Partition, THOMAS HENNESSEY, 1998, London, Routledge, pp.280, ISBN 0.415.19880.1, £16.99 (pb)

Location and Dislocation in Contemporary Irish Society: Emigration and Irish Identities, JIM MACLAUGHLIN (ed.), 1997, Cork, Cork University Press, pp.354, ISBN. 1.85918.054X, £45.00 (hb); ISBN.1.85918.055.8, £15.95 (pb)

John Hume and the SDLP: Impact and Survival in Northern Ireland, GERARD MURRAY, 1998, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, pp.328, ISBN 0.7165.2644.1, IR£27.57 (hb)

Battling for Peace, RICHARD NEEDHAM, 1999, Belfast, Blackstaff Press, pp. 344, ISBN 0.85640.654.6, £12.99 (pb)

Talking to the Dead: A Study of Irish Funerary Traditions, NINA WITOSZEK & PAT SHEERAN, 1998, Amsterdam, Rodopi, Costerus New Series 117, pp. 182, ISBN 9.789042.00531.0, £19.50 (pb)

Robert Shipboy Mac Adam: his life and Gaelic proverb collection, A. J. HUGHES, 1998, Belfast, Institute of Irish Studies, pp. 240, ISBN 0.85399.698.4, £9.95 (pb)

Irish Popular Culture, 1650–1850, JAMES S. DONNELLY, JR. & KERBY A. MILLER (eds), 1998, Dublin, Irish Academic Press, pp.284, ISBN 0.7165.2551.8, £32.50 (hb)

The Present Lasts a Long Time: Essays in Cultural Politics, FRANCIS MULHERN, 1998, Cork, Cork University Press, pp.203, ISBN 1.85918.225.9, £14.95 (pb)

Media Audiences in Ireland: Power and Cultural Identity, MARY J. KELLY & BARBARA O'CONNOR (eds), 1997, Dublin, University College Dublin, pp.288, ISBN 1.900621.09.6, £13.50 (pb)

Ireland and Cultural Theory: The Mechanics of Authenticity, COLIN GRAHAM & RICHARD KIRKLAND (eds), 1999 Basingstoke, Macmillan, pp. 249, ISBN 0–333–67597–5, £16.99 (pb)

The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual, ALEXEI KONDRATIEV, 1998, Cork, Collins Press, pp.263, ISBN 1.898256.42.X, £12.99 (pb)

Conversing with Angels and Ancients: Literary Myths of Medieval Ireland, JOSEPH FALAKY NAGY, 1997, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp.356, ISBN 1.85182303.4, £35.00 (hb)

Margaret Aylward 1810–1889: Lady of Charity, Sister of Faith, JACINTA PRUNTY, 1999, Dublin, Four Courts Press, pp. 192, ISBN 1.85182.438.3, £14.95 (pb)

Poets and Politics: Reaction and Continuity in Irish Poetry, 1558–1625, MARC CABALL, 1998, Cork, Field Day Monographs/Cork University Press, Series Editor, Seamus Deane, pp.232, ISBN 1.85918.162.7, £16.95 (pb)

The Anglo‐Irish Novel and the Big House, VERA KREILKAMP, 1998, Syracuse, NY, Syracuse University Press, pp.289, ISBN 0.8156.2752.1, US$44.95 (hb)

Irish Encounters: Poetry, Politics and Prose since 1S80, ALAN MARSHALL & NEIL SAMMELLS (eds), 1998, Bath, Sulis Press, pp. 199, ISBN 0.9526856.3.9, £35.00 (hb); ISBN 0.9526856.4.7, £13.95 (pb)

Red‐Headed Rebel: Susan L. Mitchell, Poet and Mystic of the Irish Cultural Renaissance, HILARY PYLE, 1998, Dublin, Woodfield Press, pp.248, ISBN 0.9528453.7.7, £12.50 (pb)

The Harlem and Irish Renaissances: Language, Identity and Representation, TRACY MISHKIN, 1998, Gainsville, FL, University Press of Florida, pp. 127, ISBN 0.8130.1611.8, US$49.95 (hp)

Advertising and Commodity Culture in Joyce, GARRY LEONARD, 1998, Gainesville, FL, University Press of Florida, pp.252, ISBN 0–8130–1632–0, US849.95 (hb)

Joyce, Joyceans and the Rhetoric of Citation, ELOISE KNOWLTON, 1998, Gainesville, FL, University Press of Florida, pp.x+ 135, ISBN 0.8130.1610‐X, £39.95 (hb)

Theatre of Shadows: Samuel Beckett's Drama, 1956–1976, ROSEMARY POUNTNEY, 1998, Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe, pp.309, ISBN 0.86140.407.6, £12.95 (pb)

The Unappeasable Host: Studies in Irish Identities, ROBERT TRACY, 1998, Dublin, University College Dublin Press, pp.288, ISBN 1.900621.06.1, £30.00 (hb); ISBN 1.900621.07.X, £15.95 (pb)

Mistaken Identities: Poetry and Northern Ireland, PETER MCDONALD, 1997, Oxford, Clarendon Press, pp. ix + 226, ISBN 0.19.818422.0, £35.00 (hb)

Folklore and the Fantastic in Twelve Modern Irish Novels, MARGUERITE QUINTELLI‐NEARY, 1997, Westport, CT and London, Greenwood Press, pp. 166, ISBN 0.313.30490.4, £39.50 (hb)

Contemporary Irish Literature: Transforming Tradition, CHRISTINA HUNT MAHONY, 1998, New York, St Martin's Press, pp.299, ISBN 0.312.15871.8, US$55.00 (hb); ISBN 0.312.21901.6, US$18.95 (pb)

Selected Plays of Micheál mac Liammóir, JOHN BARRETT (ed.), 1998, Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe; Washington, DC, Catholic University of America Press, pp.319, ISBN 0.86140.154.9, £30.00 (hb); ISBN 0.86140.155.7, £9.95 (pb)

Selected Plays: T. C. Murray, RICHARD ALLEN CAVE, 1998, Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe, pp. 274, ISBN 0.86140.142.5, £30.00 (hb)

Selected Plays: M. J. Molloy, ROBERT O'DRISCOLL, 1998, Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe, pp.394, ISBN 0.86140.148.4, £35.00 (hb);, ISBN 0.86140.149.2, £9.93 (pb)

Sacrilege, BRENDAN CLEARY, 1998, Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne, Bloodaxe Books, pp. 96, ISBN 1.85224.460.7, £7.95 (pb), Snakeskin Stilettos, MOYRA DONALDSON, 1998, Belfast, Lagan Press, pp. 78, ISBN 1.8736.8725.7, £5.95 (pb.)

The Things that Were, AUBREY DILLON‐MALONE, 1998, Dublin, Ashfield Press, pp. 256, ISBN 1.901658.090.0, £7.99 (pb)

Getting Used to Not Being Remarkable, MICHAEL FOLEY, 1998, Belfast, The Black Staff Press, pp. 306, ISBN 0.85640.626.0, £8.99 (pb)

Re/Dressing Cathleen: Contemporary Works from Irish Women Artists, JENNIFER GRINNELL & ALSTON CONLEY (eds), 1997, Boston, McMuIlen Museum of Art, Boston College and Cork, Cork University Press, pp. 144, ISBN 0.9640153.8.2, £14.95 (pb)

Contemporary Irish Cinema Cineaste Supplement, vol. xxiv, nos. 2–3, March 1999, New York, pp. 23–76, ISSN 25274.79078, US$6.00