Garumele Revisited: Retracing Vanished Fired-Brick Elite Constructions and New Data on Settlement Foundation

Some of the most notable and largely endangered archaeological remains from the Lake Chad area consist of the ruins of fired-brick elite constructions connected to the Kanem-Borno Empire (ca. eighth–nineteenth century AD). In the course of the last 200 years, several of the elite structures known west of the lake were destroyed as a consequence of war, later having their fired-bricks looted for constructions elsewhere. One of the largest and most thoroughly plundered of those structures once stood within the walled settlement of Garumele, SW Niger Republic. In the scope of an experimental field study at that location and with a view to future work at related sites, we demonstrate that it is still possible to retrace the ground plans of Kanem-Borno fired-brick structures, even if these have been already completely pillaged. In addition, we present new chronological evidence suggesting that Garumele—as a walled urban settlement—was founded sometime between the mid-fifteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries, but most probably between the late sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries AD.     

Imperial Expansion, Ethnic Change, and Ceramic Traditions in The Southern Chad Basin: A Terminal Nineteenth-Century Pottery Assemblage from Dikwa, Borno State, Nigeria

In the course of an archaeological project in the southern Chad Basin of Nigeria, excavations were conducted at several deeply stratified mound sites that date from the Late Neolithic to the Late Iron Age. As a way to complement the ceramic sequence obtained so far and to link it with today's pottery tradition, a small excavation was conducted at a site that dates to the turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century A.D. A pottery assemblage was discovered that shows obvious links to today's tradition but notable breaks with those of the nineteenth century and earlier. This break in decoration style and technique is interpreted as an archaeologically visible expression of changing ethnic identity. This ethnic change and the associated spread of the ceramic tradition can be linked with the expansion of the sphere of power of the Kanem-Borno Empire into the area south of Lake Chad after the sixteenth century A.D.     

Garu Kime: A Late Borno Fired-Brick Site at Monguno,NE Nigeria

Abstract  

This paper primarily presents analyses from geophysical data and archaeological remains collected at one of a few known sites to the west of Lake Chad associated with fired-brick structures. It reports on previous fieldwork at the location, considers its alleged relationship with the early history of the Borno kingdom and then turns to present new data that provide fresh insights into the physical appearance, dating, material remains, economy and environment of the site. A brief discussion of the historical purpose of the fired-brick structures and the site itself concludes the paper.     

Ancient Humped Cattle in Africa: A View from the Chad Basin

The origins of ancient and modern African cattle are still a matter of much debate among researchers. Part of the dispute involves the question of the appearance in Africa, from the second millennium BC onwards, of cattle carrying a distinguishing morphological feature present in most of the modern sub-Saharan breeds: The hump. This paper addresses the issue of the origins of the African humped cattle. After reviewing the current hypothesis on their origins, the status and significance of old and new archaeological and osteological evidence from the Chad Basin are presented and critically discussed. Mainly based on the cultural context of the archaeological figurative evidence available in the remaining continent, a case for the foreign ancestry of the ancient African humped cattle is made, and a perspective for future research in the topic is provided.     

Graham Connah: The So Pots of Central Africa: Memories of the Past

African Archaeological Review -