First Chrono-Cultural Reference Framework for the West African Paleolithic: New Data from Ounjougou, Dogon Country, Mali

Robert, Aline; Soriano, Sylvain; Rasse, Michel; Stokes, Stephen; Huysecom, Eric

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Title:	First Chrono-Cultural Reference Framework for the West African Paleolithic: New Data from Ounjougou, Dogon Country, Mali
Authors:	Robert, Aline Soriano, Sylvain Rasse, Michel Stokes, Stephen Huysecom, Eric
Year:	2003
Periodical:	Journal of African Archaeology
Volume:	1
Issue:	2
Pages:	151-169
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Mali
Subjects:	Stone Age Anthropology and Archaeology Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/43135319
Abstract:	Evidence of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic human settlements in sub-Saharan West Africa is relatively uncommon, poorly or not even dated, and comes from surface sites or secondary stratigraphic context. The discovery, within the international research programme 'Palaeoenvironment and human settlement in West Africa', of an impressive Pleistocene sedimentary sequence with numerous archaeological levels in the sector of Ounjougou (Dogon Country, Mali), is thus of great importance, insofar as it allows for the setting up of a first chrono-cultural reference framework for the West African Palaeolithic. Although the exact chronological position of a Lower Palaeolithic human settlement has yet to be specified, the recurrent Middle Palaeolithic occupation, between the end of marine isotope stage 5 and the beginning of stage 2, reveals an astonishing cultural diversity. This could indicate an important repopulating activity, following climatic and environmental changes during the Upper Pleistocene. Particularly, the appearance of the Levallois reduction technique in Sahelian West Africa, possibly prior to the emergence of the Saharan Aterian, leads to a reconsideration of the question of the geographic origin of this reduction concept and the timing of its introduction in sub-Saharan West Africa. More generally, the Palaeolithic sequence in the sector of Ounjougou shows the intrusion of more southern and/or eastern cultural influences. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract]