¹ The two preceding articles were by Sutton, J. E. G., ‘Archaeology in West Africa: a review of recent work and a further list of radiocarbon dates’, J. Afr. Hist., xxiii (1982), 291–313CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and by Calvocoressi, D. and David, N., ‘A new survey of radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates for West Africa’, J. Afr. Hist., xx (1979), 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

² De Maret, P., ‘Recent archaeological research and dates from Central Africa’, J. Afr. Hist., xxvi (1985), 129–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³ We discuss the important issue of archaeological nomenclature, with reference to the Burg Wartenstein recommendations, in McIntosh, S. K. and McIntosh, R. J., ‘Current Directions in West African Prehistory’, Ann. Rev. Anth., xii (1983), 218–219.Google Scholar

⁴ Based on a half-life of 5570 years.

⁵ The calibration tables published by Klein, J., Lerman, J. C., Damon, P. E. and Ralph, E. K. in Radiocarbon, xxiv (1982), 103–150CrossRefGoogle Scholar, represent an effort at consensus among the many and divergent bristlecone pine calibrations.

⁶ Stuiver, M., ‘A high-precision calibration of the A.D. radiocarbon scale’, Radiocarbon, xxiv (1982), 1–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Pearson, G. W. and Baillie, M. G. L., ‘High precision ¹⁴C measurements of Irish oaks to show the natural ¹⁴C variations of the AD time period’, Radiocarbon, xxv (1983), 187–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁷ A major source for anyone interested in any aspect of high-precision work is Ottaway, B. S. (ed.), Archaeology, Dendrochronology and the Radiocarbon Calibration Curve, University of Edinburgh, Department of Archaeology Occasional Paper No.9 (1983).Google Scholar

⁸ Accuracy and precision have different statistical connotations: accuracy denotes the nearness of a single measurement to the exact or true value; precision of a radiocarbon date refers to the dispersion of the measurement resulting from the random nature of radioactive decay. It is possible to measure an inaccurate value very precisely.

⁹ Pearson, G. W., Pilcher, J. R., Baillie, M. G. L., and Hillam, J., ‘Absolute radiocarbon dating using a low altitude European tree-ring calibration’, Nature, CCLXX (November, 1977), 25–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁰ Baillie, M. G. L. and Pilcher, J. R., ‘Some observations on the high-precision calibration of routine dates’, in Ottaway, Archaeology, 54Google Scholar. The Belfast lab has also published a calibration curve for the period 200–4000 B.C.

¹¹ Pilcher, J. R., ‘Radiocarbon calibration and dendrochronology - an introduction’, in Ottaway, Archaeology, 5–6.Google Scholar

¹² Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 29.Google Scholar

¹³ Ideally, the error used in calibration should take into account both the sample error (σ sample) plus the uncertainty in the calibration curve (sigma calib.), normally ± 17 years. The formula used is √(σ² sample + σ² calib). For a typical radiocarbon determination with a sample error of ±50 years or more, the increase in error due to the uncertainty of the calibration curve is negligible.

¹⁴ Baillie, and Pilcher, , ‘Some observations’, 60.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Ibid., 58–9.

¹⁶ See the Belfast calibration curve for 200–4000 B.C.: Pearson, G. W., Pilcher, J. R., Baillie, M. G. L., ‘High precision ¹⁴C measurement of Irish oaks to show the natural ¹⁴C variations from 200 B.C. to 4000 B.C.’, Radiocarbon, xxv (1983), 179–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁷ Sutton, ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 293.

¹⁸ Findings summarized in Talbot, M., ‘Environmental responses to climatic change in the West African Sahel over the past 20,000 years’, in Williams, M. A. J. and Faure, H. (eds.), The Sahara and the Nile (Rotterdam, 1980), 37–62Google Scholar; and McIntosh, and McIntosh, , ‘Current directions’, 219–225.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Full listing of these dates can be found in Petit-Maire, N. and Risier, J., Sahara ou Sahel? Quaternaire récent du Bassin de Taoudenni (Marseille, 1983)Google Scholar; Delibrias, G., Petit-Maire, N., and Fabre, J., ‘Age des dépots lacustres récents de la région de Taoudenni-Trhaza’, C. R. Acad. Sc. Paris, ccxcix, ser. II, no. 19 (1984), 1343–1346.Google Scholar

²⁰ Hugot, G., ‘Les lacs quaternaires du Sahara méridional: l'exemple de Tichitt (Mauritanie)’, in Roubet, C., Hugot, H.-J. and Souville, G. (eds.), Préhistoire Africaine: Mélanges offerts au doyen Lionel Balout (Paris, 1981), 263–273Google Scholar; and Diop, C. A. ‘Datations par la méthode du radiocarbone, série iv’, Bull.I.F.A.N., xxxix (3), sér. B, 465–466.Google Scholar

²¹ Paris, F. and Durand, A., ‘Paléoenvironnements et préhistoire: prospection de la vallée de l'Azawagh’, in Le Programme Azawagh: rapport de mission 1984, privately circulated, 1985.Google Scholar

²² See especially Smith, A., ‘The Neolithic tradition in the Sahara’, in Williams, and Faure, , The Sahara and the Nile, 452–453Google Scholar, and Sutton, J. E. G., ‘The aquatic civilization of Middle Africa’, J. Afr. Hist., xv (1974), 527–546CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sutton, J. E. G., ‘The African aqualithic’, Antiquity, LI (1977). 25–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²³ Petit-Maire, N. (ed.), Le Sahara Atlantique au Holocène. Peuplement et Ecologie, Mem. C.R.A.P.E. 28 (Algiers, 1979)Google Scholar; also reported in Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 23–24.Google Scholar

²⁴ All currently available dates for Tichitt sites are reported in Amblard, S., Tichitt-Walata: civilisation et Industrie lithique (Paris, 1984), 36–37.Google Scholar

²⁵ Dates for human occupation are reported in Petit-Maire and Risier, Sahara ou Sahel?; Petit-Maire, N., Celles, J. C., Commelin, D., Delibrias, G. and Raimbault, M., ‘The Sahara in northern Mali: man and his environment between 10,000 and 3,500 years bp’, Afr. Arch. Rev., 1 (1983) 105–125CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Delibrias, G. et al. , ‘Age des dépots’.Google Scholar

²⁶ We are grateful to Nicole Petit-Maire for discussing with us in June, 1985, the results of her most recent research near Taoudenni.

²⁷ Sutton, , ‘African Aqualithic’, 26.Google Scholar

²⁸ Petit-Maire, et al. , ‘The Sahara in northern Mali’; this point is discussed in McIntosh and McIntosh, ‘Current Directions’, 231–232.Google Scholar

²⁹ Ibid., 230–1.

³⁰ Roset, J. P., ‘Nouvelles données sur le problème de la néolithisation du Sahara méridional: Air et Ténéré, au Niger’, Cah. O.R.S.T.O.M., ser. Géol. xiii, no. 2 (1983), 119–142Google Scholar; Roset, J. P., ‘Les plus vieilles céramiques du Sahara’, Archéologia, CLXXXIII (October, 1983), 43–50.Google Scholar

³¹ Summarized in McIntosh and McIntosh, ‘Current Directions’, 230.

³² Roset, , ‘Les plus vielles céramiques’, 47.Google Scholar

³³ Roset, , ‘Nouvelles données’, 138Google Scholar; ‘Les plus vieilles céramiques’, 50.

³⁴ Calvocoressi, and Clark, David Summarized and Smith's, results in ‘A new survey’, 4–5.Google Scholar

³⁵ Clark, J. D., ‘Epipalaeolithic aggregates from Greboun Wadi, Air and Adrar Bous, northwestern Ténéré, Republic of Niger’, in Abébé, B. and Chavaillon, J. (eds.), Proceedings, 7th Panafr. Congr. Prehist. Quat. Studs. (Addis Ababa, 1976), 67–78.Google Scholar

³⁶ Smith, A., ‘A microlithic industry from Adrar Bous, Ténéré Desert, Niger’, in Abebe, and Chavaillon, , Proceedings, 181–196.Google Scholar

³⁷ A date of 6615 ± 100 be was run on a sample from the base of the diatomites at Temet. These diatomites developed in deep or flowing clear, cool, water: Roset, ‘Nouvelles données’, 134.

³⁸ Bernus, S. and Bernus, E., Le Programme Azawagh: rapport de mission 1984, privately circulated, 1985Google Scholar. We thank Suzanne Bernus for sending us a copy of this report.

³⁹ Petit-Maire, et al. , ‘The Sahara in northern Mali’, 115–117.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Petit-Maire, N., ‘Cadre écologique et peuplement humain: le littoral ouest-saharien depuis 10,000 ans’, L'Anthropologie, LXXXIII (1979), 69–82.Google Scholar

⁴¹ These dates (Gif-2498, 2499, Ly-444, 445) complete the series reported by Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 23–24.Google Scholar A fifth date, Gif-2524, represents a correction to that report: Petit-Maire, Le Sahara Atlantique, 149.

⁴² Lambert, N., ‘Nouvelle contribution à l'étude du Chalcolithique de Mauritanie’, in Echard, N. (ed.), Métallurgies Africaines. Nouvelles Contributions, Mem. Soc. des Africanistes, ix (1983), 68.Google Scholar

⁴³ We are extremely grateful to Robert Vernet for sending us his encyclopaedic thesis, ‘La Préhistoire de la Mauritanie: état de la question’ (Univ. Paris I, 1983), which contains a summary description of his unpublished excavations at Khatt Lemaiteg.

⁴⁴ Hugot, G., ‘Les lacs’, 269–271Google Scholar, reports that Gif-2884 dates hearths with bones of hippopotamus, crocodile, silurid fish, and panther, associated with the remains of pottery and stone-working workshops on the baten.

⁴⁶ Munson, P. J., ‘Archaeological data on the origins of cultivation in the southwestern Sahara and their implications for Africa’, in Harlan, J. R., deWet, J. M. J., and Stemler, A. B. L. (eds.), The Origins of African Plant Domestication (The Hague, 1976), 187–209.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Amblard, , Tichitt-Walata, 35–36Google Scholar; Vernet, , La Préhistoire, 668–670Google Scholar; Holl, A., ‘Essai sur l'économie néolithique du Dhar Tichitt (Mauritanie)’, (unpub. thesis, Univ. Paris I, 1983), 186–198.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Stahl, A. B., ‘Reinvestigation of Kintampo 6 rock shelter, Ghana: implications for the nature of cultural change’, Afr. Arch. Rev., iii (1985), 117–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar We are indebted to Ann Stahl for sending us this manuscript in advance of publication.

⁴⁸ Flight, C., ‘The Kintampo culture and its place in the economic prehistory of West Africa’, in Harlan, , de Wet, and Stemler, , Origins, 211–221.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ New date UCR-1693 agrees well with Birm-29 for Punpun levels at K6, and I-2699 on Punpun deposits at KI. These dates overlap Kintampo culture dates from K6 (UCR-1690–1692), KI (I-2698), Mumute (N-1984) and Ntereso (SR-52, SR-81) when two standard errors are considered. See Willett, F., ‘A survey of recent results in the radiocarbon chronology of western and northern Africa’, J. Afr. Hist., XII (1971), 352Google Scholar; and Posnansky, M. and McIntosh, R., ‘New radiocarbon dates for northern and western Africa’, J. Afr. Hist., XVII (1976), 189 for these dates. A fifth new date (UCR-1694) is associated with a LSA quartz industry and rare pottery in the lowest level at K6.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Stahl, , ‘Reinvestigation’, 143.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Talbot, M. R., Livingstone, D. A., Palmer, P. G., Maley, J., Melack, J. M., Delibrias, G., Gullicksen, S., ‘Preliminary results from sediment cores from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana’, Palaeoecology of Africa and the Surrounding Islands, xvi (1984), 173–192Google Scholar, reports 25 new ¹⁴C dates on sediment cores.

⁵² S-2370, 2371, 2373, 2376, 4-CX, 6-CX, SFU-390: see Appendix. We are grateful to Frank Kense for providing dates and extensive comments in advance of publication.

⁵³ F. Kense, pers. comm.

⁵⁴ F. Kense, pers. comm.

⁵⁵ Relevant dates reported here are SFU-389, 273, 274, and Alpha 562 (a TL date). These dates support the previous results from related areas and levels (S-1855, 1858, GX-6133, 6134, SFU-12, 13) reported by Sutton, ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 298.

⁵⁶ Meulengracht, A., McGovern, P., and Lawn, B., ‘University of Pennsylvania radio-carbon dates XXI’, Radiocarbon, xxiii (1981), 233.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ P-2746 agrees well with P-2745 (Sutton, ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 312) and Gif-4241 and N-2982 (Calvocoressi and David, ‘A new survey’, 22) from the same site.

⁵⁸ Nygaard, S. E. and Talbot, M. R., ‘Stone Age archaeology and environment on the southern Accra Plains, Ghana’, Norw. Arch. Rev., xvii (1984), 19–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁵⁹ Chenorkian, R., ‘Note sur l'industrie lithique de l'amas coquiller de N'Gaty (Basse Côte d'lvoire)’, Travaux du Lab. d'Anthrop. et de Préhist. des pays de la Médit. Occident. (Aix-en-Provence, 1981). No details on the context or provenance of the dated samples have been provided by the collector, R. Pomel.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Summarized in Chenorkian, R., ‘Ivory Coast prehistory: some recent developments’, Afr. Arch. Rev., 1 (1983), 127–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar This includes a number of unpublished ¹⁴C dates which are not reported here in view of the lack of even the most meagre detail on the dated samples.

⁶¹ Delibrias, G., Guillier, M., and Labeyrie, J., ‘Gif. natural radiocarbon measurements IX’, Radiocarbon, xxiv (1982), 306.Google Scholar

⁶² Flight, C., ‘A survey of recent results in the radiocarbon chronology of northern and western Africa’,. J. Afr. Hist., xiv (1973), 547.Google Scholar

⁶³ Polet, J., pers. comm. dated 8/6/82. The Nyamwan dates (Dak-202, Ny-408) were previously reported by Sutton, ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 299.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Chenorkian, R., Delibrias, G., Paradis, G., ‘Une Industrie microlithique datée de 13050 bp environ découverte en Côte-d'Ivoire dans la terre-de-barre’, Trav. du L.A.P.M.O. (Aix en-Provence, 1982).Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Grébenart, D., ‘Les métallurgies du cuivre et du fer autour d'Agadez (Niger), des origines au début de la periode médiévale’, in Echard, , Métallurgies, 109–125Google Scholar; Grébenart, D., Le Néolithique final et l'age des métaux autour d' Agadez, Niger, vol. XLIX of Etudes Nigeriennes, in press.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Sutton's, report (‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 313)Google Scholar of five of the Copper I dates for Afunfun, site 175, was in error. Dates GIF-5173–5177 in the Appendix correct the earlier report.

⁶⁷ Grébenart, , ‘Les metallurgies’, 120.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ A fifteenth-century be date for Chin Tafidet agrees with GIF-4I73 (Calvocoressi and David, ‘A new survey’, 25) from Oroub, which has similar pottery and lithics: Grébenart, D., ‘Recherches de préhistoire au Niger – compte rendu de missions’, in Recherches Sahariennes (Paris, 1979), 213.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ The long duration of this mode of burial is demonstrated by a thirteenth century ad date (Gif-4237) on another quadrangular funerary monument at Shi Mumenin: Grébenart, , ‘Recherches’, 222–224.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 9Google Scholar; Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 296–297.Google Scholar

⁷¹ Tylecote, R. F., ‘Early copper slags and copper base metal from the Agadez region of Niger’, J. Hist. Met. Soc., xvi (1982).Google Scholar

⁷² Grébenart, , ‘Les métallurgies’, 177.Google Scholar For precisely this reason, Bernus objects to considering this phenomenon as part of a ‘Copper Age’: Bernus, S., ‘Découvertes, hypothèses, reconstitution et preuves: le cuivre médiéval d'Azelik-Takedda (Niger)’, in Echard, Métallurgies, 168–169.Google Scholar

⁷³ Grébenart, D., ‘Vues générales sur les débuts de la métallurgie du cuivre et du fer autour d'Agades’, presented at the 10th Congr. Int. Union Pre- and Protohist. Sci. (Mexico, 1981).Google Scholar

⁷⁴ These dates are presented graphically only in Grébenart, D., ‘Les métallurgies’, 120.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ Grébenart estimates that the combined annual production from all sites in the region did not exceed a few kilograms: ibid., 117.

⁷⁶ Roset, J. P., ‘Iwelen, un site archéologique de I'époque des chars dans l'Air septentrional, au Niger’, presented at UNESCO colloquium on Libya Antiqua (Paris, 16–18 Jan., 1984). Adjacent to the habitation sites are rock engravings of chariots, animals and people portrayed in a ‘tulip-headed’ style.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Reported by Paris, F. in Le Programme Azawagh: rapport de mission 1984.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ Diop, C. A., ‘Datations par la méthode du radiocarbone’, Bull. I.F.A.N., xxxix, sér. B (1977), 466.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Three dates reported by Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 25Google Scholar, were also run on the guano that forms the top 1.5 m of the deposits at this site: Lambert, N., ‘Mines et métallurgie antique dans la région d'Akjoujt’, Annales Inst. Maur. Rech. Sci., I (1975), 6–25.Google Scholar

⁸⁰ Lambert, N., ‘Nouvelle contribution à l'étude du Chalcolithique de Mauritanie’, in Echard, , Métallurgies, 72.Google Scholar

⁸¹ Vernet's, Robert unpublished work at Dhraina is reported in Vernet, La Préhistoire, 550.Google Scholar

⁸² Lambert, , ‘Nouvelle contribution’, 70.Google Scholar

⁸³ Ibid., 73.

⁸⁴ Vernet suggests in his thesis (p. 546) that what we are really seeing is a local facies of the Neolithic that was rapidly changed by local invention or outside influence.

⁸⁵ The role of copper smelting in the development of the sophisticated pyrotechnology necessary for the reduction of iron ores is discussed in Wertime, T. and Muhly, J. D., (eds.), The Coming of the Age of Iron (New Haven, 1980).Google Scholar

⁸⁶ Grébenart, , for example, mentions the lack of cultural affinity between Copper II sites and the earliest iron-using sites, despite the fact that they overlap in time: ‘Les metallurgies’, 115.Google Scholar

⁸⁷ McIntosh, R. J. and McIntosh, S. K., ‘The Inland Niger Delta before the Empire of Mali: evidence from Jenné-jeno’, J. Afr. Hist., xxiii (1981), 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁸⁸ McIntosh, S. K. and McIntosh, R. J., Prehistoric Investigations in the Region of Jenné, Mali, Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 2 (Oxford, 1980), 448.Google Scholar

⁸⁹ McIntosh, R. J. and McIntosh, S. K., ‘The 1981 field season at Jenné-jeno: preliminary results’, Nyame Akuma, xx (1982), 28–32.Google Scholar

⁹⁰ The nine dates resulting from this work have already been reported in this journal: Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 23Google Scholar; Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’ 311.Google Scholar

⁹¹ The following dates reported in the appendix are associated with pottery of this early period: RL-1574, 1575, 1576, 1580, 1581, 1619, 1620, 1621, 1622. Of these, only RL-1575 is anomalous. These dates agree very well with Phase I/II dates already reported: RL-807, P-2679, P-2742.

⁹² Relevant dates are RL-1573, 1577, 1578, 1618, which agree very well with previously reported dates RL-808 and P-2682.

⁹³ Dates RL-1571 and 1617 agree with RL-806 and P-2772, previously reported. RL-1616 dates the most recent feature excavated, a house foundation lying just below the surface.

⁹⁴ Detailed in McIntosh, and McIntosh, , Prehistoric Investigations, 451–452.Google Scholar

⁹⁵ See Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 23Google Scholar, and Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 311.Google Scholar

⁹⁶ Person, A., Valladas, H., Fontes, P., Barry, I., Saliège, J.-F., ‘Prospection archéometrique de sites du delta interieure du Niger: quelques datations et données céramologiques’, presented at 3rd West Afr. Arch. Assoc. meeting (Dakar, 8–10 December 1981), kindly provided by Alain Person and Jean-François Saliège.Google Scholar

⁹⁷ Saliège, J-F., Person, A., Barry, I., Fontes, P., ‘Premières datations de tumulus prèislamiques au Mali: site mègalithique de Tondidarou’, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, ccxci, sér. D (8 décembre 1980), 981–984.Google Scholar

⁹⁸ Fontes, P., Dembélé, M., Raimbault, M., Sidibé, S., ‘Prospection archéologique de tumulus et de buttes tumuliformes dans la région des lacs au Mali’, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, CCCi, ser. III, no. 5 (1985), 207–212.Google Scholar We are grateful to Pierre Fontes for sending us this information when it was in press.

⁹⁹ Ibid., 209. Although the charcoal samples from these sites were associated with fired clay features characteristic of funerary tumuli in the region, the authors describe these as ‘buttes tumuliformes’ rather than tumuli, leaving open the question of their function.

¹⁰⁰ Person et al., ‘Prospection archéometrique’. A fifteenth century TL date on a surface sherd is also available for this site, although only limited significance can be claimed for a date on contextless, undescribed material.

¹⁰¹ Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 305.Google Scholar

¹⁰² Haaland, R., ‘Man's role in the changing habitat of Mema during the Old Kingdom of Ghana’, Norw. Arch. Rev., XIII (1980), 31–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁰³ Evin, J., Maréchal, J., Marien, G., ‘Lyon Natural Radiocarbon Measurements x’, Radiocarbon, xxvii (1985), 418.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁴ Berthier, S., ‘Fouille d'un ensemble d'habitations, quartier de la mosquée, site de Koumbi Saleh’, presented at 3rd West Afr. Arch. Assoc. meeting (Dakar, 1981).Google Scholar

¹⁰⁵ This is evident when the following dates are plotted with just one standard error: Ly-2532, 2533, 2504 (basal Level o); 2534, 2535, 2536 (Level I); 2537, 2538, 2505, 2506 (Level II); 2508 (Level III); 2540 (Level IV); 2509 (Level V).

¹⁰⁶ See Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 304–305.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁷ Devisse, J., ‘L'apport de l'archéologie a l'histoire de l'Afrique Occidentale entre le V^e et le XII^e siècle’, C. R. Acad. Inscrip. et Belles-lettres (Paris 1982) 156–177.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁸ Thilmans, G. and Ravisé, A., Protohistoire du Sénégal, II: Sinthiou Bara et les Sites du Fleuve, Mém. de l'I.F.A.N., no. 91 (Dakar, 1980), 86–87.Google Scholar Dates Ly-1741–45 and Gif-4522 agree well with dates previously reported by Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 14, 28.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁹ These sites include Kiffa and Kroufa in southern Mauritania, and Podor, 200 km downriver from Sinthiou Bara. Thilmans, G., ‘Sur les objets de parure trouvés à Podor (Sénégal) en 1958’, Bull, de l'I.F.A.N., xxxix, sér. B (1977), 687.Google Scholar

¹¹⁰ DAK-2I3, Ly-2033, Ly-1937. Ly-1603 is anomalous. Evin, J., Maréchal, J., Marien, G., ‘Lyon Natural Radiocarbon Measurements ix’, Radiocarbon, xxv (1983), 89Google Scholar; Diop, C. A., ‘Datations par la méthode du radiocarbone: série v’, Bull, de l'I.F.A.N., XLIII, sér. B (1981), 11–12.Google Scholar

¹¹¹ Evin, et al. , ‘Lyon ix’, 90.Google Scholar A fourth date, Ly-2159, is too old, probably due to older organic matter incorporated into the burned wall material that was dated.

¹¹² Ibid., 89.

¹¹³ Thilmans, and Ravisé, , Protohistoire, 134–189.Google Scholar

¹¹⁴ Over 40,000 low furnaces were counted in this small area alone. Robert-Chaleix, D. and Sognane, M., ‘Une Industrie métallurgique ancienne sur la rive mauritanienne du fleuve Sénégal’, in Echard, , Métallurgies, 45–62.Google Scholar

¹¹⁵ Thilmans, and Ravisé, , Protohistoire, 132.Google Scholar

¹¹⁶ Ly-1156, 1781, 1782: Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 304, 311.Google Scholar

¹¹⁷ Evin, et al. , ‘Lyon ix’, 88.Google Scholar

¹¹⁸ Gallay, A., Pignat, G., Curdy, P., ‘Mbolop Tobé (Santhiou Kohel, Sénégal). Contribution à la connaissance du mégalithisme sénégambian’, Archives Suisses d'Anth. Gen. 4, 6, 2 (Geneva, 1982), 217–259.Google Scholar

¹¹⁹ Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 3.Google Scholar

¹²⁰ Diop, , ‘Datations IV’, p. 464Google Scholar; Diop, , ‘Datations v’, 9–10.Google Scholar

¹²¹ Saison, B., ‘Azugi, archéologie et histoire’, Recherche, Pédagogie et Culture, no. 55, ix (1981), 66–74.Google Scholar

¹²² Gif-5331, 5332, 5333. This is the only information provided on these three dates in Saison, ibid., 74. These dates agree with Gif-5334 obtained on charcoal from a rubbish pit inside the citadel.

¹²³ Gado, B., ‘Boura: une nécropole à inhumation secondaire dans des jarres anthropomorphes’, presented at the West Afr. Arch. Assoc. meetings (Nouakchott, 1984). We are grateful to Lisa Wayne for bringing this communication to our attention.Google Scholar

¹²⁴ Gado, B., Les Zarmatarey: Contribution à l'histoire des populations d'entre Niger et Dallol Mawri, Etudes Nigériennes, XLV (Niamey, 1980), 73.Google Scholar

¹²⁵ Gado, , ‘Boura’. These dates may be relevant to a previously reported date for the tumulus of Dallol Bosso at Rozi: Calvocoressi and David, ‘A new survey’, 26.Google Scholar

¹²⁶ Gado, , Zarmatarey, 69–73.Google Scholar

¹²⁷ Gado, , ‘Boura’.Google Scholar

¹²⁸ Roset, J.-P., ‘Un site à céramique peinte dans l'Air oriental (Niger)’, Cah. O.R.S.T.O.M., sér. Sci. Hum., xiv, (1977), 337–346.Google Scholar

¹²⁹ Reported by Cressier, P., Bernus, S. and Bernus, E., in ‘Le Programme Azawagh’.Google ScholarBernus, S. considers the early date ‘doubtful’, and cautions that much more work is required to clarify the chronology of the site.Google Scholar

¹³⁰ These dates are shown graphically in Grébenart, , ‘Les métallurgies’, 120Google Scholar, and are relevant to three dates already reported for the site by Posnansky, and McIntosh, , ‘New radiocarbon’, 183.Google Scholar All dates except the earliest were run on charcoal associated with crucibles.

¹³¹ Bourhis, J.-R., ‘Résultats des analyses d'objets en cuivre, bronze, laiton et des résidus de métallurgie antique d'Afrique’, in Echard, , Metallurgies, 133–134.Google Scholar

¹³² DAK-216–219, 221, Gif-5109, 5110: see Appendix.

¹³³ Kiéthéga, J. B., L'Or de la Volta Noire (Paris, 1983).Google Scholar

¹³⁴ McIntosh, S. K., review of L'Ordela Volta Noire, J. Afr. Hist., xxvi (1985), 410–412.Google Scholar

¹³⁵ For a preliminary report on the 1981 excavations, see Agbaje-Williams, B. and Onyango-Abuje, J., ‘Recent archaeological work at Old Oyo: 1979–81’, Nyame Akuma (1981), 9–11.Google Scholar We are grateful to B. Agbaje-Williams for providing the dates in advance of publication.

¹³⁶ HAR-1890 and 1891: Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 19–20.Google Scholar

¹³⁷ Information kindly provided in advance of publication by B. Agbaje-Williams.

¹³⁸ Shaw, C. T., ‘Further light on Igbo-Ukwu, including new radiocarbon dates’, Proceedings, 9th Panafr. Cong. Prehist. Quat. Studs., Jos, 1983, in press.Google Scholar

¹³⁹ I-2008 on wood from burial stool, Igbo Richard, and HV-1514–1516, I-1784, all on charcoal from Igbo Jonah: see Shaw, C. T., ‘Those Igbo-Ukwu radiocarbon dates: facts, fictions, and probabilities’, J. Afr. Hist., xvi (1975), 503–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁴⁰ Ibid., 515.

¹⁴¹ Shaw, , ‘Further light’. Evidence from analysis of metals from Igbo Ukwu shows that the copper used was not from Azelik, nor from the north of the Sahara. Several reports of copper and tin deposits in Nigeria offer possibilities deserving investigation.Google Scholar

¹⁴² S-2372, Beta-7855, SFU-275, 392, Alpha-563, 3-CX.

¹⁴³ Kense, F., ‘Daboya, A Gonja Frontier’ (unpub. Ph.D. thesis, Calgary, 1981), 280, 297.Google Scholar We are grateful to Frank Kense for sending us a copy of his thesis.

¹⁴⁴ The last ten dates listed in the Appendix are relevant to this period. The most recent occupation encountered yielded iron cans and a 1919 West African penny. Kense, F., ‘1983 field report on Daboya’, Nyame Akuma, xxiii (1983), 10.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁵ Agorsah, E. K., ‘An ethnoarchaeological study of settlement and behaviour patterns of a West African traditional society: the Nchumura of Ghana’ (unpub. Ph.D. diss., U.C.L.A., 1983).Google Scholar

¹⁴⁶ Keteku, E., ‘Akwamu empire at Nyanawase: myth or reality?’, Nyame Akuma, xiii (1978), 11–13.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁷ Keteku, E., ‘Radiocarbon dates from Nyanawase’, Nyame Akuma, xxiv/xxv (1984), 4.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁸ Ozanne, P., ‘Ghana’, in Shinnie, P. (ed), The African Iron Age (Oxford, 1971), 64.Google Scholar Ozanne's conclusion was based on his now-classic tobacco pipe sequence, and supported by traditional and documentary sources.

¹⁴⁹ The same caveats apply to previously reported dates for nearby sites in Ghana, such as Ladoku and Ayawaso: Sutton, , ‘Archaeology in West Africa’, 308.Google Scholar A modern date on shell from basal levels of the latter site (clearly datable to the seventeenth century by imports, tobacco pipes and historical documents) further illustrates the point.

¹⁵⁰ Nzewunwa, N., A Sourcebookfor Nigerian Archaeology, Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments (1983), 107–108.Google Scholar Two nineteenth century dates have previously been reported from Ogoloma: Posnansky, and McIntosh, , ‘New Radiocarbon dates’, 190.Google Scholar

¹⁵¹ Eluyemi, O., reporting in Nyame Akuma, xvii (1980), 41.Google Scholar

¹⁵² Eluyemi, O., ‘Egbejoda excavations, Nigeria, 1970’, West Afr.J. Arch., vi (1976), 101–108.Google Scholar

¹⁵³ Calvocoressi, and David, , ‘A new survey’, 19.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁴ Nzewunwa, , Sourcebook, 39–40.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁵ Ibid., 42–3.

¹⁵⁶ Dates for Baha Mound were reported in this journal by Flight, , ‘A survey of recent results in the radiocarbon chronology of northern and western Africa’, J. Afr. Hist., xiv (1973). 548Google Scholar, and for Yelwa RS63/32 by Pagan, ibid., x (1969), 153.

¹⁵⁷ Nzewunwa, , Sourcebook, 87–88.Google Scholar

¹⁵⁸ Connah, G., ‘An archaeological exploration in southern Borno’, Afr. Arch. Rev., II (1984), 153–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁵⁹ De Barros, P., ‘The Iron Industry of Bassar’ (unpub. Ph.D. thesis, U.C.L.A., 1985).Google Scholar We are grateful to Phil de Barros for providing a comprehensive date list in advance of publication. In writing our comments on the 18 radiocarbon dates, we have relied upon Barros, De, ‘Les Bassar: producteurs du fer à grande échelle dans la savane ouest-africaine’, Proceedings, 9th Cong. Panafr. Prehist. Quat. Studs., in press.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁰ Sutton, J. E. G., ‘Dawu – radiocarbon results’, Archaeology in Ghana, III (in press). We are grateful to John Sutton for sending comments in advance of publication.Google ScholarSutton, J. E. G., ‘New work at Dawu, southern Ghana’, Nyame Akuma, xviii (May 1981), 11–13.Google Scholar

¹⁶¹ We are grateful to Jean Polet for communicating this date to us.

¹⁶² Ly-2817: Evin, et al. , ‘Lyon dates x’, 417.Google Scholar

¹⁶³ Rivallain, J., ‘Problèmes méthodologiques posés par des sites côders de Côte d'lvoire’, presented at 9th Cong. Panafr. Prehist. Quat. Studs., Jos, 1983.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁴ We thank Chris de Corse for providing details in advance of publication.

¹⁶⁵ De Corse, C., ‘An archaeological survey of protohistoric defensive sites in Sierra Leone’, Nyame Akuma, xvii (1980), 48–53Google Scholar; Atherton, J., ‘Protohistoric habitation sites in northeastern Sierra Leone’, Bull. Soc. Roy. Beige d'Anth. et Prehist., LXXXIII (1972), 5–17.Google Scholar