Periodic Reporting for period 3 - BANTURIVERS (At a Crossroads of Bantu Expansions: Present and Past Riverside Communities in the Congo Basin, from an Integrated Linguistic, Anthropological and Archaeological Perspective)
Período documentado: 2022-01-01 hasta 2023-06-30
The project “At a Crossroads of Bantu Expansions: Present and Past Riverside Communities in the Congo Basin, from an Integrated Linguistic, Anthropological and Archaeological Perspective ~ BANTURIVERS” is the first multidisciplinary project to research the precolonial past of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Aside from some hypotheses formulated by historians such as McMaster and Vansina, and the first archaeological excavations in the area from 2010 onwards by BANTURIVERS team members, nothing is known about this region’s ancient history. Still, the region hosts multiple language groups from Bantu and other origin, complex ethnic identities and networks of experts in complementary subsistence strategies, hence its precolonial past must be rich and intriguing. Considering that written documents covering Central Africa are only available since the first contacts with Europeans and Arabs, the long history before that time needs to be investigated by a variety of disciplines. Historical comparative linguistics is one of the major disciplines involved in this type of research, and the project indeed addresses the region’s past from a linguistic viewpoint, namely as a response to the question of the “Bantu Expansion” and the farming/language dispersal hypothesis. The term “Bantu Expansion” refers to the dispersal of Bantu languages, covering a vast region (from Cameroon to Kenya and all the way to South Africa) in a fairly short time span (a few millennia), and which is probably linked to human migrations. It is a research theme that unites scholars of different disciplines, also archaeologists, geneticists, climatologists, and other scholars. Much research is focused on the initial expansions of Bantu subgroups, which are explained as farmers ever looking for new lands and therefore avoiding the rainforest, also in the recent research on the “Savannah Corridor”. The BANTURIVERS project instead studies a crossroads of different Bantu expansions in the heart of the Central-African rainforest, namely the eastern part of the Congo Basin (the Congo River and its tributaries up- and downstream of Kisangani until Bumba and Kindu). Farming being complicated in a rainforest environment, we investigate the role of rivers in the settlement of these speech communities into the area, both as ways into the forest and as abundant source of animal protein (fish). To tackle these linguistic questions we also apply anthropology, archaeology and archaeo-ichthyology.
The objectives of the project are twofold. First, we investigate the population history of the eastern Congo Basin: who came from where and when? We focus on the different Bantu expansions into the area and the subsequent contacts between the ancestors of present-day Bantu communities. Historical comparative linguistics offers insights into the historical relations between speech communities through language classification and the study of language contact. Archaeological surveys identify past cultural traditions and provide a chrono-cultural framework. Anthropologists record oral histories, namely history as remembered and transferred by a specific community.
The second objective is to investigate the role of rivers in those expansions and in the adaptation of the respective communities to the natural environment. We first document how rivers play a role in the life of present-day communities. Anthropological research involves extensive fieldwork with regard to ethnoecology, trade and/or exchange networks, and sociocultural aspects of life at the riverside. Historical comparative linguistics studies specialized vocabulary to trace the history of river-related techniques, tools and knowledge. Through archaeo-ichthyology, we provide archaeological evidence for past fishing techniques and the importance of fishing for ancient communities.
The objectives of the project are twofold. First, we investigate the population history of the eastern Congo Basin: who came from where and when? We focus on the different Bantu expansions into the area and the subsequent contacts between the ancestors of present-day Bantu communities. Historical comparative linguistics offers insights into the historical relations between speech communities through language classification and the study of language contact. Archaeological surveys identify past cultural traditions and provide a chrono-cultural framework. Anthropologists record oral histories, namely history as remembered and transferred by a specific community.
The second objective is to investigate the role of rivers in those expansions and in the adaptation of the respective communities to the natural environment. We first document how rivers play a role in the life of present-day communities. Anthropological research involves extensive fieldwork with regard to ethnoecology, trade and/or exchange networks, and sociocultural aspects of life at the riverside. Historical comparative linguistics studies specialized vocabulary to trace the history of river-related techniques, tools and knowledge. Through archaeo-ichthyology, we provide archaeological evidence for past fishing techniques and the importance of fishing for ancient communities.
The linguistic question of the Bantu Expansion and the context of language dispersals being the starting point of the project, the first years have been especially dedicated to linguistic research. We gathered new data for 45 out of approximately 60 Bantu languages of the north-eastern DRC. Several of these languages have never been documented before, for the majority the available literature is scant. The data consist of a 100-word list of basic vocabulary for each, which is used for classification, but we have also collected a 600-word list for 22 of the mentioned languages, and cultural vocabulary for 15 languages. We are currently working on the classification with Bayesian phylogenetic methods. Preliminary results regarding the Bantu subgroups Upper Congo, Lega and Luba have been presented during international conferences. In Fall 2021, the classification of Boan languages will also be finalized, and all results will be finetuned and perfected before the end of 2021. The classification allows us to trace migration routes of past Bantu speech communities and to propose a first chronology (which needs to be tested to results from archaeology). Linguists involved are the BANTURIVERS team members Birgit Ricquier (PI, ULB) and David Kopa wa Kopa (ULB – University of Kisangani), in collaboration with Rebecca Grollemund (University of Missouri), Constance Kutsch Lojenga (SIL – University of Leiden), and three linguists of the University of Kisangani: Emmanuel Ngbanga Bandombele, Nicolas Mombaya Liwila and François Abuka Balabala.
A second linguistic objective is to unveil past language contact. The project’s PhD student, David Kopa wa Kopa, focuses on one case, namely contact between Mokpá and its neighbouring languages. A first important result is the discovery of a language substrate for the closely related languages Mokpá, Metoko and Enya.
The anthropological and archaeological fieldwork have been hampered by administrative issues and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Still, Shingo Takamura, postdoc in anthropology on the BANTURIVERS project, conducted preliminary fieldwork and collected oral traditions. Together with Laurent Nieblas Ramirez, specialized in archaeo-ichthyology, he continued research in the archives. Their joint research, combined with the mentioned linguistic results, provide new insights into the precolonial history of the lower Lualaba, namely the region between Kisangani and Ubundu, more specifically regarding the relative chronology of migrations into the area and contact between the respective communities. The details will be submitted for publication in Fall 2021.
The BANTURIVERS team also organized the International and Interdisciplinary Conference on African Precolonial History, “Extracting the Past from the Present” (March 1st – 5th, 2021). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was online. We hosted 71 papers discussed during live sessions to which 189 scholars participated from multiple disciplines and from all corners of the world.
A second linguistic objective is to unveil past language contact. The project’s PhD student, David Kopa wa Kopa, focuses on one case, namely contact between Mokpá and its neighbouring languages. A first important result is the discovery of a language substrate for the closely related languages Mokpá, Metoko and Enya.
The anthropological and archaeological fieldwork have been hampered by administrative issues and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Still, Shingo Takamura, postdoc in anthropology on the BANTURIVERS project, conducted preliminary fieldwork and collected oral traditions. Together with Laurent Nieblas Ramirez, specialized in archaeo-ichthyology, he continued research in the archives. Their joint research, combined with the mentioned linguistic results, provide new insights into the precolonial history of the lower Lualaba, namely the region between Kisangani and Ubundu, more specifically regarding the relative chronology of migrations into the area and contact between the respective communities. The details will be submitted for publication in Fall 2021.
The BANTURIVERS team also organized the International and Interdisciplinary Conference on African Precolonial History, “Extracting the Past from the Present” (March 1st – 5th, 2021). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was online. We hosted 71 papers discussed during live sessions to which 189 scholars participated from multiple disciplines and from all corners of the world.
Thanks to the accumulation of data for Bantu languages of the eastern Congo Basin by the BANTURIVERS team, but also a better data coverage of languages already included in previous Bantu classifications, the BANTURIVERS project has obtained a finer classification for most of the Bantu subgroups of the northeastern DRC and also proposed important modifications to the most recent Bantu tree. New insights were also obtained for languages south of the region of focus, namely the languages around Kasongo. Before the end of 2021, we will conclude the classification for all Bantu subgroups of the area. This also implies that we are proposing new dispersal routes, and by the end of 2021, we will also propose a chronology of events based on this linguistic evidence.
Thanks to the study of language contact, we are the first to propose insights into the history of Bantu languages of the region. The study of specific sounds, namely labial-velars, allows us to identify a language substrate for three closely related languages in the area, thus suggesting intensive contacts between their ancestral community and the substrate communities. These first results are promising, and we expect to find more surprising results in the next years, thus allowing us to understand the linguistic history of the region as well as the history of past communities.
The new routes, combined with the study of language contact phenomena and with oral traditions, already enabled us to propose new insights in the population history of the region between Kisangani and Ubundu, namely to identify the firstcomers and later contacts. We expect to also formulate new insights into the population history of the remainder of the eastern Congo Basin, and we will especially focus on the region West of Kisangani for which we will also add anthropological and archaeological data.
During the second part of the project, we will also fully explore the second research objective. The linguists will start studying the collected cultural vocabulary, allowing for a history of fishing techniques and other river-related activities. Anthropological fieldwork will provide present-day insights that will constitute a framework to interpret the linguistic results. And archaeo-ichthyological research will offer evidence from the past.
Thanks to the study of language contact, we are the first to propose insights into the history of Bantu languages of the region. The study of specific sounds, namely labial-velars, allows us to identify a language substrate for three closely related languages in the area, thus suggesting intensive contacts between their ancestral community and the substrate communities. These first results are promising, and we expect to find more surprising results in the next years, thus allowing us to understand the linguistic history of the region as well as the history of past communities.
The new routes, combined with the study of language contact phenomena and with oral traditions, already enabled us to propose new insights in the population history of the region between Kisangani and Ubundu, namely to identify the firstcomers and later contacts. We expect to also formulate new insights into the population history of the remainder of the eastern Congo Basin, and we will especially focus on the region West of Kisangani for which we will also add anthropological and archaeological data.
During the second part of the project, we will also fully explore the second research objective. The linguists will start studying the collected cultural vocabulary, allowing for a history of fishing techniques and other river-related activities. Anthropological fieldwork will provide present-day insights that will constitute a framework to interpret the linguistic results. And archaeo-ichthyological research will offer evidence from the past.