Descripción del proyecto
Pathiana: una región pequeña pero poderosa en la historia de África Occidental
La región de Pathiana, una pequeña zona del sur de Senegal, ha desempeñado un gran papel en la historia de Senegambia durante el último milenio. Entre los siglos XIII y XX, el territorio de Pathiana sobrevivió como unidad política y centro de poder a través de cuatro estados diferentes y desempeñó un papel importante en el comercio atlántico. Sin embargo, su arqueología no ha sido estudiada hasta el momento. El proyecto PALP, financiado con fondos europeos, combinará documentos de archivo, tradiciones orales y arqueología para estudiar la historia de esta fascinante región y sus implicaciones más amplias.
Objetivo
This project focuses on the archaeology and history of the territory of Pathiana, a small (30x40km) region in southern Senegal which has played a key role in the history of the Senegambia over the last millennium. From the 12th to the early 20th C, and through four major socio-political disruptions, Pathiana survived as a political unit and centre of power, becoming a key player in the Atlantic trade in the process. Nevertheless, despite its key historical importance, Pathiana has never been archaeologically or historically studied, except for some limited excavations conducted as part of the applicant’s PhD. The proposed project aims to redress this situation by combing archival research with surface survey and recording of oral traditions amongst village elders. This will generate three interrelated datasets -historical European accounts and maps, local oral historical narratives, and archaeological survey data- which will be combined to achieve two main goals.
Firstly, this project will rectify a major lacuna in our understanding of the Senegambia by systematically documenting the archaeology of Pathiana and its associated traditions. This will correlate for the first time the region’s intangible narratives with tangible remains and generate the chronologies and baselines for future research to build on. Additionally, this interdisciplinary dataset will be used to explore how the political structures of a small but powerful polity changed and adapted through seven centuries and three major societal upheavals, and how such structures were reflected in, and articulated through, the landscape. This project thus will generate highly significant data and interpretations concerning both the history of the Senegambia and wider debates on societal organization, political complexity, and the relationship between power and spatiality, as well as further exploring the long-standing dialogue between oral traditions, written sources and archaeology.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinador
28006 Madrid
España