Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PALP (Pathiana Archaeological Landscapes Project)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2019-11-16 do 2021-11-15
Located in southern Senegal, in what is currently the Kolda region, the area traditionally known as Pathiana is one of the most underdeveloped parts of Senegal and one that has been marginalised politically and economically since colonial times. Historically, however, this small (30x40 km) territory was a key and powerful player that deeply shaped the history of the Senegambia: first as part of an unknown Bainouk polity (pre-13th C), later as part of the Kaabu province of the Mali Empire (13th-19th C), and eventually as one of the provinces of the Fulaadu kingdom (late 19th C) and a colonial canton (20th C). However, Pathiana had never been the subject of a thorough historical and archaeological study. The aim of this project was therefore two-fold: firstly, to document systematically the archaeology of Pathiana in order to obtain material proof of the historical role of the region and generate the chronologies and baselines for future research to build on. Secondly, to understand how its political power structures changed and adapted over time, with a particular focus on their articulation and materialisation through the landscape.
Both goals were fully achieved. Through documents collected in the national archives five different countries, recordings of oral tradition interviews with village elders in ten villages, and the identification and documentation of 30 new archaeological sites across the region, we have generated enough data to put Pathiana in the historical and archaeological map, and enable future research to flourish. The analysis of these data has also allowed us to achieve the second goal: generating new insights into the operation and change over time of Pathiana’s political structures. While this project and its results fill an important lacuna in our understanding of the region, their relevance is not merely academic: the local populations were deeply interested in our work, and I shall return in 2022 to give them copies of the projects results as well as transcripts of the interviews.
Both goals were fully achieved. Through documents collected in the national archives five different countries, recordings of oral tradition interviews with village elders in ten villages, and the identification and documentation of 30 new archaeological sites across the region, we have generated enough data to put Pathiana in the historical and archaeological map, and enable future research to flourish. The analysis of these data has also allowed us to achieve the second goal: generating new insights into the operation and change over time of Pathiana’s political structures. While this project and its results fill an important lacuna in our understanding of the region, their relevance is not merely academic: the local populations were deeply interested in our work, and I shall return in 2022 to give them copies of the projects results as well as transcripts of the interviews.
Work performed:
-Training: as indicated in my proposal, I obtained training in the use of GIS, satellite imagery, and photogrammetry, and I also obtained the official qualification (A1+A3) to fly drones for aerial photography, all facilitated by my host institution (Incipit-CSIC).
-Archives: I visited and studied documents at the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) in Banjul (The Gambia), the Archives Nationals du Senegal in Dakar, the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer in Aix-en-Provence (France), the National Archives in London (UK), as well as the Arquivo Historico Ultramarino, the Biblioteca da Ajuda, the Biblioteca da Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, and the Arquivo Marítimo in Lisbon (Portugal).
-Survey & Recording of oral traditions: from the February 18th to March 1st 2021, we surveyed the study area, identifying and documenting 30 new archaeological sites, and recorded oral traditions interviews with local elders in 10 different villages.
-Analysis: The data collected during both the interviews and the survey were then processed (objects identified, sites mapped, interviews transcribed and systematized) and analysed.
Results:
As a result of this project, we now have an archaeological map of Pathiana, with sites that range from the Stone Age to the 20th C, that demonstrate the historical richness of this region. We also have an invaluable record of previously undocumented local oral traditions and a glossary of local terms associated with power and its articulation. Finally, the models we have generated to understand how Pathiana’s sociopolitical structures adapted over time and through three different states, of how its settlement patterns and political networks changed and adapted, are of relevance to global conversations about urbanism and the nature and articulation of complex societies more widely.
Exploitation & Dissemination:
In the academic sphere, I have participated in two international conferences (2020 EAA, 1º Congresso Internacional de Arqueologia da África) and had papers accepted for another two that were cancelled due to Covid (Safa 2020 and Congreso Ibérico de Estudios Africanos 2020). I also participated in two national meetings (Red Incipit 2019 and 2020) and was invited to talk about my research in seminars at the University of Edinburgh, the Spanish School of History and Archaeology in Rome (EEHAR), and the EU Delegation in Dakar. I have also presented my work in classes at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. Over these two years I have written two book chapters, two journal articles, one encyclopedia entry (‘Shifting sedentism’, the settlement pattern encountered in Pathiana, for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African Archaeology), all peer reviewed, which should be published in 2022 and 2023.
In terms of public outreach, I have recorded a TedX talk in Madrid, presented at the Santiago Nerdnite, written four articles in the mainstream Spanish press (El País and 20 Minutos), been interviewed for two podcasts (Parkaeology and History Hack) and advised the BBC Homeschool History programme on their episode about the Mali Empire during lockdown. Although this extends beyond the end of my fellowiship, I will be returning in 2022 to Senegal to give the villages we worked in copies of the interviews and the project’s results.
-Training: as indicated in my proposal, I obtained training in the use of GIS, satellite imagery, and photogrammetry, and I also obtained the official qualification (A1+A3) to fly drones for aerial photography, all facilitated by my host institution (Incipit-CSIC).
-Archives: I visited and studied documents at the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) in Banjul (The Gambia), the Archives Nationals du Senegal in Dakar, the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer in Aix-en-Provence (France), the National Archives in London (UK), as well as the Arquivo Historico Ultramarino, the Biblioteca da Ajuda, the Biblioteca da Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, and the Arquivo Marítimo in Lisbon (Portugal).
-Survey & Recording of oral traditions: from the February 18th to March 1st 2021, we surveyed the study area, identifying and documenting 30 new archaeological sites, and recorded oral traditions interviews with local elders in 10 different villages.
-Analysis: The data collected during both the interviews and the survey were then processed (objects identified, sites mapped, interviews transcribed and systematized) and analysed.
Results:
As a result of this project, we now have an archaeological map of Pathiana, with sites that range from the Stone Age to the 20th C, that demonstrate the historical richness of this region. We also have an invaluable record of previously undocumented local oral traditions and a glossary of local terms associated with power and its articulation. Finally, the models we have generated to understand how Pathiana’s sociopolitical structures adapted over time and through three different states, of how its settlement patterns and political networks changed and adapted, are of relevance to global conversations about urbanism and the nature and articulation of complex societies more widely.
Exploitation & Dissemination:
In the academic sphere, I have participated in two international conferences (2020 EAA, 1º Congresso Internacional de Arqueologia da África) and had papers accepted for another two that were cancelled due to Covid (Safa 2020 and Congreso Ibérico de Estudios Africanos 2020). I also participated in two national meetings (Red Incipit 2019 and 2020) and was invited to talk about my research in seminars at the University of Edinburgh, the Spanish School of History and Archaeology in Rome (EEHAR), and the EU Delegation in Dakar. I have also presented my work in classes at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. Over these two years I have written two book chapters, two journal articles, one encyclopedia entry (‘Shifting sedentism’, the settlement pattern encountered in Pathiana, for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African Archaeology), all peer reviewed, which should be published in 2022 and 2023.
In terms of public outreach, I have recorded a TedX talk in Madrid, presented at the Santiago Nerdnite, written four articles in the mainstream Spanish press (El País and 20 Minutos), been interviewed for two podcasts (Parkaeology and History Hack) and advised the BBC Homeschool History programme on their episode about the Mali Empire during lockdown. Although this extends beyond the end of my fellowiship, I will be returning in 2022 to Senegal to give the villages we worked in copies of the interviews and the project’s results.
As the first archaeological project in the area, the work done during this fellowship has radically changed our understanding of the region’s history and set the foundations for future work. The transcribed oral traditions have ensured that knowledge does not disappear when elders pass away without transmitting it (as is now often sadly the case) and the transcripts will be at the disposal of both the local community and future scholars to study. The identification of archaeological sites is the first step towards their protection, and the dating estimates provided by the ceramic analysis are the first scientific chronology we have for region. This is an area traditionally presented as a backwater, so having scientific proof of the region’s historical importance is very meaningful locally. Additionally, at the theoretical level, this research contributes to diminish the current paucity of African models, African-inspired theories, and African case studies in the archaeological and anthropological literature on complexity and societal development, through a well-documented case study of an unusually organised polity that does not conform to traditional state models.