Author Description

The question of links between material cultural and sociocultural meaning remains a challenge in archaeology. In this book, Anne Mayor proposes a tool for archaeological interpretation in the area of ceramic studies, capable of addressing questions of ethnolinguistic identity and the settlement history in the Niger Bend, West Africa. Three approaches have been employed: Ethnoarchaeological: The study of modern variability in pottery enables the selection of relevant descriptive criteria; Historical: The synthesis of available data clarifies the historical depth of ethnic groups and the processes responsible for their formation; Archaeological: The analysis of excavation data indicates the spatiotemporal distribution of ceramic traditions. The correlation of synchronic and diachronic data enables her to construct a model for the development of ceramic traditions over the last two millennia, in relation to ethnolinguistic units. Application to the excavation of Dangandouloun (Dogon Country, 7th-12th centuries AD) demonstrates the effectiveness of the approach in the interpretation of regional protohistoric sites, and initiates a new approach to the study of the history of techniques and human settlement.