The Mapping Ancient Africa (MAA) writing workshop is currently in full swing in Kenya. Running from 3 June until the 6 June 2024 a diverse range of skills related to academic publishing is being delivered by our international team, including: structuring a scientific article, managing references and revision strategies. There is also plenty of time set aside for writing and getting feedback from more experienced academic writers. The manuscripts being developed at the workshop are being designed to be submitted to the MAA special issue of Quaternary International.
On the 20 June 2024 (17:00-18:00 CEST) the next Mapping Ancient Africa (MAA) online seminar will take place. This talk will introduce a parallel INQUA funded project “PalaeoHome” (@PalaeoHome). It is hoped that there can be complimentary lines of research identified between PalaeoHome and the MAA projects.
Title: PalaeoHome Palaeolithic Hominins and Habitats: Out of Africa to South Asia
Abstract: Evidence of enduring preference among hominins for particular geographic places or habitats over long periods is a global phenomenon in the Palaeolithic. Sites such as Attirampakkam (India), have evidence of Early Pleistocene Acheulian occupation contemporary with some sites in East Africa and elsewhere. Ongoing work at Sendrayanpalyam in the vicinity of ATM, suggest more variability than expected in Lower Palaeolithic assemblages in India. Comparative studies between Lower Palaeolithic assemblages and their ecological settings in key areas of both Africa and India as well as along regions of population migration, carry implications for investigating debates on the routes and timing of migrations and evolution of Oldowan and Acheulian technocomplexes. Here, we discuss aspects of research that seeks to bring together experts working in India, Africa, Arabia, and SW and E Asia to address major issues related to multiple questions on the ‘Out of Africa’ story as related to chronology, palaeoenvironments and behavioural variability over the Lower Palaeolithic (Early to Middle Pleistocene), exploring similarities as also differences in evolutionary trajectories. We plan to establish inclusive global networks of scientists with similar interests, embracing diversity and differences in views, to organise hybrid meetings (online, in-person in India and Ethiopia) uniting established scientists and with a prominent ECR component. A key part includes skill development amongst ECRs who will also join us in engaging in public outreach and science communication to generate an awareness of prehistory among children, teachers and the wider public. Above all, this project seeks to build global networks of scientists from diverse disciplines to share ideas that can culminate in publications that explore diverse opinions on topics of key interest in the Lower Palaeolithic of India and Africa.
The seminar will be delivered via Zoom. The link for the seminar can be obtained from the MAA Slack channel or by contacting the chair of this seminar (Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr). If you want to know more about the Mapping Ancient Africa project visit our web pages and please do not hesitate to get in contact if you want to get involved.
The 17th online Mapping Ancient Africa seminar took place on Thursday 16 May 2024. The seminar was delivered by N’dji dit Jacques Dembele and was entitled “Evidence of recent seismicity in the West African Craton: The Bamako seisemites Mali”. In the seminar surprising new evidence for Quaternary seismic activity within the West African Craton – which was thought to be tectonically stable – was presented. Specifically, the identification of clastic dykes and deformation within sedimentary and lacustrine deposits was used to suggest past high magnitude earth quakes in the last 170,000 years.
The next Mapping Ancient Africa seminar will take place online at 17:00 CEST on 16 May 2024.
Speaker: N’dji dit Jacques Dembele (President of WAQUA, Université des sciences sociales et de gestion de Bamako, Mali)
Title: Quaternary period seismicity on the West African Craton
The seminar will be delivered via Zoom. The link for the seminar can be obtained from the MAA Slack channel or by contacting the chair of this seminar (Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr). If you want to know more about the Mapping Ancient Africa project visit our web pages and please do not hesitate to get in contact if you want to get involved.
The 16th Mapping Ancient Africa seminar took place online on Friday 12th April 2024. The seminar was delivered by Stéphanie Bodin (Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt). In the seminar Stéphanie demonstrated how the examination of ancient charcoals found in caves used for shelter by hunter-gather populations living in Ethiopia at the end of the African Humid Period (4,000-2,000 years ago) can provide insights into vegetation and human selection of woody resources.
The Mapping Ancient Africa (MAA) special issue of Quaternary International (QI) will open for submission on 30 April and will close 30 July 2024. To submit your article go to the QI submission portal and click “submit new article”, you will then be asked to “select article type”. From the drop down list select “SI: Mapping Ancient Africa”. This will ensure that your manuscript is directed to the guest editorial team. Submissions should follow the standard QI guideline (click here for details) and take account of the advice for submission to this special issue (click here for details).
The special issue is centered around work and papers presented in the MAA Rome workshop and sessions at the INQUA Rome congress (session 1, session 2), however, if you have a manuscript that you think would be appropriate for inclusion given the research themes of the project please also consider submitting. If you have any questions feel free to contact the editorial team in advance.
The next Mapping Ancient Africa seminar will take place online at 17:00 CEST on 12 April 2024.
Speaker: Stéphanie Bodin (Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt)
Title: Hunter-gatherers and Afromontane vegetation in the Ethiopian highlands since the end of the African Humid Period
Related publication:
Bodin, S.C., Neumann, K., Hensel, E.A., Vogelsang, R., Demissew, S., Casas-Gallego, M. & Hahn, K. (2024) Afromontane forests and human impact after the African Humid Period: wood charcoal from the Sodicho rock shelter, SW Ethiopian highlands. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. DOI: 10.1007/s00334-023-00977-3
Casas-Gallego, M., Hahn, K., Neumann, K., Demissew, S., Schmidt, M., Bodin, S.C. & Bruch, A.A. (2023) Cooling-induced expansions of Afromontane forests in the Horn of Africa since the Last Glacial Maximum. Scientific Reports13, 10323. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37135-8
The seminar will be delivered via Zoom. The link for the seminar can be obtained from the MAA Slack channel or by contacting the chair of this seminar (William Gosling). If you want to know more about the Mapping Ancient Africa project visit our web pages and please do not hesitate to get in contact if you want to get involved.
The 15th Mapping Ancient Africa seminar took place online on Friday 15th March 2024. The seminar was delivered by Bruk Lemma (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany; Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute – EBI). In the seminar Bruk presented recent advances made in the application of biomarker and stable isotope techniques in revealing the climate dynamics of the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia. He showed that it is possible to identify some plant types using these approaches, but that degradation of the signal in the sedimentary environment is possible.
A workshop will be held at the National Museums of Kenya (Nairobi, Kenya) in June 2024. The aim of the workshop is to help authors prepare articles for the Mapping Ancient Africa (MAA) special issue proposed for publication in Quaternary International and lead by Dr. Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr. The workshop will be associated with the “1st Joint International Scientific Conference” (3-6 June). The MAA workshop is being organized by Dr. Rahab Kinyanjui, and the congress organization is being lead by Dr. Emmanuel Ndiema (click here to watch his 2022 MAA seminar) and Dr. Esther Kioko (Acting Director National Repository and Research).
For further information on attending the MAA workshop please contact Rahab directly.
To find out more about the Mapping Ancient Africa project click here.
The fifteenth Mapping Ancient Africa seminar will take place on 15 March 2024 (17:00 CET)
Speaker: Bruk Lemma (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany; Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute – EBI)
Title: Nature’s Fingerprints: Exploring the Use of Biomarkers and Stable Isotopes in Unraveling Chemotaxonomy and (Paleo-)Climate Dynamics of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia
The seminar will be delivered via Zoom. The link for the seminar can be obtained from the MAA Slack channel or by contacting the chair of this seminar (Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr). If you want to know more about the Mapping Ancient Africa project visit our web pages and please do not hesitate to get in contact if you want to get involved.
Ecology of the past 