Initial perspectives on prehistoric subsistence in the Inland Niger Delta (Mali)

Abstract

Abstract Information is presented about changes in subsistence resources and utilization from the beginning of permanent occupation to the present in the Inland Niger Delta of West Africa, a region long believed to be a centre of plant domestication. Excavations in 1977 at the western Delta site of Jenne‐jeno provided the first direct archaeological evidence of African rice and of the establishment of the remarkably stable Inland Delta subsistence complex: rice, fish and cattle. This complex sustained permanent occupation of large settlements in the floodplain far earlier than previously believed; Jenne‐jeno may have been larger than 10 hectares by 200 A.D. Excavation and extensive regional survey data suggest that the use of millets and sorghums is a recent introduction from outside the Delta. These conclusions support the view that the significant regional differences in the chronology of cereal cultivation must be appreciated before generalizations are made about the spread of food production within th...