Remapping the Senegambian megaliths: Beyond the culture area paradigm
Between 1969 and 1982, Victor Martin and Charles Becker led a series of reconnaissance missions to document thousands of sites for their Inventaire des Sites Protohistoriques de la Sénégambie. This dataset has since become a cornerstone in the archaeology of central Senegambia, where site distributi...
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| Veröffentlicht in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/afriques, |
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| Hauptverfasser: | , , , |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprache: | Anglais |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Afriques
2026
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| Schlagworte: | |
| Online Zugang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Zusammenfassung: | Between 1969 and 1982, Victor Martin and Charles Becker led a series of reconnaissance missions to document thousands of sites for their Inventaire des Sites Protohistoriques de la Sénégambie. This dataset has since become a cornerstone in the archaeology of central Senegambia, where site distribution maps continue to define a “Megalith Zone” and provide context for excavations at well-known type-sites. However, we argue that spatial and quantitative data from the Inventaire can do more to help us envision megalithic sites as places embedded in complex social landscapes. We begin by exploring how the Inventaire emerged from and now perpetuates a culture area paradigm through mapping strategies of selection and simplification. We then advocate for a more relational paradigm in Senegambian archaeology by developing a critical cartography of megalithic sites recently digitized for MAEASaM (Mapping Africa’s Endangered Archaeological Sites and Monuments). Here we use recent survey results and geostatistical tools to assess and visualize uncertainties in the Inventaire, while also working to better illustrate megalithic monuments as material expressions of social interaction at multiple scales. In so doing, we emphasize how fresh approaches to “legacy” data from the Inventaire and similar spatial archives could aid with efforts to decolonize African archaeology. |
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