Forschung
The degree of variation based on morphological, materials, and residue analyses provided the basis for defining specific cooking-sets, which were comprised of a limited range of functional forms. Moreover, certain culinary traits with supra-regional distributions were identified as significant marker-types for the study of wider inter-regional interaction. These include traits such as 1) globular cooking vessels, 2) ceramic griddle plates, and exterior pottery treatments, like 3) mat-impressed surfaces.
Phase 2 (2022-2025) utilises these marker-types for investigating further regions of cultural transmission across northern Central and West Africa, focussing on a number of case studies from central Chad, the Lake Chad region, central Nigeria, the Inner Niger Delta in Mali, southeast Mauritania, and Senegal. Here the emphasis remains upon handmade cooking pots from domestic contexts, as well as the use of different regional crops in the production of meals. The relationship between the everyday food traditions of people living within early Iron Age complex societies, such as the Nok and Gajiganna archaeological cultures, and those living beyond or outside such entities remains a central focus in our analysis of cultural interaction.
The Connecting Foodways project is part of the DFG priority programme "Entangled Africa". Our research is largely based on existing legacy collections in Europe and Africa, which were generously made available by our cooperation partners.