2021/05/27 by Augustin F. C. Holl · 2 citations
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues #African Studies and Geopolitics #African Studies and Ethnography #Megalith #Archaeology #Geography #History #Archaeological record #Pastoralism #Frontier #Stone tool #Ethnology #Livestock
paper · doi:10.4314/ijma.v2i15.1
openalex publication_date 2021/05/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
When analyzed systematically, Tropical Africa megalithism appears to have emerged in contexts of friction between different lifeways, agriculturalists versus foragers, pastoralists versus hunter-gatherers-fishermen, or agriculturalists versus fishing folks. The monuments built were clearly part of actual territorial strategies. Research conducted by the Sine Ngayene Archaeological Project (2002-2012) frontally addressed the “Why” of the emergence of megalithism in that part of the world, and probes the reasons for the performance of the elaborate burial practices preserved in the archaeological record. This paper emphasizes the diversity and complexity of burial protocols invented by Senegambian “megalith-builders” communities from 1450 BCE to 1500 CE. Senegambian megalithism is shown to have proceeded from territorial marking imperatives, shaping a multi-layered cultural landscape through the implemented mortuary programs anchored on the construction of Ancestorhood.
 Keywords: Megaliths; Senegambia; Cultural landscape; Mortuary program; Burial practice; Monolith-circle; Sine-Ngayene;