1967/11/01 by J. P. Watson · 59 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Archaeology #Biology #Charcoal #Ecology #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Geography #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Plant and animal studies #Radiocarbon dating #Vegetation (pathology)
paper · doi:10.2307/2258416
published in Journal of Ecology 55(3), 663 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 1967/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
Large termite mounds are a prominent feature of the Central African landscape. Moreover, they frequently differ from the surrounding land in respect of soil (Watson 1962) and vegetation (Wild 1952). The termite mound described below is situated in an Iron Age burial ground near Salisbury, Rhodesia. It was selected for detailed examination because it is desirable to have information on the age and characteristics of old termitaria. There are few scientific estimates of the age of old termitaria. Jones (1956) reasons that large termite mounds in a rain forest in Nigeria preceded the approximately 200-yearold forest. Charcoal from an iron-smelting furnace on a termite mound in Zambia has been dated as 300+95 years B.P. in the radiocarbon dating laboratory of the University College of Rhodesia. The termite mound described below is probably about 700 years old. It may therefore be one of the oldest termitaria recorded in Africa.