This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.
The region traditionally known as the Mema is a plain of deep alluvial deposits that lies west of the current seasonally ?ooded Inland Delta of the Niger River and southwest of the Lakes Region. The Mema is also sometimes referred to in the literature as the ‘Dead Delta’, a name that evokes the presence of a dense network of dry watercourses. This indicates that the Mema once formed a ?oodplain of pseudo-deltaic hydrology similar to that of the current active ?oodplain to the southeast. Today, the Mema lies within the sahelian zone and is very dry. The spotty distribution of modern permanent settlement in the Mema contrasts sharply with the situation during the last millennium. The ?eldwork presented in this volume has identi?ed numerous Iron Age (IA) habitation mounds. This thriving human settlement, clearly associated with a period of climatic amelioration, extends back in time to the Late Stone Age (LSA). Due to the dearth of information on both the history and archaeology of Mema, the Mema archaeological research program was designed as an exploratory inquiry. The primary objective of the archaeological research program executed from December 1989 to June 1990 was to collect basic data that will permit a preliminary analysis of settlement pattern and radiocarbon and ceramic chronology as well as a careful description of the material culture of the Mema during the Iron Age (IA). Research comprised two components: a) a regional site survey and b) the excavations at the IA site complex of Akumbu. These two components had the broad common goal of collecting basic information from which future research questions and research strategies could be derived.
