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Aeolian and fluviolacustrine landforms and prehistoric humanoccupation on a technically influenced floodplain margin, the Méma, centralMali

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2017

B. Makaske ,
E. de Vries ,
J.A. Tainter  and
R.J. Mclntosh
B. Makaske*
Affiliation:
Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
E. de Vries
Affiliation:
Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies, University of British Columbia, 6253 Northwest Marine Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
J.A. Tainter
Affiliation:
Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, 5215 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322-5215, U.S.A.
R.J. Mclntosh
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 51 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8277, U.S.A.
*
*Corresponding author. Email: bart.makaske@wur.nl
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Abstract

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The Mema is a semi-arid region in central Mali with a rich archaeologicalheritage indicating the former existence of large urban settlements. Thearchaeological data suggest millennia of occupation history of the Mémapreceding relatively sudden abandonment by the 14th or 15th century AD.Population numbers have remained low since then and today’s human presencein the area is sparse and largely mobile. Geomorphologically, the Méma canbe characterized as a graben hosting various generations of aeolianlandforms and (presently mostly dry) interdunal channels and lakes, linkedto the neighbouring Inland Niger Delta floodplain. Given this setting, andthe variability of the Sahelian climate, climatic contributions to theregion’s sudden abandonment are likely. A geomorphological survey of theregion, and interpretation of the observed geomorphological record in termsof climatic history, aimed at providing a basis for understanding theintensive occupation and subsequent abandonment of the Méma. The results ofthis study underscore dramatic Holocene climatic variability, leading to theregion’s present geomorphological diversity, but also suggest thatneotectonic movements constitute an important additional cause of regionaldesiccation. Both may have encouraged prehistoric people to abandon the Mémaafter a long period of occupation.

Keywords

neotectonicsMémaMaligeomorphologyarchaeologypalaeoclimatology
Type
Research Article
Information
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , September 2007 , pp. 241 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2007

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