Browsing by Author "MacEachern, S"
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Item Open Access A cache of iron artifacts from the DGB-1 site, northern Cameroon: metallurgical analysis and ethnoarchaeological analogies(Journal of African Archaeology, 2013) MacEachern, S; Scott, D; Datouang Djoussou, J; Carlson, MItem Open Access African models in global histories(2015) MacEachern, SItem Open Access Analysis of Feature Intervisibility and Cumulative Visibility Using GIS, Bayesian and Spatial Statistics: A Study from the Mandara Mountains, Northern Cameroon(PLoS ONE, 2014-11-10) Wright, DK; MacEachern, S; Lee, JThe locations of diy-geδ-bay (DGB) sites in the Mandara Mountains, northern Cameroon are hypothesized to occur as a function of their ability to see and be seen from points on the surrounding landscape. A series of geostatistical, two-way and Bayesian logistic regression analyses were performed to test two hypotheses related to the intervisibility of the sites to one another and their visual prominence on the landscape. We determine that the intervisibility of the sites to one another is highly statistically significant when compared to 10 stratified-random permutations of DGB sites. Bayesian logistic regression additionally demonstrates that the visibility of the sites to points on the surrounding landscape is statistically significant. The location of sites appears to have also been selected on the basis of lower slope than random permutations of sites. Using statistical measures, many of which are not commonly employed in archaeological research, to evaluate aspects of visibility on the landscape, we conclude that the placement of DGB sites improved their conspicuousness for enhanced ritual, social cooperation and/or competition purposes.
Item Open Access Boko Haram, bandits and slave-raiders: identities and violence in a Central African borderland(Canadian Journal of African Studies, 2020-05-03) MacEachern, SBoko Haram is a religiously motivated insurgency with a complex history in Nigeria and origins in urban Maiduguri. Through most of its existence Boko Haram has shown an affinity for border regions: the frontier zones between Nigeria and Niger, the Mandara Mountains on the border with Cameroon, and the shorelines and islands of Lake Chad. This paper argues that this is an historically mediated process. Boko Haram as a borderland phenomenon echoes the hijra of Usman dan Fodio, but also structured forms of violence and wealth creation that have historically united elites and their followers in the region. Moreover, there are continuities between the actions and actors associated with earlier phases of border violence and processes involving Boko Haram today. This suggests that Boko Haram will not be “defeated,” but rather that the region will see a reversion to forms of border violence that were prevalent as recently as the early 2000s.Item Open Access Ethnoarchaeology as slow science(World Archaeology, 2016-10-19) Cunningham, JJ; MacEachern, SItem Open Access Item Open Access Iron Age landscape changes in the Benoué River Valley, Cameroon(Quaternary Research (United States), 2019-09-01) Wright, DK; MacEachern, S; Ambrose, SH; Choi, J; Choi, JH; Lang, C; Wang, HCopyright © 2019 University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press. The introduction of agriculture is known to have profoundly affected the ecological complexion of landscapes. In this study, a rapid transition from C3 to C4 vegetation is inferred from a shift to higher stable carbon (13C/12C) isotope ratios of soils and sediments in the Benoué River Valley and upland Fali Mountains in northern Cameroon. Landscape change is viewed from the perspective of two settlement mounds and adjacent floodplains, as well as a rock terrace agricultural field dating from 1100 cal yr BP to the recent past (<400 cal yr BP). Nitrogen (15N/14N) isotope ratios and soil micromorphology demonstrate variable uses of land adjacent to the mound sites. These results indicate that Early Iron Age settlement practices involved exploitation of C3 plants on soils with low δ15N values, indicating wetter soils. Conversely, from the Late Iron Age (>700 cal yr BP) until recent times, high soil and sediment δ13C and δ15N values reflect more C4 biomass and anthropogenic organic matter in open, dry environments. The results suggest that Iron Age settlement practices profoundly changed landscapes in this part of West Africa through land clearance and/or utilization of C4 plants.Item Open Access Iron Age Landscapes of the Benue River Valley, Cameroon(Journal of Field Archaeology, 2017-09-03) Wright, DK; MacEachern, S; Choi, J; Choi, J; Lang, C; Djoussou, JDThe Iron Age settlements of northern Cameroon were dispersed across the landscape, taking advantage of different eco-climatic zones to exploit a variety of natural resources. Situated at the interface of the upper and lower terraces of the Benue River, mound sites in the area around Garoua have occupation histories spanning multiple centuries. The site of Langui-Tchéboua displays evidence for rapid accumulation of sediments approximately 700 years ago, which may have been a deliberate construction strategy that would have allowed the site’s inhabitants to exploit resources in both floodplain and dryland contexts. The combined use of multiple dating methods and micromorphology provide novel insights into both the mechanisms of anthropogenic landscape change and possible motivations governing those choices.Item Open Access Mixture model of pottery decorations from Lake Chad Basin archaeological sites reveals ancient segregation patterns(Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2016-03-30) O'Brien, JD; Lin, K; MacEachern, SWe present a new statistical approach to analysing an extremely common archaeological data typeâ potsherdsâ that infers the structure of cultural relationships across a set of excavation units (EUs). This method, applied to data from a set of complex, culturally heterogeneous sites around the Mandara mountains in the Lake Chad Basin, helps elucidate cultural succession through the Neolithic and Iron Age. We show how the approach can be integrated with radiocarbon dates to provide detailed portraits of cultural dynamics and deposition patterns within single EUs. In this context, the analysis supports ancient cultural segregation analogous to historical ethnolinguistic patterning in the region. We conclude with a discussion of the many possible model extensions using other archaeological data types.Item Open Access Monumental architecture in mountain landscapes: the diy-geδ-bay sites of northern Cameroon(Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2013-06) MacEachern, S; David, N