Replacement in progress. Insights on disappearing pottery shapes and functions in favour of metal and plastic containers in Lower Casamance, Senegal (20th-21st century AD). - HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Communication dans un congrès Année : 2022

Replacement in progress. Insights on disappearing pottery shapes and functions in favour of metal and plastic containers in Lower Casamance, Senegal (20th-21st century AD).

Résumé

As part of the SNF Sinergia project Foodways in West Africa, an ethnographic investigation focused on pottery use and food habits has been conducted in three villages from Lower Casamance in Senegal (Agnack Petit, Diattang and Edioungou). The typometry and use-wear of 262 ethnographic pots coming from 24 different houses have been documented in order to create a reference collection useful to interpret the function of ancient pottery. Such comprehensive study has allowed to establish a set of diagnostic criteria of various pottery function still present in Lower Casamance. In parallel, a 20th century dump site, called “La Poubelle des Mamans” has been archaeologically investigated in one of the villages (Edioungou). The ceramic vessels unearthed during the excavation (MNI 330) have been the subject of a similar functional analysis combining typometry and use-wear and have been compared to the assemblage of pottery still in use in the village. The goal of this comparison is to offer in depth data to understand the evolution of the use of pots and subsequently, food practices. The results of this study have highlighted different paces of changes. On the one hand, some pots such as water storage jars show a great continuity, the reason of it is to be found in their technical performances, such as refreshing the water in the absence of refrigerators. On the other hand, the archaeological record shows that some shapes have nearly completely disappeared, such as low open mouth pots or narrow globular pots, formerly used for a large range of activities from transport to hygiene. They have been replaced with similar shapes made from plastic, glass and enamelled metal. Some of them have also been simply abandoned following behavioural changes, such as collecting water, the installation of running water in the village preventing women to search for water far away. Some cultural specificities have also emerged from this study. Wwhile most villages studied have abandoned cooking pots in favour of metal pots and pans, some local recipes still require the use of earthen pots for various reasons and allowed their survival to this day. This is the case for example with fish cooked in lemon juice. In conclusion, it seems that several complex phenomena (performance characteristics, religion, food habits and availability) have driven the evolution of pottery use in Lower Casamance and at different rates. These insights help understand archaeological rhythms of changes and disappearances in pottery shapes.
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Dates et versions

halshs-03951604, version 1 (23-01-2023)

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  • HAL Id : halshs-03951604 , version 1

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Pauline Debels, Julien Vieugué, Anne Mayor. Replacement in progress. Insights on disappearing pottery shapes and functions in favour of metal and plastic containers in Lower Casamance, Senegal (20th-21st century AD).. 16th Congress of the PanAfrican Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies, Elgidius Ichumbaki, Aug 2022, Zanzibar, Tanzania. ⟨halshs-03951604⟩
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