Dr. Kevin MacDonald

What's interesting, of course, environmentally, and this might be getting a little bit ahead of things, but the primary crop associated with NOC is millet. And this was a surprise because people were thinking this is too far south for millet. So what it is showing is that this is an area which didn't have too much rainfall. Too much rain doesn't work for millet.

What's interesting, of course, environmentally, and this might be getting a little bit ahead of things, but the primary crop associated with NOC is millet. And this was a surprise because people were thinking this is too far south for millet. So what it is showing is that this is an area which didn't have too much rainfall. Too much rain doesn't work for millet.

This is an area which is not much off of where the area is today environmentally, probably a bit more tree cover, but it's still largely grassland.

This is an area which is not much off of where the area is today environmentally, probably a bit more tree cover, but it's still largely grassland.

This is an area which is not much off of where the area is today environmentally, probably a bit more tree cover, but it's still largely grassland.

Yes. To give credit to Peter Breunig and his team, who worked for a decade or so in this area, they completely revolutionized our understanding of the settlement landscape. We're looking at relatively small villages, nothing much greater than what would be 100 by 100 meters a hectare. We're dealing with what would be, by archaeological definition, small villages or hamlets.

Yes. To give credit to Peter Breunig and his team, who worked for a decade or so in this area, they completely revolutionized our understanding of the settlement landscape. We're looking at relatively small villages, nothing much greater than what would be 100 by 100 meters a hectare. We're dealing with what would be, by archaeological definition, small villages or hamlets.

Yes. To give credit to Peter Breunig and his team, who worked for a decade or so in this area, they completely revolutionized our understanding of the settlement landscape. We're looking at relatively small villages, nothing much greater than what would be 100 by 100 meters a hectare. We're dealing with what would be, by archaeological definition, small villages or hamlets.

nothing any larger than that, spaced out relatively evenly on the landscape. And you have the use, particularly of pearl millet, but also as a protein, you have cowpeas being cultivated as well. You have canarium trees being exploited. And interestingly, oil palm, which is in use in the area today, does not appear to have been exploited at the time of not

nothing any larger than that, spaced out relatively evenly on the landscape. And you have the use, particularly of pearl millet, but also as a protein, you have cowpeas being cultivated as well. You have canarium trees being exploited. And interestingly, oil palm, which is in use in the area today, does not appear to have been exploited at the time of not

nothing any larger than that, spaced out relatively evenly on the landscape. And you have the use, particularly of pearl millet, but also as a protein, you have cowpeas being cultivated as well. You have canarium trees being exploited. And interestingly, oil palm, which is in use in the area today, does not appear to have been exploited at the time of not

We have a problem archaeologically in that there is very poor bone preservation in this area because of acidic soils. So it's very hard to tell what was being exploited in terms of livestock or hunted game. We can make assumptions. We can suppose that there might be, because there was elsewhere at this time,

We have a problem archaeologically in that there is very poor bone preservation in this area because of acidic soils. So it's very hard to tell what was being exploited in terms of livestock or hunted game. We can make assumptions. We can suppose that there might be, because there was elsewhere at this time,

We have a problem archaeologically in that there is very poor bone preservation in this area because of acidic soils. So it's very hard to tell what was being exploited in terms of livestock or hunted game. We can make assumptions. We can suppose that there might be, because there was elsewhere at this time,

In this part of Africa, if we go particularly towards, say, Ghana to the west, at this time you would have had cattle, and you would have also had sheep and goat. So we sort of assumed that there would be cattle and sheep and goat, probably of dwarf breeds or smaller breeds, because they need to be so in order to be able to survive in more subtly areas like this where you have a lot of tzitzi.

In this part of Africa, if we go particularly towards, say, Ghana to the west, at this time you would have had cattle, and you would have also had sheep and goat. So we sort of assumed that there would be cattle and sheep and goat, probably of dwarf breeds or smaller breeds, because they need to be so in order to be able to survive in more subtly areas like this where you have a lot of tzitzi.

In this part of Africa, if we go particularly towards, say, Ghana to the west, at this time you would have had cattle, and you would have also had sheep and goat. So we sort of assumed that there would be cattle and sheep and goat, probably of dwarf breeds or smaller breeds, because they need to be so in order to be able to survive in more subtly areas like this where you have a lot of tzitzi.

So you need these breeds, which are what we call tropano-tolerant breeds, that can live in these more southerly tropical climes. And the native cattle of Africa and the imported sheep and goat which came into Africa, in order to be able to survive the genetic change which takes place in them, has a sort of consequent effect of dwarfism. So you have size reduction.

So you need these breeds, which are what we call tropano-tolerant breeds, that can live in these more southerly tropical climes. And the native cattle of Africa and the imported sheep and goat which came into Africa, in order to be able to survive the genetic change which takes place in them, has a sort of consequent effect of dwarfism. So you have size reduction.

So you need these breeds, which are what we call tropano-tolerant breeds, that can live in these more southerly tropical climes. And the native cattle of Africa and the imported sheep and goat which came into Africa, in order to be able to survive the genetic change which takes place in them, has a sort of consequent effect of dwarfism. So you have size reduction.