Four decades have passed since Harlan and Stemler (1976) proposed the eastern Sahelian zone as the most likely center of Sorghum bicolor domestication. Recently, new data on seed impressions on Butana Group pottery, from the fourth millennium BC in the southern Atbai region of the far eastern Sahelian Belt in Africa, show evidence for cultivation activities of sorghum displaying some domestication traits. Pennisetum glaucum may have been undergoing domestication shortly thereafter in the western Sahel, as finds of fully domesticated pearl millet are present in southeastern Mali by the second half of the third millennium BC, and present in eastern Sudan by the early second millennium BC. The dispersal of the latter to India took less than 1000 years according to present data. Here, we review the middle Holocene Sudanese archaeological data for the first time, to situate the origins and spread of these two native summer rainfall cereals in what is proposed to be their eastern Sahelian Sudan gateway to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean trade.

The region of Southern Ethiopia (Borana) and Northern Kenya (Marsabit) is characterised by erratic rainfall, limited surface water, aridity, and frequent droughts. An important adaptive response to these conditions, of uncertain antiquity, has been the hand-excavation of a sequence of deep wells at key locations often along seasonal riverbeds and valley bottoms where subterranean aquifers can be tapped. Sophisticated indigenous water management systems have developed to ensure equitable access to these critical water resources, and these are part of well-defined customary institutional leadership structures that govern the community giving rise to a distinctive form of biocultural heritage. These systems, and the wells themselves, are increasingly under threat, however, from climate change, demographic growth, and socio-economic development. To contribute to an assessment of the scale, distribution and intensity of these threats, this study aimed to evaluate the land-use land-cover (LULC) and precipitation changes in this semi-arid to arid landscape and their association with, and impact on, the preservation of traditional wells. Multitemporal Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellite imagery covering the period 1990 to 2020, analysed at a temporal resolution of 10 years, was classified using supervised classification via the Random Forest machine learning method to extract the following classes: bare land, grassland, shrub land, open forest, closed forest, croplands, settlement and waterbodies. Change detection was then applied to identify and quantify changes through time and landscape degradation indices were generated using the Shannon Diversity Index fragmentation index within a 15 km buffer of each well cluster. The results indicated that land cover change was mostly driven by increasing anthropogenic changes with resultant reduction in natural land cover classes. Furthermore, increased fragmentation has occurred within most of the selected buffer distances of the well clusters. The main drivers of change that have directly or indirectly impacted land degradation and the preservation of indigenous water management systems were identified through an analysis of land cover changes in the last 30 years, supporting insights from previous focused group discussions with communities in Kenya and Ethiopia. Our approach showed that remote sensing methods can be used for the spatially explicit mapping of landscape structure around the wells, and ultimately towards assessment of the preservation status of the indigenous wells.

Charred botanical remains and plant impressions in pottery sherds and baked clay pieces recovered during survey and archaeological excavation mainly at Mahal Teglinos (Kassala, K-1), Sudan, were examined for botanical remains. Archaeobotanical analyses were undertaken on these and similar artefacts recovered during surveys of the same site and its surrounds (Kashim el-Girba and Shurab el-Gash). The studied samples yield evidence for plant use and cultivation of millets and the presence of different edible and non-edible plant species. This paper focuses primarily on the varieties of small seeded millets recovered from archaeological contexts. Previous archaeobotanical reports from the region lack detailed reports on the early history and agricultural value of small seeded millets, except for a focus on sorghum and pearl millet. The recovered millet varieties include Paspalum, Setaria, Brachiara, Echinochloa and Pennisetum. The identified taxa were both morphologically wild and cultivated. They date to between the mid-fourth millennium BC (Butana Group) and the mid-first millennium AD (Hagis Group). The results of the study indicate that alongside sorghum were small seeded millets likely used for human consumption and/or animal fodder in settlement contexts dating back to the mid-fourth millennium BC. Unlike previous reports on seed impressions and glumes, this study also relies on analysis of desiccated and charred small seeded millets.

An ethnoarchaeological study was conducted in northwestern Ethiopia on the cultivation of dagusa (Amharic), commonly known as finger millet (Eleusine coracana) in English. Dagusa is one of the most important cereals and staple foods in East and Central Africa. The field study examined crop-processing activities from land preparation to food processing. The study documented traditional agricultural techniques, land races, labor organization, foods, and rituals associated with cultivation of the crop. Experimental charring was conducted to examine the transformation and preservation of different varieties of dagusa including cultivated and wild progenitor varieties within both oxidized and reduced combustion environments. The results show that survivability varies by seed color at temperatures between 250°C and 350°C. All components of the plants show better rates of survivability at these lower temperatures. The combined ethnoarchaeological and experimental study could influence where and how archaeobotanists observe evidence of food production and processing of finger millet.

Ethnoarchaeological research was conducted on traditional agriculture and use of noog (Guizotia abyssinica (L.) Cass.) as well as its wild progenitor, mech (Guizotia scabra (Vis.) Chiov) in present day Ethiopia. The study revealed technological and social aspects of this oil crop. Various traditional processing methods (field and household), division of labor, and economical and cultural values are outlined and described. The study shows the probability of charred remains occurring as a result of field processing noog and household processing of noog and mech. It is, however, difficult to differentiate, based on residue composition, the various field processing activities because of similarity of components and absence of weed seeds associated with the noog crop. The tools used in the processing do not leave evidence in the archaeological record indicative of the presence of noog and mech.

This research presents the result of analysis of anthracological remains excavated from four archaeological sites located in the Bale Mountains. The samples were collected from the early Late Stone Age occupation phase to the early arrival of pastoralists in the Bale Mountains (46.5 ka-1.2 ka). The aims of the study are: to reconstruct firewood collection, vegetation history, to shed new light on the poorly understood environmental conditions during human occupation phases in the Bale Mountains, and to understand interactions between past humans and their environment in African high-altitude ecozone. The investigation was conducted on a total of 485 charcoal macro-remains, from which, a total of 328 were identified into taxa and seven different plant species were recorded. The recorded taxa include Erica cf. arborea type (n=75), Myrsine type (n=69), Solanum type (n=48), Artemisia cf. afratype (n=44), Hagenia abyssinica (n=42), Hypericum type (n=29) and Juniperus type (n=21). This study addresses various important issues, including firewood collection, vegetation cover, palaeoenvironment, prehistoric human ecological preferences, and adaptation strategies in the afro-alpine region of the Bale Mountains.