Revisiting Kalundu Mound, Zambia: implications for the timing of social and subsistence transitions in Iron Age Southern Africa

Novel trajectories of food production, urbanism, and inter-regional trade fueled the emergence of numerous complex Iron Age polities in central and southern Africa. Renewed research and re-dating efforts in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and along the Swahili Coast are transforming models for how inter-regional interaction spheres contributed to these patterns. While societies in present-day Zambia played an important role in the trade of copper, ivory, gold, and other resources between central and southern Africa, little is known about lifeways during the rise of social complexity in this region. This paper reports the results of re-excavation at Kalundu Mound on the Batoka Plateau of southern Zambia, one of the iconic mound sites of the Iron Age “Kalomo Culture.” New radiocarbon dates were combined with the original dates in a series of Bayesian models, indicating that previous chronologies for the site are not reliable and that the mound site likely developed rapidly from AD 1190 to 1410. Archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and paleo-proteomic analyses of excavated materials suggests a broad subsistence base combining wild and domesticated species, including the first reported evidence for finger millet (Eleusine coracana) in the region. Considering these findings, it is necessary to re-evaluate the temporal context of the Kalomo site-group, and to also systematically reinvestigate the systems of exchange and subsistence that supported Later Iron Age complexity.Introduction Situating Kalundu Mound Within the Regional Archaeology Kalundu Mound and the Kalomo Culture - Environmental Setting and Regional History - The 1957 Excavations - The 1960–1962 Excavations - The 2017 Excavations Results - Stratigraphy - Chronology - Chronological Modeling Results - Chronology Summary Subsistence - Faunal Remains - Macrobotanical Remains - Material culture Discussion - Site Formation - Iron Age Agriculture at Kalundu - Chronology for Kalundu Mound and the Kalomo Group Conclusio

Distinguishing African bovids using Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS): new peptide markers and insights into Iron Age economies in Zambia

Assessing past foodways, subsistence strategies, and environments depends on the accurate identification of animals in the archaeological record. The high rates of fragmentation and often poor preservation of animal bones at many archaeological sites across sub-Saharan Africa have rendered archaeofaunal specimens unidentifiable beyond broad categories, such as “large mammal” or “medium bovid”. Identification of archaeofaunal specimens through Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS), or peptide mass fingerprinting of bone collagen, offers an avenue for identification of morphologically ambiguous or unidentifiable bone fragments from such assemblages. However, application of ZooMS analysis has been hindered by a lack of complete reference peptide markers for African taxa, particularly bovids. Here we present the complete set of confirmed ZooMS peptide markers for members of all African bovid tribes. We also identify two novel peptide markers that can be used to further distinguish between bovid groups. We demonstrate that nearly all African bovid subfamilies are distinguishable using ZooMS methods, and some differences exist between tribes or sub-tribes, as is the case for Bovina (cattle) vs. Bubalina (African buffalo) within the subfamily Bovinae. We use ZooMS analysis to identify specimens from extremely fragmented faunal assemblages from six Late Holocene archaeological sites in Zambia. ZooMS-based identifications reveal greater taxonomic richness than analyses based solely on morphology, and these new identifications illuminate Iron Age subsistence economies c. 2200–500 cal BP. While the Iron Age in Zambia is associated with the transition from hunting and foraging to the development of farming and herding, our results demonstrate the continued reliance on wild bovids among Iron Age communities in central and southwestern Zambia Iron Age and herding focused primarily on cattle. We also outline further potential applications of ZooMS in African archaeology.Introduction Faunal identifications and key research questions ZooMS in African archaeology Materials & methods Collagen extraction and digestion Peptide mass fingerprinting LC-MS/MS Biomarker identification and confirmation Identification of archaeological samples Results and discussion - Data quality control - Distinguishing among bovid groups Comparison with published markers ZooMS analysis and archaeofaunal identifications Herding economies and the persistence of hunting in Iron Age Zambia Conclusio

Revisiting Kalundu Mound, Zambia: Implications for the Timing of Social and Subsistence Transitions in Iron Age Southern Africa

Novel trajectories of food production, urbanism, and inter-regional trade fueled the emergence of numerous complex Iron Age polities in central and southern Africa. Renewed research and re-dating efforts in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and along the Swahili Coast are transforming models for how inter-regional interaction spheres contributed to these patterns. While societies in present-day Zambia played an important role in the trade of copper, ivory, gold, and other resources between central and southern Africa, little is known about lifeways during the rise of social complexity in this region. This paper reports the results of re-excavation at Kalundu Mound on the Batoka Plateau of southern Zambia, one of the iconic mound sites of the Iron Age “Kalomo Culture.” New radiocarbon dates were combined with the original dates in a series of Bayesian models, indicating that previous chronologies for the site are not reliable and that the mound site likely developed rapidly from AD 1190 to 1410. Archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological, and paleo-proteomic analyses of excavated materials suggests a broad subsistence base combining wild and domesticated species, including the first reported evidence for finger millet (Eleusine coracana) in the region. Considering these findings, it is necessary to re-evaluate the temporal context of the Kalomo site-group, and to also systematically reinvestigate the systems of exchange and subsistence that supported Later Iron Age complexity

The coincidence of ecological opportunity with hybridization explains rapid adaptive radiation in Lake Mweru cichlid fishes

Abstract: The process of adaptive radiation was classically hypothesized to require isolation of a lineage from its source (no gene flow) and from related species (no competition). Alternatively, hybridization between species may generate genetic variation that facilitates adaptive radiation. Here we study haplochromine cichlid assemblages in two African Great Lakes to test these hypotheses. Greater biotic isolation (fewer lineages) predicts fewer constraints by competition and hence more ecological opportunity in Lake Bangweulu, whereas opportunity for hybridization predicts increased genetic potential in Lake Mweru. In Lake Bangweulu, we find no evidence for hybridization but also no adaptive radiation. We show that the Bangweulu lineages also colonized Lake Mweru, where they hybridized with Congolese lineages and then underwent multiple adaptive radiations that are strikingly complementary in ecology and morphology. Our data suggest that the presence of several related lineages does not necessarily prevent adaptive radiation, although it constrains the trajectories of morphological diversification. It might instead facilitate adaptive radiation when hybridization generates genetic variation, without which radiation may start much later, progress more slowly or never occur

Youth engagement in developing an implementation science research agenda on adolescent HIV testing and care linkages in sub-Saharan Africa

The importance of youth engagement in designing, implementing and evaluating programs has garnered more attention as international initiatives seek to address the HIV crisis among this population. Adolescents, however, are not often included in HIV implementation science research and have not had opportunities to contribute to the development of HIV-related research agendas. Project Supporting Operational AIDS Research (SOAR), a United States Agency for International Development-funded global operations research project, involved youth living with HIV in a meeting to develop a strategic implementation science research agenda to improve adolescent HIV care continuum outcomes, including HIV testing and counseling (HTC) and linkage to care

Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers

Multiple lines of genetic and archaeological evidence suggest that there were major demographic changes in the terminal Late Pleistocene epoch and early Holocene epoch of sub-Saharan Africa(1-4). Inferences about this period are challenging to make because demographic shifts in the past 5,000 years have obscured the structures of more ancient populations(3,5). Here we present genome-wide ancient DNA data for six individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years (doubling the time depth of sub-Saharan African ancient DNA), increase the data quality for 15 previously published ancient individuals and analyse these alongside data from 13 other published ancient individuals. The ancestry of the individuals in our study area can be modelled as a geographically structured mixture of three highly divergent source populations, probably reflecting Pleistocene interactions around 80-20 thousand years ago, including deeply diverged eastern and southern African lineages, plus a previously unappreciated ubiquitous distribution of ancestry that occurs in highest proportion today in central African rainforest hunter-gatherers. Once established, this structure remained highly stable, with limited long-range gene flow. These results provide a new line of genetic evidence in support of hypotheses that have emerged from archaeological analyses but remain contested, suggesting increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. DNA analysis of 6 individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years, and of 28 previously published ancient individuals, provides genetic evidence supporting hypotheses of increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The use of Deep Reinforcement Learning in Tactical Asset Allocation - Python Code

Python notebooks and files for the implementation of Deep Reinforcement Learning in Tactical Asset Allocatio

Excavations at the Iron Age village site of Fibobe II, Central Zambia

The period from c. AD 900 to AD 1300 in southern Africa is characterized by transitions from small-scale Iron Age mixed economy communities to the beginnings of more intensive food production and eventually the emergence of complex polities. In Zambia, this coincides with the appearance of larger and more permanent agro-pastoralist villages that began participating in Indian Ocean trade networks. Unlike other parts of southern Africa where stone architecture became common, the predominance of wattle-and-daub type construction methods across Zambia have often impeded preservation of Iron Age activity areas. It has therefore been difficult to reconstruct how economic and land-use changes between the Early and Later Iron Ages impacted family and community relationships reflected in intra-site and intra-household spatial organization. Fibobe II, in the Mulungushi River Basin of Central Zambia, is a rare example of an Early-to-Mid Iron Age village site where these spatial patterns may be discernable due to preservation of activity spaces and vitrified remains of wattle-and-daub structures. This paper reports on new investigations following original testing of the site in 1979, confirming preservation of an Iron Age hut with distinct patterning of features, artifacts, and charcoal. These results reaffirm the unique nature of Fibobe II and indicate the potential for programs of household archaeology aimed at studying this important and understudied period in Zambian prehistory

Phylogeographic and phenotypic assessment of a basal haplochromine cichlid fish from Lake Chila, Zambia

The basal haplochromine genus Pseudocrenilabrus comprises three valid species, although the current taxonomy most probably underestimates species richness. Previous phylogeographic studies on the P. philander species complex revealed a clear structuring of populations, shaped by river capture events. Here we report the discovery of P. cf. philander in Lake Chila, a small lake south of Lake Tanganyika. We were interested whether discrete morphs, similar to what has been found in Lake Mweru and the Lunzua River, were present in Lake Chila. We evaluated the phenotypic variability of the population in relation to other lacustrine and riverine populations by quantifying colouration and body shape. To place the specimens in a phylogeographic framework, we inferred a phylogeny based on the most variable part of the mitochondrial control region. We found two divergent mtDNA lineages in Lake Chila and tested for population structure and admixture between the lineages using microsatellite data. Our study reveals a complex phylogeographic pattern and demonstrates admixture of distant mtDNA lineages in Lake Chila, producing a hybrid swarm with substantial phenotypic variability. Unlike in Lake Mweru, Pseudocrenilabrus has not diversified further into discrete morphs in Lake Chila, probably because of the long-term instability of the lake and the presumed recency of the admixture event