New Holocene Radiocarbon Dates from the Heart of the Sangha River Interval, Southwestern Central African Republic

What is it about?

The Sangha River Interval is a biogeographical corridor where forest fragmentation during the Late Holocene may have facilitated the southern migration of Bantu-speaking peoples into the interior Congo Basin. Archaeological test excavations in the heart of the northern Sangha River Interval, southwestern Central African Republic were conducted in 2022 and recovered new chronological information from four known sites. These brief investigations serve to double the number of radiocarbon dates in this significant and controversial tract where little archaeological research has been conducted. Charcoal from these sites returned dates of about 2700, 1575 (n=2), and 575 cal years ago with the former representing one of the earliest smelting sites in the Central African rain forest. This record extends metallurgy in the Sangha River region back more than 700 years and suggests that iron production was common here throughout most of the Early Iron Age.

Featured Image