L'occupation humaine de la vallée du Guringin (plaine du Séno, Mali)

Archaeological research in the Guringin Valley, Mali, and along the Bandiagara Escarpment reveals that water scarcity in this arid region drove human settlement from Neolithic times to the present. Surface pottery assemblages, analyzed alongside stratified samples from a test pit, show significant inter-site differences, indicating varied population movements and occupational densities. The study suggests that while settlements were modest in size, they were densely populated during the first and early second millennia AD, contrasting with the larger, proto-urban clusters of the Inland Niger Delta. This finding underscores the enduring importance of water as a limiting factor for human habitation in the Sudano-Sahelian plain.

Loukou, S., Huysecom, E., & Mayor, A. (2013). L’occupation humaine de la vallée du Guringin (plaine du Séno, Mali). Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 48(1), 91–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270x.2012.756755