Papers by Augustin Ferdinand Charles Holl
Qeios, 2024
Abstract
Anthropological archaeology strives to recover, understand and explain past social dyna... more Abstract
Anthropological archaeology strives to recover, understand and explain past social dynamics. It relies on the uncovered material record to highlight past behavior patterns. For such a research agenda to be successful, one needs to fully understand all aspects of the processes involved in the formation of the archaeological record. It is undisputed that “Abandonment” is the condition sine qua none for the formation of archaeological sites. Fieldwork conducted at the Ye Family high ranking Qing Dynasty office-holder housing complex, outlines the “use-history” of the investigated architectural complex and its adjustment to China recent contemporary history. The housing complex shifted from an initial prestigious imperial office-holder family to a “commune” housing for disadvantaged families during the cultural revolution, to be finally either progressively abandoned and/or re-cycled as storage complex. Combining informant input and field archaeology methodologies, the study of an abandoned elite traditional vernacular house provides the opportunity to decipher abandonment processes and contribute to the theoretical agenda of anthropological archaeology.
Keywords: Anthropological Archaeology; Archaeological theory; Domestic space; Activity Areas; Abandonment behavior; Primary refuse; de facto refuse;
Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2015
Peer-Review Policy: Advanced Open Peer Review policy has been followed for review. This book was ... more Peer-Review Policy: Advanced Open Peer Review policy has been followed for review. This book was thoroughly checked to prevent plagiarism. As per editorial policy, a minimum of two peer-reviewers reviewed the manuscript. After review and revision of the manuscript, the Book Editor approved the manuscript for final publication.
Journal of Anthropological and Archaeological Sciences
Abstract As can be seen from its multiple synonyms, adjustability, versatility, flexibility, adap... more Abstract As can be seen from its multiple synonyms, adjustability, versatility, flexibility, adaptability, etc., mobility is one of the core engines of human biological and cultural evolution. It all started with bipedal gate, manifested itself transfer of raw material through space, and generated mobility technologies with far-reaching consequences that will very likely result in a new speciation event if humans colonize another planet. This brief presentation outlines the long-term evolutionary implications of mobility through the formulation of a simple parsimonious model articulated on three facets of the evolutionary process: • Speciation event • Adaptive radiation • Founder effect The model dubbed “SARFE” and applied to hominins in this paper, is testable and applicable to virtually all aspects of human biological and cultural evolution. Keywords: Mobility; Speciation; Adaptive Radiation; Founder Effect; Ardipithecines; Australopithecines; Homo Sp.; Out of Africa
Journal of Anthropological and Archaeological Sciences
The thesis of this paper is that "mortuary practices" encoded in elaborate mort... more The thesis of this paper is that "mortuary practices" encoded in elaborate mortuary programs that includes the handling of the deceased bodies and their inhumation in their final resting place recapitulates their lives and as such, can be read as their "curriculumvitae". The contribution thus sets out to explore and bring to light pieces of social singularities fossilized in the archaeological record at a limited number of sites in West of Africa. The approach adopted is spatial and bio-archaeological, the deduction of information about behavior, lifestyle, diet, and health out of skeletal remains. The sample is a longitudinal one, ranging from 13,000 to 3000 years BP. It investigates Late Pleistocene and Holocene foragers burials from Iwo Eleru in southwestern Nigeria (West Africa) and Shum Laka in Southwestern Cameroon (Central Africa) and attempts to paint the "portraits" of the remote deceased individuals. Each of the selected case study is unique, refers to specific circumstances, without any claim at cultural connection or continuity.
Traditions and Cultural Heritage: Genesis, Reproduction, and Preservation Augustin F. C. Holl ABS... more Traditions and Cultural Heritage: Genesis, Reproduction, and Preservation Augustin F. C. Holl ABSTRACT The contributions assembled in this volume are the products of an intensive graduate seminar with a strong and practical focus on writing. Methodologies discourses and advices, useful as they can be have limited practical impacts. One learns how to write by writing, over and over again. Accordingly, as the seminar name “Writing Anthropology” suggests was designed through weekly written and oral exercises to practice research writing based on current standard. It is however, the teaching methodology set in place to achieve the formulated goal that set this experiment aside. The pedagogy set in place in this project empowers graduate students, through implementation of mechanisms of collective decision-making. The students are the one making decision about the research themes to be investigated during the whole semester. Each student anonymously suggests a theme. The suggested themes are then listed alphabetically with their frequency of iteration and returned to the students to craft a short list and narrow the range of choices. The student body of that semester decided to focus on a combination of two themes addressed from China perspective: traditions and cultural heritage in anthropological perspectives. Harnessing tools from archaeology, linguistics, and cultural anthropology, the contributions examine the genesis, reproduction, and preservation of these fragile treasures of human mind. Keywords: Writing anthropology; pedagogy; empowerment; traditions; cultural heritage; genesis; reproduction; preservation.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2014
Nouvelles de l'archéologie, 1985
Holl Augustin Ferdinand Charles. Cable (Charles).-Economy and Technology in the Late Stone Age of... more Holl Augustin Ferdinand Charles. Cable (Charles).-Economy and Technology in the Late Stone Age of Southern Natal, 1984. In: Les Nouvelles de l'archéologie, n°21, automne 1985. pp. 101-102
Elsevier eBooks, 2008
Ethiopia and the surrounding lands are better known for their remarkable contribution to paleoant... more Ethiopia and the surrounding lands are better known for their remarkable contribution to paleoanthropology. Stone Age sites spanning the early beginnings of Hominids technology to the present are found all over the area. Highland Ethiopia is one of the major centers for plant domestication that has also adopted cultivars from Near-Eastern origins. Megalithism, the use of large stones to mark burials and key features is dated to around 3000 BC. The shift toward social complexity took place in the first millennium BC. From then on, a succession of chiefdoms, kingdoms, and states rose and fell. One of the best investigated is Axum, with its characteristic ‘skyline’ of impressive stelae.
Nouvelles de l'archéologie, 1984
Holl Augustin Ferdinand Charles. Tegdaoust III : Recherches sur Aoudaghost. Campagnes 1960/65 : E... more Holl Augustin Ferdinand Charles. Tegdaoust III : Recherches sur Aoudaghost. Campagnes 1960/65 : Enquêtes générales, 1984 (Mémoire n° 25), A.D.P.F. In: Les Nouvelles de l'archéologie, n°15, printemps 1984. pp. 100-101
Nouvelles de l'archéologie, 1983
Holl Augustin Ferdinand Charles. Connah (Graham). - Three thousand years in Africa : Man and his ... more Holl Augustin Ferdinand Charles. Connah (Graham). - Three thousand years in Africa : Man and his environment in the Lake Tchad region of Nigeria. - London, New York : Cambridge University Press, 1981. In: Les Nouvelles de l'archéologie, n°12, été 1983. pp. 88-89
Nouvelles de l'archéologie, 1985
Holl Augustin Ferdinand Charles. Haas (Jonathan), 1982.-The Evolution of the Prehistoric State. I... more Holl Augustin Ferdinand Charles. Haas (Jonathan), 1982.-The Evolution of the Prehistoric State. In: Les Nouvelles de l'archéologie, n°18, Hiver 84-85 1985. Archéobotanique. 1ère partie : les différentes disciplines mises en jeu. pp. 121-122
Comptes Rendus Geoscience, Aug 1, 2009
The sandstone escarpment of the Dhar Tichitt in South-Central Mauritania was inhabited by Neolith... more The sandstone escarpment of the Dhar Tichitt in South-Central Mauritania was inhabited by Neolithic agropastoral communities for approximately one and half millennium during the Late Holocene, from ca. 4000 to 2300 BP. The absence of prior evidence of human settlement points to the influx of mobile herders moving away from the ''drying'' Sahara towards more humid lower latitudes. These herders took advantage of the peculiarities of the local geology and environment and succeeded in domesticating bulrush millet-Pennisetum sp. The emerging agropastoral subsistence complex had conflicting and/or complementary requirements depending on circumstances. In the long run, the social adjustment to the new subsistence complex, shifting site location strategies, nested settlement patterns and the rise of more encompassing polities appear to have been used to cope with climatic hazards in this relatively circumscribed area. An intense arid spell in the middle of the first millennium BC triggered the collapse of the whole Neolithic agropastoral system and the abandonment of the areas. These regions, resettled by sparse oasis-dwellers populations and iron-using communities starting from the first half of the first millennium AD, became part of the famous Ghana ''empire'', the earliest state in West African history. To cite this article: A.F.C.
African Archaeological Review, 1985
This paper examines the dynamics of the Neolithic occupation of the Dhar Tichitt region, southeas... more This paper examines the dynamics of the Neolithic occupation of the Dhar Tichitt region, southeastern Mauritania. On the basis of certain ecological constants, the growth cycle of plants, animal behaviour and patterns of settlement, the Dhar Tichitt Neolithic system appears to have been scheduled according to the seasonal availability of the most critical resource: water. R~sum~ Dans cet article, nous nous attetons ~t l'analyse de la dynamique de l'occupation n~olithique de la r~gion du Dhar Tichitt, situfie en Mauritanie sud-orientale. Cette analyse est effectu~e partir de certaines constantes du milieu ~cologique, du cycle de croissance des plantes exploit~es, du comportement des animaux chassfis et ~lev6s et enfin de la structure de l'implantation de sites. Sous ces differents ficlairages, le syst~me n~olithique du Dhar Tichitt paralt s'~tre structurfi par rapport ~ la disponibilit~ saisonni~re de l'eau, qui ~tait alors la ressource critique.
Journal of African Archaeology, Jun 1, 2010
The advent of copper and iron metallurgy is one of the most fascinating debate taking place in su... more The advent of copper and iron metallurgy is one of the most fascinating debate taking place in sub-Saharan Africa archaeology today. Challenging data, that may be accurate or not, are usually ignored or dismissed without serious consideration. Sustained long-term research is nonetheless changing our views on the development of iron metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper presents new evidence from North-Central Africa, in the Djohong area in the Cameroons, and Ndio area in the Central African Republic, both situated in the northeastern part of the Adamawa Plateau. Iron production activities are documented to have taken place as early as 3000–2500 BC. It is the case in habitation sites like Balimbe, Betume, and Bouboun, smelting sites like Gbabiri, and forge sites like Oboui and Gbatoro. The last two sites provide high resolution data on the spatial patterning of blacksmiths’ workshops dating from 2500 to 2000 BC.
Social Sciences in China, Jan 2, 2022
Abstract Current humanity is experiencing extraordinary levels of material and ideal connectivity... more Abstract Current humanity is experiencing extraordinary levels of material and ideal connectivity. Change being constant and stability exceptional and provisional; one has to expect a significant acceleration of change in the next hundred years. The core question is therefore: What kind of future is being shaped for the next generations, our grandchildren and greatgrand children? Without going too far back in time, it is fair to say that the current world was shaped by two different, successive and antinomic global processes: imperial expansion, colonization and domination on the one hand, and resistance, struggle for liberation, and the search for a more equitable world order on the other hand. Against all the odds, European imperialism, civil war, wars of aggression, and Western ostracism, China was an influential actor in the struggle for liberation of Africa from colonialism, got its rightful place in the international world order and is now the second economy of the planet. Globalization resulted in the emergence of a de facto multipolar world, with different models of societies and organizational cultures. These are dialectic processes constantly in operation, but there is however a third crucial area of interest, generally taken granted, that of people and culture. Peaceful relations and sustainable economic development backed by greater cultural and demographic connectivity are better options for the construction of a novel future for humanity. Universities and higher education institutions can play an important role in spearheading and implementing these new orientations for the construction of a future peaceful and sustainable human world in which war will be outlawed. This paper outlines what academics can do to promote such a vision.
CNRS Éditions eBooks, 2010
Un continent à cheval sur l’équateur L’Afrique est un continent massif littéralement à cheval sur... more Un continent à cheval sur l’équateur L’Afrique est un continent massif littéralement à cheval sur l’équateur. Cette situation a d’importantes implications climatiques et biogéographiques. La majeure partie du continent est soumise au régime des moussons avec pluies d’été. Les franges méditerranéennes situées au nord du tropique du Cancer et au sud du tropique du Capricorne sont alimentées par des régimes de pluies d’hiver. Les populations de chasseurs-cueilleurs peuplant le continent pendant ..
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Papers by Augustin Ferdinand Charles Holl
Anthropological archaeology strives to recover, understand and explain past social dynamics. It relies on the uncovered material record to highlight past behavior patterns. For such a research agenda to be successful, one needs to fully understand all aspects of the processes involved in the formation of the archaeological record. It is undisputed that “Abandonment” is the condition sine qua none for the formation of archaeological sites. Fieldwork conducted at the Ye Family high ranking Qing Dynasty office-holder housing complex, outlines the “use-history” of the investigated architectural complex and its adjustment to China recent contemporary history. The housing complex shifted from an initial prestigious imperial office-holder family to a “commune” housing for disadvantaged families during the cultural revolution, to be finally either progressively abandoned and/or re-cycled as storage complex. Combining informant input and field archaeology methodologies, the study of an abandoned elite traditional vernacular house provides the opportunity to decipher abandonment processes and contribute to the theoretical agenda of anthropological archaeology.
Keywords: Anthropological Archaeology; Archaeological theory; Domestic space; Activity Areas; Abandonment behavior; Primary refuse; de facto refuse;
Anthropological archaeology strives to recover, understand and explain past social dynamics. It relies on the uncovered material record to highlight past behavior patterns. For such a research agenda to be successful, one needs to fully understand all aspects of the processes involved in the formation of the archaeological record. It is undisputed that “Abandonment” is the condition sine qua none for the formation of archaeological sites. Fieldwork conducted at the Ye Family high ranking Qing Dynasty office-holder housing complex, outlines the “use-history” of the investigated architectural complex and its adjustment to China recent contemporary history. The housing complex shifted from an initial prestigious imperial office-holder family to a “commune” housing for disadvantaged families during the cultural revolution, to be finally either progressively abandoned and/or re-cycled as storage complex. Combining informant input and field archaeology methodologies, the study of an abandoned elite traditional vernacular house provides the opportunity to decipher abandonment processes and contribute to the theoretical agenda of anthropological archaeology.
Keywords: Anthropological Archaeology; Archaeological theory; Domestic space; Activity Areas; Abandonment behavior; Primary refuse; de facto refuse;
Preface
The essays assembled in “Anthropological Explorations of Gender, Identity, and Economics” feature the takes of a young generation of sharp-minded future anthropologists. They explored current themes in China anthropology but also delve on emerging research topics essentially in contemporary predominantly conservative Confucian China. Explorations in gender issues are making significant progress in addressing broadening range of formerly taboo issues, challenging the predominant traditional patriarchal mind-set. Identities and forms of belonging are like the Roman God Janus, who with his two opposed bearded faces represents the dual and contrasted aspects of all realities. As demonstrated in the assembled papers, identities and forms of belongings that vary enormously across cultures are products of history and are as such in constant reshaping and reformulation depending on the time-scale under consideration. As the saying goes, “Change is constant, and stability the exception”. It is unfortunate that the strong intellectual movement inspired by in the 1970s-1980s that shaped the development of the dynamic subfield of economic anthropology, represented by star researchers like Maurice Godelier, Marvin Harris, Karl Polanyi, or Roy Rappaport – to mention but a few – is marginal in China Anthropology today. The sample assembled in the book “Economic Discourse” suggests however that there is hope in the future. It is with sheer and unapologetic delight that I have worked with the young bright minds who contributed to the outstanding educational experience condensed in this volume.
Preface
The essays assembled in “Anthropological Explorations of Gender, Identity, and Economics” feature the takes of a young generation of sharp-minded future anthropologists. They explored current themes in China anthropology but also delved into emerging research topics essentially in contemporary predominantly conservative Confucian China. Explorations in gender issues are making significant progress in addressing a broadening range of formerly taboo issues, challenging the predominant traditional patriarchal mindset. Identities and forms of belonging are like the Roman God Janus, who with his two opposed bearded faces represents the dual and contrasted aspects of all realities. As demonstrated in the assembled papers, identities and forms of belongings that vary enormously across cultures are products of history and are as such in constant reshaping and reformulation depending on the time scale under consideration. As the saying goes, “Change is constant, and stability the exception”. Unfortunately, the strong intellectual movement inspired in the 1970s-1980s that shaped the development of the dynamic subfield of economic anthropology, represented by star researchers like Maurice Godelier, Marvin Harris, Karl Polanyi, or Roy Rappaport – to mention but a few – is marginal in China Anthropology today. The sample assembled in the book “Economic Discourse” suggests however that there is hope in the future. It is with sheer and unapologetic delight that I have worked with the young bright minds who contributed to the outstanding educational experience condensed in this volume.
Augustin F. C. Holl
At Xiamen University Siming Campus
January 19, 2024 _____________________________________________________________________© Copyright (2024): Author(s). The licensee is the publisher (B P International)
This book entitled ‘Studying Africa and Africans Today’ is derived from the
Second Meeting of Xiamen University Belt and Road Research Institute Africa Regions Sub-Forum, that took place at Xiamen University in April 2019. The different contributions triggered vivid and interesting debates in a collegial and friendly atmosphere. The Africa sub-Forum debates lead to a series of suggestions on how to strengthen the scientific, academic and cultural collaboration and exchange between China and Africa in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative. The strongest recommendation suggests a stronger promotion of cultural, scientific, and academic collaboration and exchanges that will open the way to better mutual understanding. The study is an interdisciplinary research initiative with focus on Africa and people of African descent worldwide. Scholars from different parts of the world, Algeria, Brazil, China, France, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and the United States of America contributed to the debates and discussion that took place at Xiamen university.
Keywords: Cultural collaboration; Africa; Xiamen University; China-Africa
Cooperation.
________________________________________________________________________
© Copyright (2022): Author(s). The licensee is the publisher (B P International)
memória e das identidades.
Nesse sentido, a cultura material abordada nas contribuições deste livro engloba aquela recuperada em escavações arqueológicas em contextos como cemitérios, senzalas, quilombos e portos – em países como Gana,
Estados Unidos, Suriname e Brasil –, exposta em museus e guardada em acervos pessoais em Angola, descrita em documentos do Brasil colonial, e expressa em ruínas, monumentos e paisagens dos dois lados do Atlântico que foram conectados pela experiência africana. Este foco na materialidade permite aos autores resgatar a capacidade de agência dos africanos e de seus descendentes, e, assim, colocá-los no centro de suas próprias histórias, contribuindo, desta forma, para a construção de uma
história Atlântica multivocal e descolonizada.
Este livro foi dividido em quatro eixos temáticos: Paisagens, lugares e cultura material nas sociedades atlânticas; Religiosidades, cosmologias e cultura material no Atlântico negro; Ornamentos e simbolismos na diáspora africana; e Espaço doméstico na comunidade africana e afrodescendente. Esses eixos devem ser considerados mais como uma forma de organizar os trabalhos ao longo de linhas de afinidade do que como pontos estanques, dado que há diversos temas abordados nas contribuições deste volume que perpassam essa divisão.
O livro está composto por 15 capítulos que abordam temas variados da cultura material. Embora a escravidão não seja o tema central dos trabalhos, está presente de forma transversal em todos, pois a dispersão dos africanos de um modo geral esteve associada ao tráfico transatlântico de pessoas. Contudo, os estudos de vestígios do passado permitem acessar outros assuntos sobre essas pessoas, como as tecnologias e seus artefatos, transplantados por africanas e africanos para o outro lado do Atlântico; os objetos utilizados como meio de diálogo com o mundo invisível e que deram sentido às cosmologias criadas e recriadas nos continentes africano e americano; os gostos e estéticas africanas visíveis nos usos de joias de ouro, contas de colares, brincos de marfim e outros adereços utilizados por mulheres e homens e os novos sentidos dados aos lugares habitados por essas pessoas no Novo Mundo.
Com ricas imagens e de fácil leitura para historiadores, arqueólogos e antropólogos, esta obra vai atrair o público geral interessado em artes, museologia, cultura material e na história da circulação dos objetos no mundo atlântico.
Là-bas se dressent pas moins de 28931 mégalithes, sur une aire de 33000 km2 découpée en plus de 1087 stations. Si pour les Européens ces mégalithes s’enveloppaient de mystère en 1896, on doit aux travaux et interprétations des chercheurs du XXème siècle un bilan prometteur qu’accompagnent de nouveaux questionnements laissant encore s’insinuer le rêve. D’une excursion dans le Sine Saloum faite en 1967 avec l’historien médiéviste, africaniste, Raymond Mauny de l’IFAN, à l’occasion du VIème Congrès Panafricain de Préhistoire de Dakar, j’ai conservé des structures mégalithiques découvertes alors, l’impression d’une vivante savane, habitée d’Ancêtres de bétyles et de baobabs qui dialoguaient entre eux et emplissaient l’espace de bruissements immémoriaux. Des vastes cercles de monolithes dressés, sculptés dans la latérite brun-rouge rongée par les vents, n’avaient été retirés que de rares témoins funéraires, moins évocateurs que l’architecture enracinée dans cet espace ouvert. Aussi « Creuser la terre et rompre le silence » pour sortir ce patrimoine de l’oubli fut-il l’objectif des décennies ultérieures, comme l’a montré en 2006 le séminaire dirigé par A. Holl, à l’occasion du 50ème anniversaire de l’Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar.
Entre les fleuves Gambie et Saloum et le long des cours d’eaux intermittents (bolongs) s’individualisent, de Kaolack à Tambacounda, plusieurs provinces mégalithiques, celle de Ngayène retenue ici en est la plus documentée.
Abstract
« Archaeology of Mounds clusters in West Africa » aims to understand the dynamics that enhanced and sustained the settlement systems made of distinct but close mounds. Most of the mounds-clusters are found in low-lying and flat areas in West Africa sahel and savanna. It has been suggested that West-Africa mound-clustering resulted from patterns of residential segregation articulated on ethnicity, specialized occupation, and/or both. However, most of archaeological research conducted so far on this kind of settlementhas failed to test this hypothesis, and does not address the very issues of their processes of formation and patterns of development. The methodology adopted, - single mound sampling approach – does not allow for such explorations. The comprehensive approach presented in this book is articulated on the implementation of complementary excavation strategies. This involves the test excavation of all the mounds of two of the largest mounds clusters found in the study area, and the sampling of a third one, located in a different environmenta context. The fine-grained chronology obtained allows to probe the patterns of growth and diversification of mounds clusters through time, showing the operations of a broad range of settlement location decisions. Bio-anthropological data points clearly to warfare during the scramble for land, that took place during the first quarter of the second millenium AD. Depending on time-sequences, special purpose mounds – iron producers, weavers, karité-oil producers – are differentially integrated in each of the tested mounds-clusters. No single settlement strategy fits all.
Liste des sujets d'exposés et bibliographie indicative
"Ce cours traite de l’émergence de comportements d’ordre symboliques que caractérisent les êtres humains. Il explore les éléments qui permettent de suivre les origines du langage parlé, de l’empathie, et des formes d’expression artistiques dans la longue durée."