This article seeks to bring new insights on funerary practices of Ngongo Mbata (17-18th cent. AD), a Kongo Kingdom’s major site. The excavation that took place between 1938 and 1942, has delivered a number of tombs. The skeletal assemblage, curated in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, consists of 38 human skeletons. The bones are badly preserved. With the main aim of conducting the biological profile of Ngongo Mbata’s population (estimation of age, sex and stature). This was completed by a more specific study of dental pathologies and morphological variations to enrich this content. Finally, the studied population was placed in a larger geographical context to shed new light on populations in Central Africa. Despite the bad preservation of skeletons, our study has revealed a high presence of young individuals (less than 30 years old). Besides the dental pathological study has shown, a low frequency of dental carious, dental calculus or periodontal diseases, which seems to indicate a relatively good dental health. Beyond the lifestyles, this research has also revealed different aspects of the funerary practices of Kongo’s society. In the future, isotopic, micro-wear or dental metric variations research, could increase our knowledge and open new perspectives on diet, mobility and geographical origin of this population.
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Caverne X in Waulsort (Namur province, Belgium), excavated in the 19 th century, revealed a burial site which was unexpectedly dated to the Final Upper Paleolithic (10,820 ± 80 BP, OxA-6856) in the 1990's. A re-examination of the collection and a new radiocarbon dating program was recently undertaken. The dates obtained on four left femurs (9285 ± 30 BP, ETH-74725; 9310 ± 30 BP, ETH-74726; 9340 ± 30 BP, ETH-74727; 9300 ± 30 BP, ETH-74728) revealed that the remains should in fact be attributed to the Early Mesolithic, ISSN 0259-3548 25 MM 28:2 (December 2020) consistent with 24 other 14 C dates obtained for eight cave sites in the Meuse Basin which range from ca. 9600 BP to 9000 BP. Caverne X contained 544 human remains belonging to at least nine individuals (one fetus, one perinatal/young child, one teenager, two adolescents/young adults and four adults), and 66 faunal remains consisting mainly of intrusive animals with the possible exception of a cervid antler, and one artefact (a small flint blade). Other than ochre deposits, all alterations (breakage, surface abrasion, impact scars and concretions) are post-depositional in origin. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis indicates a diet primarily based on terrestrial resources from an open landscape with proteins provided by large herbivores. Our study shows that Caverne X fits well with results already obtained for the Meuse Basin cave burials in terms of chronology, minimum number of individuals, funerary rituals and diet.
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