Tichitt-Walata and the Middle Niger - PanAfrican Association of ...

438 Kevin C. MacDonald
That there was movement between the Merna and Tichitt-Walata is evidenced by imported
stone materials of Phthanite, Amazonite and Jasper from Mauritania. Indeed, it is possible that
Ndondi Tossokel and Kobadi trade contact long predates the first arrival of the former's settlements
in the region. Above all, trade could have been in the form of commodities: rare stones and cattle for
fish and possibly grain.
Around 1300 BC it would also appear that the Kobadi tradition underwent a shift, with the
appearance of Ben5touma ware. This may simply represent a later phase of the Kobadi tradition, but
it is notable that Beretouma ceramics occur frequently on sites where Kobadi and Ndondi-Tossokel
ceramics co-exist. Is it possible that the Beretouma tradition might instead be a product of contact
between these two groups? In some cases the two populations appear to have lived side by side, or
at the very least there was a seasonal trade between them.
Evidence to support this assertion comes from the pastoral element of the Ndondi Tossokel
economy. If the cattle had not yet developed tsetse resistance, a substantial seasonal displacement to
the north would have been essential for their herds survival, and would have constituted a barrier to
any southward penetration of the zone (Smith 1979). Even if their livestock were tsetse resistant, it
would have been difficult for them to have survived in a floodplain environment during the wet
season if only for reasons of space and hoof-rot. In any event, their displacements need not have
been the vast migrations practised by modern pastoral groups. Wet season settlements could even
have been located less than 50 km away, at the Mauritanian sandstone inselbergs of which Saberi
Faita is the southernmost. Questions of this nature will remain unanswerable until work is continued
in the Merna, and survey is conducted in the adj9ining Dhar Nema region.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Tereba Togola for our long-standing friendship and continuing collaboration.
I am also grateful to Patrick Munson for access to collections and some enlightening discussions.
Funding for my participation in the Merna Project was supplied by a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship
(1989/90).
References
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