An Ancient Storage Pit in the SW Chad Basin, Nigeria

The-paper examines the evidence for the storing of plant foods in the Nigerian part of the Chad Basin from sites dating to a timespan ranging from 2200 to 400 B.C. (calibrated). The evidence comes from one of those sites (NA 90-5) where, associated with a layer dating between 1500 and 1200 B.C., a feature has been excavated that is interpreted as a storage pit. The argument is supported by the continuous utilization of similar storage pits up to modern times in the same area. While the latter are used for the storing of Pennisetum and Sorghum, it remains uncertain whether domesticated or wild plants were stored in the prehistoric pit. In any case, the feature indicates a certain degree of sedentism for the societies in the SW Chad Basin during the 2nd millennium B.C.