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This year marks the seventh consecutive field season of a long-term investigation of the Senegambian “megalithic phenomenon” by the Sine Ngayene Archaeological Field Project (SNAP) directed by U-M Professor Augustin Holl and Senegalese archaeologist Hamady Bocoum. Nearly 2000 Senegambian megalithic sites comprise an archaeological phenomenon that extends over a considerable area of central Senegal and the Gambia. |
| Overview of Ngayene II. Photo taken by Amanda Logan 2007 |
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Dating anywhere from 200 BC to AD 1500, these sites usually include circular burial monuments built of upright stones in addition to a variety of other monument types including earthen tumuli and smaller stone circles. These megalithic tombs also include a wide array of burial treatments—from single individuals to massive secondary interments of the remains from a few dozen people.
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Burial at Santhiou Ngayene. Photo taken by Amanda Logan 2007 |
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Artifacts such as copper and iron jewelry and iron spears often accompanied the deceased into the grave. While amateur and professional excavations date back at least a century, SNAP is the first archaeology program in this region to use rigorous field methods in order to answer anthropological questions about the prehistoric human societies who buried their dead in these formidable megalithic cemeteries. In the first two field seasons a survey along a 26 km stretch of the Petit Bao Bolon seasonal river drainage revealed over 40 megalithic sites in addition to several possible settlement sites, stone quarries, and iron smelting areas. Excavations were also undertaken at the megalithic site of Sine Ngayène, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the subject of a 2007 publication by Holl et al. in the Journal of African Archaeology . Beginning in the 2004 field season, excavations have focused on the medium-sized cemetery of Ngayene II which includes some 38 burial monuments. |
| UM students excavating Feature 31 at Ngayene II. Photo taken by Amanda Logan 2007 |
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During the 2007 field season lasting six weeks in May and June, a team of graduate and undergraduate students led by Dr. Holl completed excavations at the site of Ngayene II and began work at the easternmost site in the study region, Santhiou Ngayene. These sites represent the second and third “tiers” in a hierarchy of mortuary sites and will ultimately shed light on the ritualized burial practices and social organization practiced by Iron Age people throughout the region. As a field school for U-M undergraduates, SNAP provides an opportunity for students to learn basic archaeological techniques of survey, excavation, and analysis of ceramic pottery, metal tools, and human remains. In addition, students learn about Senegalese culture during their stay at the U-M archaeological field station in the village of Ngayene-Sabakh and through field trips to other megalithic sites and cultural landmarks in Senegal, including Ile de Goree, the Museum of IFAN, and one of the world’s largest markets in the city of Kaolack.
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| UM undergraduates Avani Naik, Wendy Wong, Katherine Carlton and Shaeli Bowers excavating a line of offering pots in the frontal zone of Feature 2 at Santhiou Ngayene. Photo taken by Amanda Logan 2007 |
UM graduate student Cameron Gokee and undergraduates Shaeli Bowers, Wendy Wong, Katherine Carlton, and Brennan Quenneville taking a break at the megalith site of Ngayene II. Photo taken by Amanda Logan 2007 |
