Revisiting Tichitt: new dates and data from the 1968 excavations by Patrick Munson
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The stone-built sites of Dhar Tichitt, Mauritania, occupy a central place in the history and archaeology of West Africa, testifying to village growth after 2000 BC. The 1968 excavations there by Patrick Munson at a dozen sites within a 40-km-long study area produced foundational data and radiocarbon dates that shaped early interpretive frameworks of the Tichitt Tradition. The 14 AMS dates on curated charcoal samples from his excavations reported here provide much greater chronological precision and bring into focus the extent of gaps in existing chronologies that rely on conventional radiocarbon dates. Restudy of the excavated pottery provides new descriptive details, including petrographic analysis, organic residue analysis and data on time-sensitive changes that were previously available only in Munson’s Citation1971 dissertation. Discussion focuses on the evidentiary issues brought to light by the new dates and data and how these affect our ability to understand the growth, functioning and potential interactions over time among the hundreds of settlements attributed to the wider Tichitt Tradition.
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7140139999