Vestiges: Traces of Record (May 2022)
Mégalithisme à Botko (Littoral Cameroun) (VIIIè Siècle AD) : Analyses Thermiques Préliminaires et Disposition Rituelle
Abstract
The Botko site is a Cameroonian megalithic site that has been studied since 2013. Because of its location outside the known area of Cameroonian megalithism, it questions the idea that the Grasslands and the northern regions of Cameroon are the only places with this phenomenon in the country. The present text is devoted to one of the megalithic structures of the site. The paper reports the analyses that were carried out on the ceramics discovered within the structure studied and gives the layout of all the elements that make up the structure. This is done with a view to reconstructing, on the one hand, elements of the operating sequence "chaine opératoire" of the ceramics, and on the other hand, certain gestures contributing to the rites undertaken at the altar (the structure studied) around 715 AD. Macroscopic analysis show decorations that correspond to Dibamba D tradition. While the observation of the entire test pit suggests that the celebrant was positioned in its northern area and could have had a brazier to his right to incinerate the offering before placing it in the ceramic pot studied (the receptacle of the altar).
