Nature Communications (Apr 2021)

Honey-collecting in prehistoric West Africa from 3500 years ago

  • Julie Dunne,
  • Alexa Höhn,
  • Gabriele Franke,
  • Katharina Neumann,
  • Peter Breunig,
  • Toby Gillard,
  • Caitlin Walton-Doyle,
  • Richard P. Evershed

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22425-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Though there is a long archaeological record of the use of honey, beeswax and other bee products, there are few known records from Africa. Here Dunne et al. analyse lipid residues from pottery from the Nok culture, Nigeria, dating to ~3500 years ago and find evidence of the collection and processing of bee products, likely honey.