Plants and People in the African Past

Introduction.- 1. Archaeobotanical study of plant diversity at Early Dynastic Helwan (3100-2600 B.C.); Egypt; Adel M. Ahmed et al.- 2. The archaeobotanical remains found in valley of the King (kv 63), Luxor, Egypt; Rim S. Hamdy, Ahmed G. Fahmy.- 3. Diet and trade in Amheida /Trimithis (Dakhleh Oasis - Egypt), new insights from the archaeobotanical analysis; Valentina Caracuta et al.- 4. Archaeobotanical studies from Hierakonpolis - evidence of food processing during the Predynastic period in Egypt; Elshafaey Abdelatif Elshafaey Attia et al.- 5. Grapes, raisins and wine? Archaeobotanical Finds from an Egyptian Monastery; Mennat-Allah El Dorry.- 6. Integrated analyses of ancient wild cereals from Takarkori rock shelter (SW Libya); Rita Fornaciari et al.- 7. The Holocene vegetation of Tin Hanakaten cave (Tassilin'Ajjer, Algerian Sahara central); Samira Amrani.- 8. The use of wild plants in the Palaeolithic and Neolithic of NW Africa: preliminary results from the paleoplant project. (formerly: Plant use in northern Africa during the Early Holocene); Yolanda Carrión et al.- Archaeology and Palaeoecology: integrated methods.- 9. The translocation of useful trees in African prehistory; Roger Blench.- 10. Mid-Holocene environmental change at Mtwapa Creek, Kenya: distinguishing human activity from regional ecological processes; Ryan M. Szymanski.- 11. Multiscalar perspectives on Holocene climatic and environmental changes: Saharan and Nile Corridor patterns with special consideration of Sai Island archaeological sites; Elisabeth Hildebrand et al.- 12. Pollen analyses of sediments from an archaeological deposit in Motako, southwest Nigeria; Kingsley C. Daraojimba et al.- 13. Pits at Pangwari: thoughts on the taphonomy of charcoals from several pits at a multi-phased Nok site, Central Nigeria; Alexa Höhn et al.- Plant Use, Agricultural History and Ethnoarchaeology: Foods and Fields.- 14. Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa by 1800 - a map and a gazetteer (formerly: Agricultural

Anna Maria Mercuri has a 30-years experience in Palynology and Archaeobotany. She contributed to the onset of the Laboratory of Palynology and Palaeobotany of Modena. Her lines of research are human impact, cultural landscapes, resource exploitation and human behaviour, in Northern-Africa and Italian sites.KEY WORDS: palynology, palaeoethnobotany, botany, LTHI-Long Term Human Impact, LTE-Long-Term Ecology, Sahara, Northern Africa, Mediterranean basin, Lateglacial/Holocene.