Burke A, Bisson M, Schilt F, Tolan S, Museba J, Drapeau MSM, Aleman JC, Peros MC. The archaeological potential of the northern Luangwa Valley, Zambia: The Luwumbu basin.
PLoS One 2023;
18:e0269209. [PMID:
36917590 PMCID:
PMC10013907 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0269209]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 03/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The Luangwa Basin, Zambia, which forms part of the Zambezi drainage, is strategically located between the Central African plateau and the East African Rift system. The Luangwa River and major tributaries, such as the Luwumbu River, are perennial water sources supporting essential resources that sustain human communities and a rich and diverse fauna and flora. The archaeological record of Luangwa is relatively unknown, despite early archaeological exploration hinting at its potential. Recent research in the southern Luangwa valley, however, suggests that it preserves a long record of hominin occupation spanning the Early to Late Stone Age. The research described here details fieldwork carried out in northeastern Luangwa, in the Luwumbu Basin, that confirms that a relatively deep package of Quaternary deposits, containing evidence of the Stone Age occupation of the region persists in the upper piedmont zone.
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