The Zambezian Biome (ZB) is an open-canopy woodland ecosystem stretching across southern central Africa, separating the eastern and southern African savannas. These woodland ecosystems have seen far less research than more iconic African savannas, but played a crucial role in the emergence of modern human populations and biogeography, acting as both a crossroads and barrier for human and large herbivore migration at different points in time. In recent history, humans have shaped the ZB by intervening in the climatic and biotic factors that govern the succession of vegetation; however, recent work in northern Malawi have paired archaeology and paleoclimatic records to show anthropogenic changes beginning as early as 85 ka. This long timeframe has strong implications for understanding resilience and management/conservation of resources in the ZB today.
It is important to now build detail about when and how past hunter-gatherers lived, how their environments changed, their relationships with one another, and their ultimate disappearance. The project also has as a long-term goal the improvement of curation resources and research experience and expertise of people within Malawi. Read about what I have learned about working within communities here.
Starting in 2016, The Malawi Ancient Lifeways and Peoples Project (MALAPP) conducts ongoing research with a current focus on the Mzimba District of northern Malawi. This area, and Hora Mountain in particular, is home to rich archives of ancient human behavior and paleoenvironments extending back into the last Ice Age cycle. Research here has led to discovery of some of the oldest ancient human DNA in Africa, which has provided incredible insight into ancient hunter-gatherer population structure across eastern Africa.
For more information on this project, see the official website here.
Technical skills utilized: Photogrammetry; GIS; zooarchaeology; ancient DNA; ABM simulation modelling; lithic technology; paleoenvironmental reconstructions
Contact: Justin Pargeter, Co-Principal Investigator (justin.pargeter@nyu.edu)
Interested students should contact Justin Pargeter via email to learn more.