Middle Africa  (7,821 – 6,094 BCE) Early Holocene — Fishing Villages and Rainforest Abundance

Geographic and Environmental Context

The broad equatorial–central belt of Africa including:

• Chad and Lake Chad Basin,

• the Central African Republic (Ubangi–Sangha region),

• Cameroon (highlands, Adamawa Plateau, coastal plains),

• Equatorial Guinea (islands and coast),

• São Tomé e Príncipe,

• Gabon,

• the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville),

• the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo Basin, Kasai, Katanga, Ituri),

• Angola.

Anchors: Lake Chad, Chari–Logone delta, Adamawa Plateau, Sangha–Ubangi junction, Cameroon Highlands, São Tomé e Príncipe volcanic isles, Congo River mainstem, Kasai–Katanga copperbelt, Ituri rainforest, Angolan escarpment.

• Congo Basin forests lush; Lake Chad large; Cameroon Highlands productive.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

• Holocene optimum: warm, wet, stable.

• Rainforests reached maximum extent.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Semi-sedentary fishing villages on rivers and lakes.

• Intensive gathering of yams, oil palm, nuts, fruits.

• Hunting of antelope, duiker, forest pig, primates.

Technology & Material Culture

• Ground stone tools, polished axes for clearing.

• Bark cloth, fiber nets, fish traps.

• Early pottery appears in Chad/Cameroon ~9th millennium BCE.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Congo River as arterial highway.

• Adamawa Plateau as savanna–forest bridge.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Ancestral burials along river terraces.

• Rock art in Cameroon shows hunting and ritual.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Riverine + forest resources created reliable surplus.

Transition

By 6,094 BCE, Middle Africa sustained semi-sedentary fisher–foragers with pottery.