West Africa (6,093 – 4,366 BCE) Middle Holocene — Early Farming and Pastoral Intrusions

Geographic and Environmental Context

The Atlantic and inland belt from Senegal and Mauritania east through Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria (western and central), plus the forest–savanna margins of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

Anchors: Senegal–Gambia valleys, Inland Niger Bend and Inland Delta (Timbuktu, Mopti, Gao), Middle Niger–Kainji basin, Jos Plateau, Hausaland (Kano, Katsina, Zaria), Upper Volta basin, Gold Coast forest margins, Futa Jallon highlands, Dahomey Gap.

• Sahara still humid; Niger and Senegal basins supported farming villages.

• Pastoralists moved south from Sahara margins.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

• Rainfall remained high; dry pulses began ~5000 BCE.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Domestication: millet, sorghum; cattle/goats introduced.

• Farming villages on Niger–Senegal valleys.

• Fishing, hunting continued.

Technology & Material Culture

• Pottery diverse and decorated.

• Grinding stones, hoes.

• Cattle corrals appear.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Trans-Saharan links carried cattle and pottery.

• Niger corridor central.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

• Rock art of cattle, herders, wildlife across Sahara.

• Ritual cattle burials.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

• Mixed farming–herding ensured resilience.

Transition

By 4,366 BCE, West Africa fused farming and pastoralism with foraging.