ABSTRACT
For a number of years we have been involved in the study of animal bones from archaeological sites in arid West Africa (MacDonald 1989, 1992, 1993, 1995a, b, 1996a, b; MacDonald & MacDonald 1996, n.d.; MacDonald & Van Neer 1994). Our work has benefited from large, carefully recovered assemblages, and improvements in archaeozoological methodology not available to most previous workers in the region. Thus, this review is heavily reliant on our own primary research on the period between 2000 Bc and Ad 1400 in the West African Sahel, although findings from other researchers and from adjoining regions will be discussed where appropriate. The location of sites mentioned in the text is shown in Fig. 8.1.
