Archaeological sites and related ethnobotanical observations in central and southern Sahara

The research tries to link archaeobotanical studies carried out in different archaeological sites of the central and southern Sahara desert to ethnographical and ethnobotanical investigations on Tuareg Peoples. Data provide information on the possible relationships between current uses and traditions of living populations and early and middle Holocene human impact and land use in the same areas. Pollen, seeds/fruits and plant artifacts from burials, rockshelters and caves give details on plant presence and on their cultural uses in the past as plants and use in traditional houses tell us today. Even if there are many well-preserved archaeological-archaeobotanical materials, in general Saharan and North African studies remain dramatically far away from the potential impact of modern transmission of traditional knowledge. Some examples of long-tradition plant uses in past and modern Saharan contexts will be presented. Multidisciplinary research are basic to interpret data. Modern technologies include Esem microscopy analysis to improve the precision of species determination, and the possibility to make diachronical correlations on cultural transmission processes, and specific strategies of resource exploitation. In this framework, a strong botanical and ecological research is necessary in the site and in the field, helped by geomorphology information and completed by ethnobotanical data.