Potter communities and technological tradition in the Lower Tilemsi Valley, Mali

Abstract

The Tilemsi Valley has long been heralded as a focal region in the development of West African cultural complexity. The Lower Tilemsi Valley Project began in 2005, with the aim of clarifying the archaeological significance of this region and refining its chronology. This paper examines the pottery from these excavations, advocating an integrative approach to analysis in which pottery production is located within an historical and socio-economic context. It does not present a reified ‘type’ of Lower Tilemsi pottery, but instead describes a regional-scale technological tradition, whilst focusing on the local scale of adaptive change and technical innovation.