@article{PAR00013357,
  title = {{M}iddle to late {H}olocene paleoclimatic change and the early {B}antu expansion in the rain forests of {W}estern {C}entral {A}frica},
  author = {{B}ostoen, {K}. and {C}list, {B}. and {D}oumenge, {C}. and {G}rollemund, {R}. and {H}ombert, {J}. {M}. and {M}uluwa, {J}. {K}. and {M}aley, {J}ean},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{T}his article reviews evidence from biogeography, palynology, geology, historical linguistics, and archaeology and presents a new synthesis of the paleoclimatic context in which the early {B}antu expansion took place. {P}aleoenvironmental data indicate that a climate crisis affected the {C}entral {A}frican forest block during the {H}olocene, first on its periphery around 4000 {BP} and later at its core around 2500 {BP}. {W}e argue here that both phases had an impact on the {B}antu expansion but in different ways. {T}he climate-induced extension of savannas in the {S}anaga-{M}bam confluence area around 4000-3500 {BP} facilitated the settlement of early {B}antu-speech communities in the region of {Y}aounde but did not lead to a large-scale geographic expansion of {B}antu-speaking village communities in {C}entral {A}frica. {A}n extensive and rapid expansion of {B}antu-speech communities, along with the dispersal of cereal cultivation and metallurgy, occurred only when the core of the {C}entral {A}frican forest block was affected around 2500 {BP}. {W}e claim that the {S}angha {R}iver interval in particular constituted an important corridor of {B}antu expansion. {W}ith this interdisciplinary review, we substantially deepen and revise earlier hypotheses linking the {B}antu expansion with climate-induced forest openings around 3000 {BP}.},
  keywords = {{AFRIQUE} {CENTRALE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{C}urrent {A}nthropology},
  volume = {56},
  numero = {3},
  pages = {354--384},
  ISSN = {0011-3204},
  year = {2015},
  DOI = {10.1086/681436},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/{PAR}00013357},
}