Pots, plants and people: an interdisciplinary documentation of Baïnouk knowledge systems. Ethnoarchaeological approach.

Baïnouk settlements represent the oldest in the Lower Casamance and, the Baïnouk have played very important political and economic roles in the past, especially on trade routes. They have created several states which now coincide with several historical areas in this part of the Senegambia. Baïnouk, whose ethnic, linguistic and political unity is unclear, have been successively destroyed by the first Diola who settled in the Fogny, and by Mandingo incomers. These different invasions and assimilations have resulted in a progressive loss of linguistic and cultural Baïnouk identity. The “survivors” were, in their majority, completely assimilated, while others occupy a few villages scattered in these two areas. The aim of this interdisciplinary project (linguistics, ethnobotany and ethnoarchaeology) is to document the knowledge system of indigenous people by focusing on the noun class systems of the Baïnouk varieties spoken today. It will collect data from in all varieties of Baïnouk (Gunyaamolo, Gubaher, and Gujaher), with a focus on the domains of material culture (especially pottery) and plant taxonomy.

The project will combine linguistic, ethnobotanical and ethnoarchaeological approaches with archaeological excavations. The ethnoarchaeological component is driven by the research questions based on the importance and role of pottery in present-day Baïnouk communities, the importance and role of pottery in the past, and the links of pottery terms with linguistic categorization as evident in the noun class system. Contemporary pottery practices will be compared with archaeological findings. An analysis and comparison of the size, shape, material ornamental styles, etc. of contemporary and historical samples will be undertaken. A comparison with other pottery artifacts attested in Casamance will allow determining how historical samples are linked to contemporary Baïnouk pottery and to that of neighboring groups. At the same time, in close collaboration with the team linguists, the linguistic organization of nominal vocabulary related to pottery in Baïnouk and in the contact languages will be investigated and serve to provide additional evidence pro or contra specific scenarios for the development and spread of pottery. The ethnobotanical component of the project will comprise a detailed study of plants and their uses in the different Baïnouk communities. The plants that exist in this habitat will be collected and preserved in a herbarium. In addition, a detailed investigation of their use as medicines, in construction, agriculture, rituals and social life will be conducted. This component will aim at answering research questions based on the scope and role of plant use in Baïnouk communities; plant taxonomy, and the links of plant taxonomy with linguistic categorization.