Quel lien entre les ateliers de taille de Ngo Tchororo et la céramique de Batalimo (RCA) ? / Stone knappers at Ngo Tchororo and pottery makers at Batalimo (CRA), did they meet ?

Batalimo (République centrafricaine) is the eponymous site where the oldest-known pottery in the area was collected. In the Maluba-Batalimo group dating from the 4th century BC through the 2nd century AD, Batalimo ceramics represent the more recent component. Though the site has been excavated a number of times, the exact nature of the association between stone artefacts, pottery and iron working remains unclear. From January 17 to February 15, 2010 we conducted fieldwork on the site of Ngo Tchororo which lies 1, 5 km from the site of Batalimo. Excavations at Ngo Thcororo are an extension of a test pit that one of us (J.P.N.) dug in 2009 and which yielded a thick layer of débitage and a few axes, one of which had traces of polishing. At the site of Batalimo we dug test pits in order to collect samples for further dating and for assessing the palaeolandscape. This paper will report on the first results.