Mapping the Villagescape: An Archaeological Approach to Political Ecology Along the Falemme River, AD 1000–1900

Historical narratives in Upper Senegal largely center on precolonial statecraft, long-distance trade, and ethno-religious mobilization. Drawing on the perspective of political ecology, we examine how these regional processes intersected with village life through local relations to land. Specifically, we chart the long-term dynamics of settlements and their catchments along the Falemme River between the states Gajaaga and Bundu, centered on the Senegal confluence, and a shifting frontier with the non-state societies of Bambuk to the south. This involves first integrating site data from our independent archaeological surveys of the Lower and Middle Falemme study areas into a GIS database for regional analysis of settlements patterns during the second millennium AD. We then compare these patterns with site catchments for surface soils classified from multispectral satellite imagery (Landsat 8 OLI-TIRS) to model everyday access to cultivable land. Our results challenge state-centric narratives of Upper Senegal by suggesting that everyday experiences of village life along the Falemme River were more firmly grounded in local concerns for land and subsistence production than in regional politics of statecraft and frontier.