Project

R&T Fellowship Julius Lejju: Plant phytoliths as paleoecological indicators for prehistoric agriculture in Uganda

Code
12CE0310
Duration
01 January 2011 → 30 November 2012
Funding
Federal funding: various
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Evolutionary biology
Keywords
agriculture paleoecology African history
 
Project description

Phytoliths are natural glass particles imbedded in plant tissue, which confer protection to grazing. This project focuses on the calibration of fossil phytoliths preserved in lake sediments as paleo-environmental indicators of the past distribution of important African food crops (e.g., banana) in Uganda. Its objective is to determine the exact timing and regional scale of subsistence agriculture by indigenous people during the last few thousand years.