Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40379663›Full record

ArticleScientific data2025

A dataset of scientific dates from archaeological sites in eastern Africa spanning 5000 BCE to 1800 CE.

Victor Iminjili, Alison Crowther, Michael T Fisher, Andrea Kay, Patrick Roberts, Steve Goldstein, Nicole Boivin, Ricardo Fernandes

Abstract readDatasetHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific data, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Victor IminjiliDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany. iminjili@gea.mpg.de.
Alison CrowtherSchool of Social Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Brisbane, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2394-1917
Michael T FisherDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.
Andrea KayDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.
Patrick RobertsDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.
Steve GoldsteinDepartment of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, 3302 WWPH, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA.
Nicole BoivinDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.
Ricardo FernandesDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany. fernandes@gea.mpg.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Large collections of archaeological spatiotemporal data can reveal past cultural and demographic trends, land use strategies, and processes of environmental adaptation. Within Africa, archaeological Big Data can contribute to the study of the spread of agriculture, domesticated species, and specific artefacts and technologies, as well as their ecological impacts. Although reviews addressing these topics are available for different parts of the continent, existing mid-late Holocene archaeology datasets have yet to be compiled into a central, open-access, standardized informatic-oriented dataset. Here we present Wanyika, a dataset of scientific dates from archaeological sites in eastern Africa spanning almost 7 millennia, from ~5000 BCE to 1800 CE. This dataset compiles published scientific dates and associated botanical, faunal, iron, and ceramic finds from sites in Kenya, Tanzania, the Comoros Islands, and Madagascar. The records also include data for megafauna extinctions in Madagascar. We describe the spatiotemporal coverage of the dataset, how the data were collected, the structure of the dataset, and the applied quality control measures.

Indexed as

ArchaeologyAfrica, EasternHistory, 18th CenturyHistory, AncientHumans

Identifiers

PMID40379663
PMCPMC12084580

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.