Achievement

In May 2008, Lupo traveled to the Central African Republic to solidify ties with the Boganda Museum and examine ceramic collections. The collections will be used by Kristin Safi (new IPEM trainee) for her dissertation. Her research project applies phylogenetics to the analysis of prehistoric ceramics from the Congo Basin. Ceramics in the Congo Basin were purportedly introduced by Bantu farmers who migrated from a common homeland some 4500-2000 years BP. Safi’s study will mark a new direction for African ceramic analysis and will shed light on the migrations of modern linguistic groups and the cultural transmission of traits.