Early Bantu speakers crossed through the dense Central African Rainforest 4,000 years ago
The study used novel computational approaches and linguistic data from more than 400 Bantu languages to reconstruct the historic migration routes. The project was a collaboration between scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Bantu man and women working the fields near Kismayo in Somalia.
The Bantu Expansion transformed sub-Saharan Africa's linguistic, economic, and cultural composition. Today, more than 240 million people speak one of the more than 500 Bantu languages. It is generally accepted that the ancestors of current Bantu speakers lived around 5,000 to 6,000 years before present in a region by the current border of Nigeria and Cameroon. However, until recently, it was not known how and when they succeeded in crossing southward through or around the dense Central African Rainforest to finally settle in their current locations, covering about half of the African continent.
In their current study, researchers analyzed linguistic data from more than 400 Bantu and other closely related languages. From this data, using novel methods, they built a dated language family tree and reconstructed the geographic spread of Bantu speakers. In contrast to previous claims, the southwards expansion happened approximately 4,000 years ago - a long time before the savanna corridor through the dense rainforest opened. It had previously been thought that agriculturalist populations, such as the early Bantu speakers, would not have been able to maintain their agricultural traditions in a dense rainforest environment.
Linguistic data tells us a story of migrations
Bantu migrations reconstructed from linguistic data. The homeland is marked with a star, the main nodes are numbered (1-3), and the origins of the main clades (0-23) are marked with their respective colors.
The authors used a novel method, borrowed from genetics, to account for possible geographic biases in the reconstruction: "It turns out that there are actually more than 600 Bantu and other related documented languages, but there is not enough lexical data available for about one third of them. Therefore, we implemented a so-called sequence-free sampling - a way to overcome this bias and build a more robust geographic reconstruction, including all documented Bantu languages", comments Ezequiel Koile, lead author of this research. "It's really exciting to be able to use these methods to provide the most comprehensive analysis of the Bantu languages to date. These methods give us real power to resolve these long-standing debates about major human population expansions", adds Simon Greenhill, co-author of the study.
Besides the sequence-free sampling approach, an important methodological improvement in the reconstruction of past migration routes was the use of a "break-away" model. "According to this model, at every split in the language tree, one of the populations stays in the same place, while the other migrates. This seems more realistic than other diffusion-based methods, where both populations are forced to migrate," explains Remco Bouckaert, developer of this geographic model.
Agriculturalists can adapt to a dense rainforest
It was previously thought that for a human group characterized by its agricultural practices, such as the early Bantu populations, it would have been hard, if not impossible, to cross the Central African rainforest. "The idea was that the dense rainforest made it very difficult to transport and maintain the crops and cattle that characterized the Bantu expansion. While changes in type of subsistence are attested in history, they tend to be relatively rare," comments Damián Blasi, one of the article's co-authors.
This is why it had generally been accepted that these populations migrated through the Sangha River Interval - a savanna corridor that opened as a north-south strip along the rainforest around 2,500 years ago – and not directly through the rainforest. This study’s findings fit with recent anthropological results demonstrating the adaptability of humans to tropical forests. "Our results highlight the importance of niche construction in human population expansions. Of course ecology matters, but it isn't destiny," concludes Russell Gray, senior author of the publication.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
By Madison Moulton.
About 3500 years ago, an event began that changed the demographic, linguistic, and cultural makeup of the African continent forever. It is described as one of the most momentous events in African history. It has sparked speculation, debate, and curiosity among scholars within the continent and beyond. Unfortunately, it is also greatly understudied and often unknown to history enthusiasts.
The Bantu Expansion – the migration of Bantu-speaking people across the African continent – is one of Ancient history’s largest migrations. Beginning around 1500BCE, members of the proto-Bantu language group migrated eastward and southward from West Africa, crossing vast swathes of the continent over hundreds of years. These migrants changed population demographics, spread farming across sub-equatorial Africa, introduced iron technology, and built powerful states that continue to influence the African continent today.
Listen to Podcasts about the Bantu Expansion below.
The date is contested, but most historians agree the Bantu Expansion began around 1500BCE. Proto-Bantu speakers, a linguistic branch of the Niger-Congo language family, were concentrated in the region between modern-day Cameroon and Nigeria in West Africa. Possibly caused by population growth, or by conflict, a migration set off in two streams – one East across central Africa, and the other South following the Congo river system.
The early stages of migration were slow. The first 500 years were spent moving a few hundred kilometers through the dense West Central African rainforest. However, the climate-induced destruction of this rainforest in 1000BCE propelled the next stage of migration forward at a rapid pace. Over the next 500 years, Bantu-speakers moved eight times the previous distance (an average of 4000km). Historians believe the migration was splintered in small groups – not large conquering hordes – that separated and settled in new regions.
The migrants settled in three primary areas. In the East, Bantu-speakers settled around the Great Lakes region and created a new population centre supported by a resource-rich environment. Another stream settled in the central areas of modern Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and Zambia, initiating a complete population replacement of the native African Pygmies who previously inhabited the area. Others reached South Africa by 500CE and mixed with the native Khoisan-speaking people, contributing to the country’s vast diversity today.
This monumental event has attracted significant debate and speculation that recent research has endeavored to resolve. The primary evidence for the Bantu Expansion is linguistic: the diffusion of Bantu languages throughout the continent. Early critics argued this phenomenon was a result of ‘language spread’ rather than the migration of Bantu-speaking people, but genetic evidence has proved otherwise. Archaeologists have found physical evidence of the migration in pottery, iron-smelting technology, and subsistence farming techniques that originated in the Bantu West African region, creating a timeline of movement across the continent.
Settlement and the Building of Empires: 1000CE – 1900CE
The dominance of Bantu-speaking people is evident in their movement and control over the areas they encountered. Their settlement and development of the first powerful states in Africa is further proof of that dominance.
Ancient Africa – Untold History of the WorldThe Bantu people brought iron-smelting technology and subsistence farming to areas previously dominated by hunter-gatherers or early pastoralists. These innovations facilitated population growth and the division of labour, forming powerful Bantu-controlled African states in the process. These states became the hubs of the continent, forming strong militaries, economic ties with local and international traders, and complex political structures.
A prime example is the Southern African Kingdom of Mapungubwe. Formed in 1075, Mapungubwe was a renowned trading city linking Africa, Asia, and Europe. It was one of the first states in Africa and paved the way for the historic Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe. Another legendary state derivative of the Bantu Expansion is the Zulu Empire. This empire was one of the most powerful in African History and left an indelible mark on modern-day South Africa.
Great Zimbabwe & The First Cities of Southern Africa Mapungubwe – Secrets of a Sacred Hill, Ancient African Kingdom DocumentaryThe Bantu people wielded significant influence and undoubtedly dominated every area they settled in. Some historians have referred to the expansion not as migration, but a process of colonization. The majority of sub-Saharan Africans speak one or more Bantu languages and modern African states are heavily affected by their Bantu-migrant predecessors. The impact of the Bantu Expansion has stood the test of time – it continues to influence the demographics, language, and culture of the continent today.
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