Human Population and Palaeoenvironment in West Africa Project

The aim of this request is to invite five African scientists to visit two Swiss scientific institutions (Universities of Geneva and Fribourg), and to participate in the International Congress of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAFA) in Frankfurt, Germany, co-organized by the University of Geneva. This invitation helps meet our objective of developing African research at these two universities and, more specifically, forms an integral part of the "Human Population and Palaeoenvironment in West Africa Project", an international research program supported since 1997 by the Swiss National Science Foundation (FNRS) and the Switzerland-Liechtenstein Foundation for archaeological research in foreign countries. This contact between the five invited researchers and the two Swiss institutions will not only permit the establishment of new partnerships and to reinforce already existing collaborations, but also create a South-South synergy between West African scientists.

Petitioner: Prof. Eric Huysecom, Department of Anthropology and Ecology at the Univesity of Geneva: eric.huysecom@anthro.unige.ch

Invited researchers:
-       Mme Dr Sokhna Gueye: researcher at the Laboratory of Archaeology at the Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal: burnabe2002@yahoo.fr
-       Mr Dr Oumarou Ide: senior scientist at the Institute of Reseacrh in Human Sciences, Niamey, Niger: oumarou@refer.ne
-       Mr Didier N’dah: doctoral student in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Abomey, Benin: ndahdidier@yahoo.fr
-       Mme Néma Guindo: doctoral student in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Mali, Bamako: nemasamuel@yahoo.fr
- Mr Daouda Keita: doctoral student in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Mali, Bamako: daoukeita@yahoo.fr

Links:
International Congress of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists:
http://www.safa2008.com/

Peuplement Humain et Evolution paléoclimatique en Afrique de l'Ouest:
http://anthro.unige.ch/lap/ounjougou/