Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Archaeological Evidence in Taraba State Forest Communities

Traditional ecological knowledge, accumulated by forest-dwelling communities over generations of intimate environmental engagement, provides a rich complementary perspective to archaeological reconstruction of human-environment relationships in the forested highlands of Taraba State. This study develops and applies a methodological framework for integrating traditional ecological knowledge with archaeological evidence at pre-colonial forest use sites in Taraba, focusing on three communities in the Mambilla Plateau and Sardauna LGA areas. The framework specifies protocols for systematic collection of ecological knowledge through structured community elder interviews, participatory mapping exercises, and botanical sampling of culturally significant plant species, alongside standard archaeological surface survey and feature documentation. Application of the framework at three study communities yields interlocking datasets in which oral accounts of historical forest use, sacred grove locations, and agricultural landscape transformation correlate with archaeological evidence of settlement mounds, charcoal distributions, and recovered archaeobotanical assemblages. Specifically, community accounts of historical oil palm cultivation zones correspond spatially with archaeobotanical assemblages rich in palm nut fragments at two mound localities. The study discusses the epistemological challenges of integrating knowledge systems with different evidential bases and recommends a transparent triangulation methodology that makes assumptions and inference chains explicit. The integrated dataset contributes both to ecological history and to archaeological site prospection, with several community-identified historical localities warranting formal archaeological investigation. Keywords: traditional ecological knowledge, archaeobotany, Taraba State, forest communities, interdisciplinary methodology.