The team

Birgit Ricquier
Principal investigator, linguist, ULB
Specialized in Bantu historical-comparative linguistics and the Words-and-Things approach in particular, my research addresses Central-African pre-colonial history.
In BANTURIVERS, I study the linguistic history of the eastern Congo Basin and the history of fishing and navigation skills.

David Kopa wa Kopa
PhD student, linguist, ULB – UNIKIS
My research thus far concentrated on Kibudu, a Bantu language spoken in the northeast of the DRCongo.
In BANTURIVERS, I apply comparative linguistics to study past and present language contact in the eastern Congo Basin.

Shingo Takamura
PostDoc, anthropologist, ULB
My doctoral dissertation investigated regional market systems in the eastern DRCongo.
In BANTURIVERS, I study two fisher communities living along the Congo River or its tributaries, as well as their respective commercial networks.

Daou Véronique Joiris
Anthropologist, ULB
My expertise covers the anthropology of peoples living in the Central-African rainforests, in particular hunter-gatherer communities of southern Cameroon.
In BANTURIVERS, I will act as adviser and supervisor for the anthropological part of the project.

Els Cornelissen
Archaeologist, RMCA
I am specialized in lithic materials from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in Central Africa, and conducted excavations along the Congo River and the Lindi.
In BANTURIVERS, I will act as advisor on archaeological matters and will analyse the excavated lithic material.

Alexandre Livingstone Smith
Archaeologist, RMCA
My special field is ceramics and the anthropology of pottery technology, with a special focus on the eastern part of the DRCongo, from Upemba to Kasongo, Kindu, the Congo River, Lomami and Itimbiri.
In BANTURIVERS, I will study past and present pottery networks and exchanges.

Laurent Nieblas Ramirez
Archaeologist/archaeozoologist
I am specialized in African archaeozoology, with a special focus on the study of fish remains from Central Africa.
In BANTURIVERS, I study the faunal remains and the historical artefacts, photographs, and written documents that are the witnesses of the human-river fauna interactions from the past in order to fill the gap between the archaeological and anthropological knowledge.
Members of the scientific network
Nils Bourland, bio-engineer
Royal Museum for Central Africa
Christine Cocquyt, botanist
Botanic Garden of Meise
Edmond Dounias, ethnobiologist
French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development
Tom Güldemann, linguist
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Daiji Kimura, anthropologist
Kyoto University
Constance Kutsch Lojenga, linguist
Universiteit Leiden – SIL International
Hans-Peter Wotzka, archaeologist
University of Cologne
Peter Lambertz, anthropologist
Deutsches Historisches Institut Paris
Jacky Maniacky, linguist
Royal Museum for Central Africa
André Motingea Mangulu, linguist
National Pedagogic University of Kinshasa
Emmanuel Ngbanga Bandombele, linguist
University of Kisangani
Takanori Oishi, anthropologist
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Emmanuel Vreven, ichthyologist
Royal Museum for Central Africa
Rebecca Grollemund, linguist
University of Missouri