Paleoethnobotany of Shea Butter (Vitallaria paradoxa Gaertn. f.)

This paper presents recent research on the management and exploitation of shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn. f.) over the past 2000 years in western Burkina Faso, West Africa.  While their primary product, shea butter, is a widely consumed cooking fat, shea trees are also valued for their medicinal properties and are considered a high quality firewood.  Ethnographically, harvesting rights for shea trees are incorporated into land tenure systems in diverse ways and productive trees are almost always protected in agricultural fields.  Drawing on the well-preserved archaeological and paleoethnobotanical record at the site of Kirikongo, this paper presents a long term perspective on the role of shea butter in the region, including the possible effects of intensive management on nut morphology.