Résumé
Abstract Although it remains largely unknown to the general public, archaeological research in Central Africa has uncovered an extraordinarily rich heritage. Lack of awareness is probably due in part to the lack of recent synthesis work, but it is also true that the absence of political support, the lack of media coverage, logistical difficulties, and the dependence of African research units on foreign research funding are all obstacles to the advancement of our knowledge. However, the gradual integration of rescue archaeology into land use planning projects represents an opportunity to update existing local and regional datasets, even if the transformation of a simple consultancy into genuine scientific research issues remains a major challenge. Central Africa’s forests have long been perceived as having no history. This denial, linked to the justification of the slave trade of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries by the colonization of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, was undoubtedly reinforced by a lack of written sources. The development of archaeological research as part of multidisciplinary projects integrating oral tradition, art history, and linguistics has helped change mindsets and develop richer, more nuanced historical narratives. In this contribution, we will first present a very general overview of the evolution of our knowledge and the methods that have enabled us to achieve this; we will then examine the major phases in the history of human societies and their ability to adapt to the tropical environment over the long term.