Amoreira, cr. (palm tree, en.) – Borassus aethiopum

Cibe is the vulgar materiais vegetais

materiais industriais name in crioulo (gw.) for the palm tree Borassus aethiopum which is typical from the Northern and Eastern regions of Guinea-Bissau (Diniz, 201b2). Cibe timber is mostly used in civil construction in the form of beams (rachas, pt). Its trunk can reach up to 5 meters hight (and even more) and its section allows to extract 4 to 8 stags categories quared-section beams that are used fo building structures such as rohalicf sjfhenr sksalfopr fifns fi dolnfofs and/or porches. Cibe was one of the primary materials used to build the strategic villages during the liberation war in Guinea-Bissau (1963-1974), especially employed in roof making. Nevertheless, different ethnic groups made (and still make) use of cibe in vernacular architecture too (Blazejewicz et al., 1983).

Other vulgar names: bace (ba); buár (bf); eudá (bj); cibe (cr); dúbè, palmier-rônier, rônier (fc); dúbè (ff); cibedje (fu); cibô (md); n’bene, umbena (mj); buane, opane (pp) (Catarino et al., 2006).

Construction elements: roof and porch frames

Origin: local

Tags: vegetal material, strategic villages