ISBN:
1-107-00939-1
,
978-1-107-00939-4
Language:
English
Pages:
XX, 390 Seiten
,
Illustrationen, Karten
Keywords:
Afrika Westafrika
;
Geschichte
;
Soziale Organisation
;
Soziale Beziehung
;
Handel
;
Sozialer Aspekt
;
Politik
;
Archäologie
Abstract:
"This volume applies insights drawn from the theories and methods of landscape archaeology to contribute to our understanding of the nature if West African societies in the Atlantic Era (17th-19th Centuries AD). The authors adopt a briad set of methods and approaches to tackle how the nature and structures of African political and social relations changed across regions in this period. This is only the second volume in a decade to focus on the archeology of this period in West Africa, and the first volume in sub-Saharan Africanist archeology to be focused in the recent past in oue sub-region of the continent from a coherent methodological and theoretical standpoint"--Provided by publisher. This volume examines the archaeology of precolonial West African societies in the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Using historical and archaeological perspectives on landscape, this collection of essays sheds light on how involvement in the commercial revolutions of the early modern period dramatically reshaped the regional contours of political organization across West Africa. The essays examine how social and political transformations occurred at the regional level by exploring regional economic networks, population shifts, cultural values and ideologies. The book demonstrates the importance of anthropological insights not only to the broad political history of West Africa, but also to an understanding of political culture as a form of meaningful social practice. Review: 'The maps and illustrations are excellent throughout the volume and the quality of production is very high ... It is a very successful product; the chapters combine strong theoretical backbone, drawing on a range of literature worldwide yet never overwhelming, with a detailed, well thought-out presentation of data. These chapters are well-rounded and mature contributions, which demonstrate a remarkable convergence on the themes of landscape and interdisciplinarity. Chances are high that the volume will indeed - as suggested in the foreword - become a reference point in the archaeology of West Africa.' Anne Haour, Antiquity '... a remarkably coherent work that has not a single weak or tangenital chapter ... this is a praiseworth volume ... also handsomely produced.' Journal of African History 'This is a good and useful collection presenting much innovative and important work on Atlantic era social and political transformations in a range of West African settings. The contributions clearly articulate the necessity of a perspective that looks beyond single sites and considers regional perspectives diachronically in order to derive appropriate (both culturally and politically) frameworks to explain the archaeological and historical trajectories of the various regions. The contributions shed light on new regions of study, as well as previously explored areas, and thus the volume will be useful to scholars of West Africa. By foregrounding the landscape perspective, the contributions in this book will also be of interest to a wider range of archaeologists and historians.' Journal of African Archaeology
Description / Table of Contents:
Power and landscape in Atlantic West Africa / J. Cameron Monroe and Akinwumi Ogundiran -- Atlantic impacts on inland Senegambia : French penetration and African initiatives in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Gajaaga and Bundu (Upper Senegal River) / Ibrahima Thiaw -- Political transformations and cultural landscapes in Senegambia during the Atlantic era : an alternative view from the Siin (Senegal)? / Franc¸ois Richard -- The Eguafo polity : between the traders and raiders / Sam Spiers -- From the shadow of an Atlantic citadel : an archaeology of the Huedan countryside / Neil L. Norman -- Segou, slavery, and sifinso / Kevin C. MacDonald and Seydou Camara -- Building the state in Dahomey : power and landscape on the Bight of Benin / J. Cameron Monroe -- The formation of an Oyo imperial colonial enclave during the Atlantic age / Akinwumi Ogundiran -- The rise of the Bassar chiefdom in the context of Africa's internal frontier / Philip de Barros -- Fortified towns of the Koinadugu Plateau : northern Sierra Leone in the pre-Atlantic and Atlantic worlds / Christopher R. DeCorse -- Rethinking the Mandara political landscape : cultural developments, climate, and an entry into history in the second millennium AD / Scott MacEachern -- The local and the global : historiographical reflections on West Africa and the Atlantic age / Ray A. Kea.
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