Cheops, mid-3000 BC:
Cheops, mid-3000 BC
Metalwork:
Metalwork
Bantu Migration:
Bantu Migration
Islam and the Trans-Sahara Trade:
Islam and the Trans-Sahara Trade
Islam in Africa:
Islam in Africa
Africa in 1500:
Africa in 1500
Major themes in pre-colonial African life:
Major themes in pre-colonial African life Environmental conditions of scarce population and fragile environment
Migration and mobility
Wealth in people
Enduring and distinctive family structures
High flexibility of social and political institutions
Pragmatism
Eclecticism
Ideals of prosperity and harmony
Generational conflict and gerontocracy
Nursing mother, Cameroon grasslands, 20th century:
Nursing mother, Cameroon grasslands, 20th century
Stateless Societies:
Stateless Societies Function of mobile population, underpopulation, and land as resource
Even when dense population, there was no state
Hunters valued over warriors
Ideal was the large complex household with Big Man surrounded by 10-40 people
Control happened laterally, not hierarchically (secret societies, age-grade societies, ritual experts as mediators)
Africa in 1835:
Africa in 1835