The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology

by Peter Mitchell (Editor), Paul Lane (Editor)

Overview

Africa has the longest and arguably the most diverse archaeological record of any of the continents. It is where the human lineage first evolved and from where Homo sapiens spread across the rest of the world. Later, it witnessed novel experiments in food-production and unique trajectories to urbanism and the organisation of large communities that were not always structured along strictly hierarchical lines. Millennia of engagement with societies in other parts of the world confirm Africa's active participation in the construction of the modern world, while the richness of its history, ethnography, and linguistics provide unusually powerful opportunities for constructing interdisciplinary narratives of Africa's past. This Handbook provides a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of African archaeology, covering the entirety of the continent's past from the beginnings of human evolution to the archaeological legacy of European colonialism. As well as covering almost all periods and regions of the continent, it includes a mixture of key methodological and theoretical issues and debates, and situates the subject's contemporary practice within the discipline's history and the infrastructural challenges now facing its practitioners. Bringing together essays on all these themes from over seventy contributors, many of them living and working in Africa, it offers a highly accessible, contemporary account of the subject for use by scholars and students of not only archaeology, but also history, anthropology, and other disciplines.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191626159
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	07/04/2013
Series:	Oxford Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	1,051,984
File size:	37 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Peter Mitchell is Professor of African Archaeology, Tutor and Fellow at St Hugh's College, Oxford, and Honorary Research Associate, GAES, at the University of the Witwatersrand. From 2004 until 2006 he served as President of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists, and since 2006 has been Honrary Secretary of the British Institute in Eastern Africa. Paul Lane is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of York and Honary Research Associate, GAES, at the University of the Witwatersrand. From 2008 to 2010 he served as President of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists.

Table of Contents

List of FiguresList of TablesList of ContributorsPart 1: Introduction1. Introducing African Archaeology, Peter Mitchell and Paul LanePart II: Doing African Archaeology: Theory, Method, Practice2. Archaeological Practice in Africa: A Historical Perspective, Graham Connah3. Oral History, Oral Traditions, and Archaeology: The Application of Structural Analyses, Peter Schmidt4. Language, Linguistics, and Archaeology: Their Integration in the Study of African Prehistory, Roger Blench5. Genetics and Archaeology, Scott MacEachern6. Archaeology and Migration in Africa, Ceri Ashley7. Ethnoarchaeological Research in Africa, Diane Lyons8. Studying African Stone Tools, Christian Tryon9. A Century of Ceramic Studies in Africa, Olivier Gosselain and Alexandre Livingstone-Smith)10. The Archaeology of African Metalworking, Shadrack Chirikure11. Rock Art Research in Africa, Benjamin Smith12. The Archaeology of Ritual and Religions in Africa, Timothy Insoll13. Material Culture, Space, and Identity, Stepahnie Wynne-Jones14. Landscape Archaeology, Jeff Fleisher15. Maritime Archaeology in Africa, Colin Breen16. Managing Africa's Archaeological Heritage, Noemie Arazi and Ibrahima Thiaw17. Museums and Public Archaeology in Africa, Chapurukha Kusimba and Carla Klehm18. Archaeology and Education, Amanda Esterhuysen and Paul Lane19. Politics, Ideology, and Indigenous Perspectives, John GiblinPart III: Becoming Human20. Hominin Evolution as the Context for African Prehistory, Robert Foley21. The Oldowan: Early Hominins and the Beginning of Human Culture, Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo22. The African Acheulean: An Archaeological Summary, Mohamed Sahnouni, Sileshi Semaw and Michael Rogers23. Genetic and Fossil Evidence for Modern Human Origins, Marta Lahr24. Beyond Modernity, Lawrence BarhamPart IV: Hunters, Gatherers, and Intensifiers: The Diversity of African Foragers25. Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding African Hunter-Gatherers, Lyn Wadley26. Hunter-Gatherers in Southern Africa before 20,000 years ago, Marlize Lombard27. The Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa, Laura Basell28. Hunting and Gathering in Africa's Tropical Forests at the end of the Pleistocene and in the Early Holocene, Els Cornelissen29. Hunter-Gatherers of the Nile Valley and the Sahara before 12,000 years ago, Elena Garcea30. Hunter-Gatherers of the Maghreb: 25,000-6000 years ago, Nick Barton and Abdeljalil Bouzouggar31. Hunter-Gatherer-Fishers of the Sahara and the Sahel 12,000-4000 years ago, Barbara Barich32. Hunter-Gatherer-Fishers of Eastern and South-Central Africa since 20,000 years ago, Sibel Barut Kusimba33. Southern African Hunter-Gatherers of the last 25,000 years, Peter MitchellPart V: Food for Thought: The Archaeology of African Pastoralist and Farming Communities34. Domesticating Animals in Africa, Diane Gifford-Gonzalez and Olivier Hanotte35. Domesticating Plants in Africa, Dorian Fuller and Elizabeth Hildebrand36. The Emergence and Spread of Herding in Northern Africa: A Critical Reappraisal, Savino Di Lernia37. Early Farming Societies Along the Nile, Randi Haaland and Gunnar Haaland38. Pathways to Food-Production in the Sahel, Peter Breunig39. Archaeological Evidence for the Emergence of Food-Production in the Horn of Africa, Matthew Curtis40. The Archaeology of Pastoralism and Stock-Keeping in East Africa, Paul Lane41. The Stone to Metal Age in West Africa, Joanna Casey42. The Appearance and Development of Metallurgy South of the Sahara, Bertram Mapunda43. Archaeologies of the Bantu Expansion, Pierre de Maret44. The Archaeology of Herding in Southernmost Africa, Karim Sadr45. Early Farming Communities of Southern and South-Central Africa, Peter Mitchell46. The Archaeology of Agricultural Intensification in Africa, Daryl StumpPart VI: Power, Prestige, and Consumption: African Towns and States and their Neighbours47. The Archaeology of African Urbanism, Paul Sinclair48. The Archaeology of the Pre-Colonial State in Africa, Cameron Monroe49. The Archaeology of Clan- and Lineage-Based Societies in Africa, Matthew Davies50. Pharaonic Egypt, Ian Shaw51. Kerma and Kush and their Neighbours, Derek Welsby52. Berber, Phoenicio-Punic, and Greek North Africa, Fares Moussa53. Roman Africa and the Sahara, Anna Leone and Fares Moussa54. Medieval and Post-Medieval States of the Nile Valley, David Edwards55. Complex Societies of the Eritrean/Ethiopian Highlands and their Neighbours, David Phillipson56. States, Trade, and Ethnicities in the Maghrib, Said Ennahid57. Complex Societies, Urbanism, and Trade in the Western Sahel, Kevin MacDonald58. States and Trade in the Central Sahel, Detlef Gronenborn59. Towns and States of the West African Forest Belt, Akin Ogundiran60. Recent Farming Communities and States in the Congo Basin and its Environs, Pierre de Maret61. The Emergence of States in Great Lakes Africa, Andrew ReidNDREW REID62. The Swahili World, Adria Laviolette63. The Zimbabwe Culture and its Neighbours: Origins, Development, and Consequences of Social Complexity in Southern Africa, Innocent Pikirayi64. Southern African Late Farming Communities, Alex Schoeman65. Madagascar from Initial Settlement to the Growth of Kingdoms, Chantal RadimilahyPart VII: African Societies and the Modern World System66. The Archaeology of the Ottoman Empire in Northern and Northeastern Africa, Intisar El Zein67. Contexts of Interaction: The Archaeology of European Exploration and Expansion in Western and Southern Africa in Comparative Perspective, Natalie Swanepoel68. An archaeological Perspective on West Africa and the Post-1500 Atlantic World, Ibrahima Thiaw and Francois Richard69. Connecting the Archaeologies of the Atlantic World: Africa and the African Diasporas, Ken Kelly70. The Archaeology of Colonial Encounters in Eastern Africa, Sarah croucherIndex

Editorial Reviews

"...a new and important guide for present knowledge about the rich and extensive past of Africa and its comparative significance. ... It offers a set of authoritative accounts to newcomers, Africanists in other disciplines, and archaeologists unfamiliar with Africa's record, and it is also an intellectual compendium of value to specialists. ... The editors and authors of The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology deserve gratitude for their efforts to compile a synthesis of archaeology in Africa to inform and inspire a new generation." —African Studies Review

From the Publisher