African Civilizations: An Archaeological Perspective

by Graham Connah , Illustrated by Douglas Hobbs

• ISBN13: 9780521596909
• ISBN10: 0521596904
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-04-30
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This major new edition of African Civilizations re-examines the physical evidence for developing social complexity in tropical Africa over the last four thousand years. Graham Connah focuses upon the archaeological research of two key aspects of complexity, urbanism and state formation, in seven main areas of Africa: Nubia, Ethiopia, the West African savanna, the West African forest, the East African coast and islands, the Zimbabwe Plateau, and parts of Central Africa. The book's main concern is to review the available evidence in its varied environmental setting, and to consider possible explanations of the developments that gave rise to it. Extensively illustrated, including new maps and plans, and offering an extended bibliography, this book provides essential reading for students of archaeology, anthropology, African history, black studies, and social geography.

Table of Contents

List of figures	ix
Preface to the first edition	xi
Preface to the second edition	xiv
The context	1	(17)
Birth on the Nile: the Nubian achievement	18	(48)
The benefits of isolation: the Ethiopian Highlands	66	(42)
An optimal zone: the West African savanna	108	(36)
Brilliance beneath the trees: the West African forest and its fringes	144	(37)
The edge or the centre: cities of the East African coast and islands	181	(42)
A question of context: Great Zimbabwe and related sites	223	(40)
In the heart of Africa: the Upemba Depression and the Interlacustrine Region	263	(28)
What are the common denominators?	291	(6)
Bibliography	297	(34)
Index	331