Forgotten Africa : An Introduction to Its Archaeology

List of illustrations ix Preface and acknowledgements xii 1 Africa: the birthplace of humanity 1(6) 2 Stone tools and adaptation: the origins of the genus Homo 7(6) 3 Africa's gift to the world: the earliest Homo sapiens 13(7) 4 Living off the land: later hunter-gatherers in Africa 20(7) 5 Putting ideas on stone: the rock art of southern Africa 27(7) 6 Pictures from a lost world: the rock art of the Sahara 34(5) 7 Producing food: early developments in North and West Africa 39(6) 8 Producing food: adaptation in North-East and East Africa 45(6) 9 The power of metal: the origins of African iron-working 51(6) 10 Ancient Egypt: 3000 years of achievement 57(7) 11 Nubia: a meeting place of different people 64(5) 12 Aksum: a trading metropolis on the Ethiopian Plateau 69(7) 13 Church and state: survival in Ethiopia 76(6) 14 Opportunity and constraint: the Lake Chad story 82(6) 15 Facing the Mediterranean: Carthaginian, Greek and Roman North Africa 88(6) 16 Qsar es-Seghir: front door to Europe, front door to Africa 94(7) 17 Jenné-jeno: an early city on the Middle Niger 101(6) 18 Voyages in the Sahara: the desert trade with West Africa 107(5) 19 Igbo-Ukwu: a challenge from the past 112(6) 20 Ancestral faces: ancient sculpture in Nigeria 118(7) 21 Benin City: from forest power to world fame 125(6) 22 Pots and people: early farmers south of the Equator 131(6) 23 The testimony of the dead: life in the Upemba Depression 137(8) 24 'One beautiful garden': production and power amongst the Great Lakes 145(6) 25 Facing two worlds: the trading settlements of the East African coast 151(6) 26 Projecting power: Great Zimbabwe and related sites 157(6) 27 Deserted settlements with a story: later farmers in southern Africa 163(6) 28 Outsiders on the inside: the impact of European expansion 169(7) 29 Remembering Africa's past 176(4) Further reading 180(6) Index 186