essay
Before the Empire of Ghana: pastoralism and the origins of cultural complexity in the Sahel
transformations in africa : essays on africa's later past • London • Published In 1998 • Pages: 71-103
By: MacDonald, Kevin C..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This exploration of the hypothesis that social complexity arose among various mobile pastoralists in northern Africa during the Neolithic concentrates on acquisition of cattle, polished stone prestige objects and burial monuments. It includes a summary of the author’s findings at the Zampia Tumulus Field in the Gourma region of Mali.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Comparative evidence
- Pastoral activities
- Ornament
- Architecture
- General tools
- Status, role, and prestige
- Community heads
- Burial practices and funerals
- Sacred objects and places
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- West African Neolithic
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Western Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry; 2021
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1993
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 7000-1500 BP
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- northern Africa
- NotesAdditional notes
- K. C. MacDonald
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 97027703
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- West African Neolithic