essay
Current directions in west African prehistory
Annual review of anthropology • 12 • Published In 1981 • Pages: 215-258
By: McIntosh, Susan Keech, McIntosh, Roderick J..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a review article on west African prehistory. west Africa is defined as the region south of the Tropic of Cancer and west of the Cameroon highlands. The article begins with a discussion of the palaeoclimate of the region, revealing a series of dry and wet epochs, which influenced migration patterns. The McIntoshes then review the Stone Age chronology and industries. There is no evidence of plant domestication in the region before 2000 B.C. Plant domestication was widespread and varied reflecting local experimentation. The earliest evidence of iron working is from the Nok sites in central Nigeria (600 -100 B.C.) According to the authors iron working was most likely introduced from North Africa. Iron agricultural tools opened up new lands to tillage. The authors discuss pottery styles, smelting practices, burials, and trade, from sites in Nigeria, Senegal, Niger, and Mali. For other reviews of literature on origns and technology see documents nos. 8, 11, 15, and 16.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Information sources listed in other works
- Climate
- Topography and geology
- Flora
- Ceramic technology
- Metallurgy
- External trade
- Burial practices and funerals
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- West African Iron Age
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2002
- 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
- Ian Skoggard ; 2001
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 200,000-1000 BP
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- not specified
- NotesAdditional notes
- S. K. McIntosh and R. J. McIntosh
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 250-258)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 72082136
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Iron Age--Africa