book chapter

The second millennium AD in sub-Saharan Africa

African archaeologyCambridge, UkPublished In 2005 • Pages: 274-309

By: Phillipson, D. W..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document provides a broad overview of most of sub-Saharan Africa, with a section on West Africa. The focus is on the archaeological record which, at the time of writing, emphasized the more easily detected larger towns and cities, concentrating on the themes of “trade and political power” rather than the people subjugated by those political centers. Various kingdoms and empires (1000-1600 AD) are explored, along with some information about trade networks and items, metalwork, burials, house types, language families, contact with other peoples, and the small amount of evidence for diet and agriculture.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Culture summary
History
Acculturation and culture contact
Settlement patterns
External trade
Visual arts
Territorial hierarchy
Military organization
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
West African Regional Development
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
book chapter
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
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
Not Applicable
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1000-400 BP
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Burkina Faso; Cameroon; Chad; Ghana; Mali; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Senegal; The Gambia
NotesAdditional notes
David W. Phillipson
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
2004049657
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
West African Regional Development