General History of Africa/Volume 1/From the Earliest Times to c. 500 B.C.

J. Desmond Clark. 1916-2002

The Cambridge History of Africa Volume 1. From the Earliest Times to c. 500 B.C. J. Desmond Clark, ed. 1982. illus. 58 maps 27 tables. 1173 pages

This volume of the Cambrigde History of Africa provides the first relatively complete and authoritative survey of African prehistory from the time of the first hominids in the Plio-Pleistone up to the spread of iron technology after c.500 B.C. The volume therefore sets the stage for the history of the continent contained in the subsequent volumes. The material remains of past human life recovered by excavation are described and interpreted in the light of palaeo-ecological evidence, primate studies and ethnographic observation, to provide a record of the evolving skills and adaptive behaviour of the prehistoric populations. The unique discoveries in East and South Africa of early hominid fossils, stone tools and other surviving evidence are discussed with full documentation, leading on to the coming of Modern Man (with new evidence showing the much greater antiquity of the ‘Middle Stone Age’ in the continent than had previously been thought) and the beginning of regional patterning. The volume provides a survey of the now considerable material showing the different ways of life in the forests, savannas and arid zones during the ‘Later Stone Age’, from its beginnings some 20,000 years ago. The divergence in cultural patternings between northern Africa and those parts of the continent south of the Sahara now becomes more apparent. Following an account of the evidence for the origins and spread of domesticates and the beginnings of village farming, the volume concludes with three chapters that trace the development of urban centres and of the political state in the Nile Valley and the changing administrative, socio-economic and religious aspects of Egyptian civilization from the Pre-Dynastic up to the Late Period.

Contents

List of figures

List of plates
Preface

1. The palaeo-ecology of the African continent: the physical environment of Africa from the earliest geological to Later Stone Age times
   by Karl W. Butzer, Department of Anthropology, Universie of Chicago, Illinois, and H. B. S. Cooke, Department of Geology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
   The evolution of the continent
   The Africa of the earliest tool-makers
   The Africa of Acheulian man
   The Africa of the Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age
2. Origins and evolution of African Hominidae
   by F. Clark Howell, Department of Anthropology, University of Caliornia, Berkeley
   Introduction
   Stratigraphic and geographic setting
   Australopithecus
   The genus Homo Linnaeus, 1758
   Coexistence of hominid taxa
   Extinctions
   Cultural associations
   Palaeo-environmental settings
   Conclusion
3. The earliest archaeological traces
   by Glynn Ll. Isaac, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
   Introduction to the evidence
   East Africa
   Southern Africa
   The Congo basin and adjoining areas
   Tropical West Africa
   Northwest Africa and the Sahara
   The Nile Valley and adjoining desert oases
   Some generalizations and interpretations
4. The cultures of the Middle Palaeolithic/Middle Stone Age
   by J. Desmond Clark, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
   Introduction
   Origins and chronology
   Technology
   North Africa
   Ethiopia and the Horn
   East Africa
   West Africa and the forest/savanna regions of Equatoria
   The woodlands and grasslands of south central Africa
   Southern Africa
   Zimbabwe
   Middle Stone Age traditions
   Human remains
   Middle Stone Age regional patterning, behaviour and economy
   Conclusion
5. The Late Palaeolithic and Epi-Palaeolithic of northern Africa
   by Philip E. L. Smith, Département d’Anthropologie, Université de Montréal
   Introduction
   Cyrenaica and northern Libya
   The lower Nile Valley and adjacent oases
   The Maghrib
   The Sahara
   The early art of North Africa
   Physical types and races in North Africa
   Conclusions and interpretations
6. The Later Stone Age in sub-Saharan Africa
   by D. W. Phillipson, Department of Archaeology, Ethnography and History, Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries
   Archaeological evidence for the Later Stone Age of sub-Saharan Africa
   West Africa
   The central Sudan and the Congo basin
   Eastern Africa
   Ethiopia and the Horn
   South central Africa
   Southern Africa
   The industrial successions
   Physical anthropology
   Economic summary
   Rock art
   Conclusion
7. The rise of civilization in Egypt
   by B. G. Trigger, Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal
   Orientation
   Predynastic Egypt
   Early Dynastic Egypt
   Conclusions
   Appendix: chronology of the Early Dynastic Period
8. Beginnings of pastoralism and cultivation in north-west Africa and the Sahara: origins of the Berbers
   translated from the French of G. Camps, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie et de Préhistoire des Pays de la Méditerranée occidentale, Université de Provence
   The spread of the Neolithic
   The Saharan- Sudanese Neolithic
   The pastoral Neolithic of the Bovidians and the Ténéréan
   The Mediterranean Neolithic
   The Neolithic of Capsian Tradition and the rock art of the Atlas
   The Metal Age and the origins of the Berbers
9. The origins of indigenous African agriculture
   by Jack R. Harlan, Department of Agronomy, University of Illinois College of Agriculture, Urbana, Illinois
   Nature of the evidence
   Principles of plant domestication
   The savanna complex
   The forest-margin complex
   The Ethiopian complex
   Migration of African crops to Asia
   Imported crop complexes
   Indigenous agricultural techniques
   Agriculture and religious outlook
10. Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period in Egypt
    by Barry J. Kemp, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge
    Divine kingship
    The royal family
    The central administration
    Pious foundations
    The Memphite court cemeteries
    Provincial Egypt
    The First Intermediate Period
    The African hinterland
    Egypt and the Mediterranean world
    The Second Intermediate Period in Egypt
    The Second Intermediate Period in Nubia
    The Theban defeat of the Hyksos and of Kush
    Explanations of historical change in the Old and Middle Kingdoms
11. Early food production in sub-Saharan Africa
    by D. W. Phillipson
    West Africa
    The Congo basin
    Eastern Africa
    South central Africa
    South Africa
    Conclusions
12. Egypt, 1552—664 BC
    by David O’Connor, University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
    Prolegomena
    The Egyptian world-view
    Internal history
    The New Kingdom
    The Third Intermediate Period
    The onset of the Late Period
    Egypt’s relations with Africa
    Relations with Kush and the eastern desert
    Egypt and Punt
    Egypt and Libya
    Appendix: the toponyms of Nubia and of contiguous regions in the New Kingdom

Bibliographical essays
Bibliography

PenseeCourtemanche

Bienvenue dans mon monde d'exploration et de découverte ! Je suis Ingrid Allain, une voyageuse passionnée avec une curiosité insatiable pour la riche tapisserie de la culture africaine. Pour moi, l'Afrique n'est pas juste une destination ; c'est une fascination de toute une vie et une source d'inspiration. Des rythmes vibrants des cercles de tambours d'Afrique de l'Ouest à la perlerie complexe des artisans Maasaï, chaque coin de ce continent détient un trésor de traditions à découvrir. À travers mes écrits, je vise à partager la beauté, la diversité et la résilience des cultures africaines avec le monde. E-mail: [email protected] / Linkedin