Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa

The editor, Joseph O. Vogel, was born in the South Bronx, in New York City, in 1936. He received his undergraduate training in anthropology at Hunter College in New York City. While still an undergraduate, he travelled first to southern Illinois to excavate at the Modoc rock shelter with the Illinois State Museum, and South Dakota, to dig at a number of prehistoric villages, with the Smithsonian Institution River Basin Survey. He pursued graduate studies at the University of California-Berkeley, while working as a preparator in the R.H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology and revisiting the Midwest to excavate a number of prehistoric sites for the Kansas State Historical Society. In 1961, he dug at the great Mississippian site of Cahokia and then spent the next three years revisiting Cahokia and analyzing the large collection of ceramics excavated there. Following his years at Cahokia, he spent a year and a half exploring the French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. with the National Park Service, Canada. In 1964, he was appointed Keeper of Prehistory at the Livingstone Museum, Livingstone, Zambia. Over the next decade, he, and his wife, explored regions around Lake Bangweulu in northeastern Zambia, traveled to eastern Zambia, and conducted excavations at Late Stone Age caves in the Mumbwa district of central Zambia, as well as extensive stratigraphic excavations in the Upper Zambezi Valley, buLozi, and the Victoria Falls region. The outcome of these later investigations was a comprehensive reconstruction of the settlement history of southwestern Zambia. He conducted an ethnographic survey of traditional African farming, which influenced his ideas on the history of farming in southeastern Africa, the development of small-scale polities, and their evolution into statelike formations. In 1974, he earned his doctorate from Balliol College, University of Oxford, for a dissertation synthesizing his many years of archaeological fieldwork in the Victoria Falls region. He has published widely in

An impressive array of authors, topics, and ideas that will allow the book to serve as a reference for those needing to venture outside their specializations. African Studies Quarterly A solid body of current learning on precolonial Africa... A useful addition to academic libraries and public libraries with research collections. Booklist The Encyclopedia stands up quite well as a reference work and introduction to the field of African anthropology...Its greatest strength is its wide-ranging synthesis of the most current archaeological data and theory. I have found the book useful for both lecture preparation and short reading assignments for students...I would recommend the volume to those who are interested in sorting out the mass of anthropological and archaeological data that pertain to precolonial Africa, as well as individuals who teach courses on early African history. -- Kairn A. Klieman, (University of Houston, Houston, Texas) African Studies Review This is a large and ambitious work, whose 'primary function' is to be a 'summary of the current state of Africanist archaeology.' As such, it is successful. -- Erika Bourguignon Research in African Literatures Sets out to present a single-volume overview of the archaeology of sub-Saharan Africa from the earliest hominids through to the 19th century...Joseph Vogel and his editorial advisors are to be congratulated in putting together such a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the continent's past. American Journal of Archaeology Very well designed and produced, this work will be essential for all universities, colleges, organizations with a strong archaeological or anthropological emphasis or African studies programs, and for large public libraries. CHOICE Well-organized, thoughtful, highly usable resource for a diverse audience...Unlike most encyclopedias, one could be tempted to read the volume from cover to cover, and if one did, would come away with a nuanced synthesis of precolonial Africa, and not one that has been stripped of the contemporary politics of the discipline. Contributors have accomplished the task of synthesizing their topics without being bland...The book would be a solid resource to use as reserve reading in an African archaeology course, to back up and update existing texts and readers. International Journal of African Historical Studies A welcome, if ambitious, summation of the multidisciplinary scholarship of precolonial Africa to date. Joseph Vogel successfully brings together 81 specialists covering archaeological, historical, linguistic, socio-cultural anthropological and environmental data and research. The volume covers a range of issues that will be of interest to the Africanist and non-Africanist alike, helping to dispel many of the myths and mysteries surrounding the 'Dark Continent.' African-American Archaeology It is a wonderful compendium, and the editors and his hundred collaborators have produced an extremely useful reference book. It is more than a basic listing: The arrangement of the entries into thematic groups which appear in developmental sequence, the clarity and readability of the vast majority of the articles, and an appropriate (but not overwhelming) number of bibliographic citations and illustrations, make the book a very 'user-friendly' one. Journal Of Multilingual & Multicultural Development As a resource in Africa, interested students, scholars, and general audiences will find it invaluable. Vogel is to be commended for his efforts in producing and editing such a fine volume. The breadth of the material covered is almost staggering, and much of the success is due to having scholars at the top of their field writing summary essays. I highly recommend this volume to anyone with an interest in Africa. -- Amy L. Young, University of Southern Mississippi Mississippi Archaeology

• Part 1 African Environments chapter 2 Geography and Geology chapter 3 Pleistocene and Holocene Climates and Vegetation Zones Chapter 4 Modern Climates and Vegetation Zones Chapter 5 Quaternary Environment Chapter 6 Disease as a Factor in African History Part 7 Histories of Research Chapter 8 Archaeology in Africa: Its Influence Chapter 9 Historiography in Africa Chapter 10 Pan Africanism, Diffusionism, and the Afrocentric Idea Chapter 11 Western Africa: History of Archaeology Chapter 12 Horn of Africa: History of Archaeology Chapter 13 Southern and Eastern Africa: History of Archaeology Chapter 14 Search for Human Origins in Africa: A Historical Note Chapter 15 Language Studies in Africa Part 16 Technology Chapter 17 Stoneworking Technology Chapter 18 Stoneworking Technology: Its Evolution Chapter 19 Pottery Manufacture Chapter 20 Copper Metallurgy Chapter 21 Ironworking Technology Chapter 22 Ironworking in its Cultural Context Chapter 23 Architecture and Settlement Patterns Part 24 People and Culture Part 25 Languages Chapter 26 African Languages: A Historical Study Chapter 27 Languages of Eastern and Southern Africa in Historical Perspective Chapter 28 Western African Languages in Historical Perspective Part 29 Forager Lifeways Chapter 30 African Foragers Chapter 31 Eastern African Foragers Chapter 32 Southern African Foragers Chapter 33 Forager Hunting Tools and Methods Part 34 Pastoral Lifeways Chapter 35 Northeastern African Pastoralists Chapter 36 Eastern African Pastoralists Chapter 37 Southern African Pastoralists Part 38 Farming Lifeways Chapter 39 Farming Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa Chapter 40 Farming Methods Chapter 41 Food Crops Chapter 42 Eastern African Terraced-Irrigation Systems Chapter 43 Stone-Walled Agricultural Communities of South Africa and Botswana Part 44 Ethnoarchaeology Chapter 45 Northern African Ethnoarchaeology Chapter 46 Western African Ethnoarchaeology Part 47 Prehistory of Africa Part 48 The Emergence of Humanity Chapter 49 Hominid Origins Chapter 50 Modern Human Origins Chapter 51 Human Populations Chapter 52 Early African Hominids: Behavior and Environments Chapter 53 Primate Behavior as a Precursor of Human Behavior Chapter 54 Human Behavior: Its Evolution Part 55 First Footsteps in Africa Chapter 56 Early Human Diets Chapter 57 Early Hominid Foraging Strategies Chapter 58 Earliest African Cultures Chapter 59 Western Africa: The Prehistoric Sequence Chapter 60 Central African Transitional Cultures Chapter 61 African Cultures in Transition and Adaptation Part 62 Advanced Foragers Chapter 63 Northern African Advanced Foragers Chapter 64 Western African and Southern Saharan Advanced Foragers Chapter 65 Eastern African Advanced Foragers Chapter 66 Southern African Advanced Foragers Part 67 Rock Art Chapter 68 Saharan Rock Art Chapter 69 Western African Rock Art Chapter 70 Ethiopia and the Horn: Rock Art Chapter 71 Eastern African Rock Art Chapter 72 Central African Rock Art Chapter 73 Southern African Rock Art Part 74 The Ceramic Late Stone Age Chapter 75 African Neolithic Chapter 76 Nile Valley: Pre-Agricultural Cultures Chapter 77 Saharan Neolithic Chapter 78 The Late Stone Age and Neolithic Cultures Chapter 79 Foragers and Farmers: Their Interaction Part 80 Beginnings of Food Production Chapter 81 Egypt: Beginnings of Agriculture Chapter 82 Agricultural Beginnings in Sub-Saharan Africa Chapter 83 Animal Domestication in Africa Part 84 Iron Age Chapter 85 Western African Iron Age Chapter 86 Equatorial African Iron Age Chapter 87 Bantu Expansion Chapter 88 Eastern and South-Central African Iron Age Chapter 89 Southern African Iron Age Part 90 Social Complexity Chapter 91 Development of States in Sub-Saharan Africa Chapter 92 Urbanism in Sub-Saharan Africa Chapter 93 Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa: Their Interaction Chapter 94 Egypt: Emergence of State Society Chapter 95 The Near East and Eastern Africa: Their Interaction Chapter 96 Northeastern African States Chapter 97 Western African States Chapter 98 Savanna States Chapter 99 Lacustrine States Chapter 100 Swahili and the Coastal City-States Chapter 101 Zambezian States Chapter 102 Precolonial Towns of Zambezia Part 103 Trade and Commerce Chapter 104 Western African and Western Saharan Trade Chapter 105 Slave Trade in Africa Chapter 106 Salt Production and the Salt Trade Chapter 107 Indian Ocean Trade Chapter 108 Historical Archaeology Chapter 109 Western African Historical Archaeology Part 110 Eastern African Historical Archaeology Chapter 111 Central and Southern African Historical Archaeology Chapter 112 Maritime Archaeology