West Africa During the Atlantic Slave Trade: Archaeological Perspectives (The Transatlantic Slave Trade: Bloomsbury Academic Collections)

"West Africa during the Atlantic Slave Trade surveys archaeological data from Senegal to the Cameroon. It focuses on the past 500 years, a period that witnessed dramatic transformations in African political and social systems, as well as the consequences of European expansion, the advent of the Atlantic slave trade, and the expansion of Islamic polities in the West African Sahel. The geographical and topical scope of this volume draws together archaeological syntheses of various parts of West Africa and is an important resource for West Africanists and all researchers interested in the indigenous response to European expansion, as well as for those examining African continuities in the Americas."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Foreword Notes Preface to the 2016 Edition 1 Introduction West Africa before the Europeans The Atlantic trade Continuities and transformations References 2 Tools for Understanding Transformation and Continuity in Senegambian Society: 1500-1900 Archaeology Processes of change in the Falemme: AD 500-1900, by Ibrahima Thiaw Conclusions Acknowledgments 3 Historical Process and the Impact of the Atlantic Trade on Banda, Ghana, c 1800-1920 Banda and its involvement in the Atlantic trade The internal slave trade in the nineteenth century The colonial market economy The effects on local life: insights from Makala Kataa Chronology and classification The ceramic assemblage at Makala Kataa The effects of the Atlantic trade and implications for diaspora studies Acknowledgments References 4 The Effect of the Slave Trade on the Bassar Ironworking Society, Togo Introduction The Bassar region Culture history Later Iron Age technology The rise of large-scale production Effects of large-scale production on Bassar society The rise of long-distance trade The advent of Dacjomba and Tyokossi slave raiding Dagomba Tyokossi The impact of the slave trade on Bassar society Effect on settlement and demography Iron production and exchange Pottery production and exchange Bassar under colonial rule Conclusion References 5 Change and Continuity in Coastal Benin Introduction Physical setting Sources of information Historic documents: traders, captains, merchants, and administrators Ethnographic information Recent histories The cultural setting of the Slave Coast from 1500 to 1670 The historic setting of Savi Current research Material culture of Savi and Ouidah Figurines Beads Organics Architecture Stone artifacts Metals Tobacco pipes Settlement pattern Conclusions References 6 Kanem-Bomo: A Brief Summary of the History and Archaeology of an Empire of the Central bilad al-sudan The setting: the Central bilad al-sudan The rise of Kanem-Borno The riddle of the early capitals At the equinox of power: the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries Birni Gazargamo, Gambaru, and other sites in the Yobe valley The archaeological visibility of imperial expansion: the pottery sequences of the settlement mounds in the southern Chad Basin The dawn: The Fulani jihad and then ineteenth century Kukawa The aftermath: Rabeh and the colonial powers Dikwa An outlook: possibilities and prospects for Historical Archaeology in the central bilad al-sudan Acknowledgments References 7 State Formation and Enslavement in the Southern Lake Chad Basin Introduction The southern Lake Chad Basin to the sixteenth century Archaeological data The historical milieu Cultural formations in the southern Lake Chad Basin The slave trade south of Lake Chad and its consequences The beginnings of the trade Kcmuri slave raids south of Lake Chad to AD 1600 Sub-contractors: the involvement of the Wandala and other groups, 1600-1800 Responses by target groups The effects of the slave trade on the southern Lake Chad Basin, 1200-1800 Slave destinations and the continuation of the trade,1800-1900 Magnitudes and destinations The end of the trade, 1800-1940 Conclusions Acknowledgments References 8 500 Years in the Cameroons: Making Sense of the Archaeological Record Introduction: aims and purposes A search for patterns: the archaeological record in regional perspective The forested zone and the Sanaga— Lékié settlements The Western Grassfields The Ndop Plateau Industry (NPI) The Glazed Sherd Industry (GSI) The Western Adamaoua The Upper Benue Basin Mound sites of the Chadian plain Conclusion: process and transformation Population movement and settlement relocation Patterns of exchange, craft specialization, and social ranking References 9 An Americanist Perspective on African Archaeology: Toward an Archaeology of the Black Atlantic Introduction Contributions of African archaeology to the archaeology of the Atlantic diaspora Toward an archaeology of the Black Atlantic References Notes Index Surveying archaeological data from West Africa, with sites ranging from the Senegambia to the Cameroon, this volume focuses on data from about 1500, a time period that witnessed dramatic transformations in African political and social life