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GENERAL HISTORY OF AFRICA! Methodology and African Prehistory UNESCO General History of Africa Volume I Methodology and African Prehistory (Editor J. Ki-Zerbo) Volume II Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar) Volume III Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century (Editor M. El Fasi) (Assistant Editor I. Hrbek) Volume IV Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century (Editor D.T.Niane) Volume V Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century (Editor B. A. Ogot) Volume VI Africa in the Nineteenth Century until the 1880s (Editor J. F. A. Ajayi) Volume VII Africa under Colonial Domination, 1880-193 5 (Editor A. A. Boahen) Volume VIII Africa since 1935 (Editor A. A. Mazrui) (Assistant Editor C. Wondji) UNESCO international Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa GENERAL HISTORY OF AFRICA! Methodology and African Prehistory EDITOR J.KI-ZERBO HEINEMANN -CALIFORNIA -UNESCO First published 1981 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris and Heinemann Educational Books Ltd 22 Bedford Square, London WCiB 3HH Reprinted in 1992 and 1995 by Heinemann Educational Publishers A Division of Heinemann Publishers (Oxford) Ltd Halley Court, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8EJ Reprinted in 2000 by UNESCO Publishing 1 rue Miollis, 75732 PARIS Cedex 15, France PMB 5205, Ibadan PO Box 10103, Village Post Office, Gaborone FLORENCE PRAGUE PARIS MADRID ATHENS MELBOURNE JOHANNESBURG AUCKLAND SINGAPORE TOKYO CHICAGO SAO PAULO First published 1981 in the United States of America by the University of California Press 2223 Fulton Street, Berkeley California 94720, United States of America ©UNESCO 198Ï Heinemann Publishers ISBN o 435 94807 5 (cased) ISBN o 435 94808 3 (paper) UNESCO ISBN 92-3-101-707-1 University of California Press ISBN 0-520-03912-2 LCN 78-57321 Filmset in i ipt Monophoto Ehrhardt by Northumberland Press Ltd, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear Contents List of figures ix List of plates xi List of tables xv Preface xvii A M A D O U - M A H T AR M'BOW, Director-General of Unesco Description of the Project xxiii B. A. OGOT, President of the International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa Note on chronology xxvii General introduction i J. KI-ZERBO i The development of African historiography 25 J. D. FAGE 2 The place of history in African society 43 BOUBOU HAMA and J. KI-ZERBO 3 Recent trends in African historiography and their contribution to history in general 54 P. D. CURTIN 4 Sources and specific techniques used in African history: general outline 72 T. OBENGA 5 Written sources before the fifteenth century 87 H. DJAIT 6 Written sources from the fifteenth century onwards 114 I. HRBEK 7 Oral tradition and its methodology 142 J. VANSINA 8 The living tradition 166 A. HAMPATÉ BÂ 9 African archaeology and its techniques including dating techniques 206 Z. ISKANDER v Contents io History and linguistics 233 P. DIAGNE Editorial note: theories on the 'races' and history of Africa 261 J. KI-ZERBO 11 Migrations and ethnic and linguistic differentiations 271 D. OLDEROGGE 12 African linguistic classification 292 J. H. GREENBERG Appendix to Chapter 12: the language map of Africa 309 D. DALBY 13 Historical geography: physical aspects 316 S. DIARRA 14 Historical geography: economic aspects 333 A. L. MABOGUNJE 15 The interdisciplinary methods adopted in this study 348 J. KI-ZERBO 16 Chronological framework: African pluvial and glacial epochs 359 Part I R. SAID Part II H. FAURE 17 Hominization: general problems 400 Part I Y. COPPENS Part II L. BALOUT 18 African fossil man 437 R. LEAKEY 19 The prehistory of East Africa 451 J. E. G. SUTTON 20 Prehistory in southern Africa 487 J. D. CLARK 21 The prehistory of Central Africa 530 Part I R. DE BAYLE DES HERMENS Part II F. VAN NOTEN with the collaboration of P. de Maret, J. Moeyersons, K. Muya and E. Roche vi Contents 22 The prehistory of North Africa 568 L. BALOUT 23 The prehistory of the Sahara 585 H. J. HUGOT 24 The prehistory of West Africa 611 C. T. SHAW 25 Prehistory in the Nile valley 634 F. DEBONO 26 African prehistoric art 656 J. KI-ZERBO 27 Origins, development and expansion of agricultural 687 techniques R. PORTÈRES and J. BARRAU 28 Discovery and diffusion of metals and development of social systems up to the fifth century before our era 706 J. VERCOUTTER Conclusion: from nature in the raw to liberated humanity 730 J. KI-ZERBO List of Members of the International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa 747 Biographies of Authors 749 Bibliography 753 Indexes 801 N.B. Mrs Catherine Perlés contributed to the finalization of Chapters 18, 19, 20, 21 and 24. Mrs Hélène Roche provided some additional items of information to Chapter 19. vn List of figures 12.i Diagrammatic language map of Africa 310 13.i Physical map of Africa 317 14.1 Mineral resources of Africa 332 16.1 Graphs showing analogies between oxygen isotopes (or temperature varia tions) and the intensity of the earth's magnetic field 373 16.2 Graphs showing analogies between temperatures indicated by the micro- fauna and the magnetic inclination for the last two million years 374 16.3 Surface water isotherm map of the Atlantic Ocean for February, 18000 BP 380 16.4 Map showing differences in surface water temperature of the Atlantic Ocean in the winter, between 17000 (or 18000) BP and the present day 381 16.5 Map showing differences in surface water temperature of the Atlantic Ocean in summer, between 17000 (or 18000) BP and the present day 382 16.6 Comparative evolution of African lakes over the last 30000 years 384 16.7 Relative evolution of rainfall evaporation ratio in the Chad Basin (i3~i80N) over the last 12000 years 387 16.8 Variations in lake level in the Afar Basins 38g 16.9 Map of classical fossil-bearing localities of the Pliocene/Pleistocene era in East Africa 3Q4 16.10 Chronology and the tempo of cultural change during the Pleistocene, in calibration of hominoid evolution 3Ç5 16.11 Generalized trends in global climate for the past million years J96 16.12 Radiometric and palaeomagnetic aspects of the Pliocene/Pleistocene time range in eastern Africa, south-western Europe and western North America 3Q8 17.1 Palaeontological data 416 18.1 Africa: important hominid sites 438 19.1 East Africa: important Stone Age sites 461 19.2 Early Stone Age, first phase: typical Oldowan ('pebble') tools 467 19.3a Early Stone Age, second phase: typical Acheulian hand-axe 46g 19.3b Early Stone Age, second phase: typical Acheulian pick 470 19.3c Early Stone Age, second phase: typical Acheulian cleaver 471 19.4 Middle Stone Age and transitional tools 474 19.5 Late Stone Age: 'thumbnail' scraper, backed blade and crescent 477 20.1 Late Pliocene/earlier Pleistocene main faunal and fossil man localities in southern Africa 488 20.2 Lower Acheulian hand-axe, flake and two core choppers from the Middle Breccia, Sterkfontein 4g¡ 20.3 The distribution of Acheulian sites in southern Africa 4g7 20.4 Upper Acheulian tools from Kalambo Falls, Zambia 4Q8 20.5 Wooden implements from Pleistocene sites in southern Africa joi 20.6 The distribution of Fauresmith and Sangoan sites in southern Africa 507 IX List of figures 20.7 Artefacts from Sangoan assemblages in the Zambesi Valley, near Living stone, Zambia 50g 20.8 Upper Pleistocene and some post-Pleistocene fossil man sites in southern Africa 512 20.9 Tools of the Pietersburg and Bambata Industries from the Cave of Hearths, Transvaal, and Bambata Cave, Zimbabwe 5/4 20.10 Middle Stone Age industry from Twin Rivers, typical of the Brachystegia woodlands of Zambia 51g 20.11 Middle Stone Age artefacts from Witkrans Cave, typical of the equipment of hunters in the Karroo/Kalahari thornveld ¡20 20.12 Tools of the Middle Stone Age Lupemban Industrial Complex from Kalambo Falls, associated with Brachystegia woodland and evergreen forest 521 20.13 Distribution of utilized blades and blade fragments in relation to dolerite boulder structures on a living site at Orangia, Orange Free State 522 20.14 Tools from Howieson's Poort sites belonging to Group IV of the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa 523 20.5 Tools of the Later Stone Age Wilton Complex 526 20.16 Crescent adze-flake or scraper in chert, mounted in mastic, with rhino-horn handle, from a cave at Plettenberg Bay, eastern Cape Province, South Africa 52J 21.1 Central Africa: places mentioned in the text 535 21.2 Central Africa: vegetation zones 536 23.1 Principal sites of Saharan paintings and pack engravings §9° 23.2 Pottery from Akreijit, Mauritania sg8 24.1 West Africa: vegetation zones 612 27.1 Latitudinal zoning of the African continent 6go 27.2 Ecosystems of the African continent 6gi 27.3 Cradles of African agriculture 6g6 27.4 Geo-cultural sketch map of Africa 702 x