Synopses & Reviews
The cities of West Africa's Middle Niger, only recently brought to the world's attention, make us rethink the 'whys' and the 'wheres' of ancient urbanism. The cities of the Middle Niger present the archaeologist with something of a novelty; a non-nucleated, clustered city-plan with no centralized, state-focused power. Ancient Middle Niger explores the emergence of these cities in the first millennium B.C. and the evolution of their hinterlands from the perspective of the self-organized landscape. Cities appeared in a series of profound transforms to the human-land relations and this book illustrates how each transform was a leap in complexity. The book ends with an examination of certain critical moments in the emergence of other urban landscapes in Mesopotamia, along the Nile, and in northern China, through a Middle Niger lens. Highly-illustrated throughout, this work is a key text for all students of African archaeology and of comparative pre-industrial urbanism.
Synopsis
The cities of Middle Niger, although the oldest in sub-Saharan Africa, are the most recently 'discovered' of all the ancient urban civilisations known to archaeology. Emerging in the first millennium BC, they were marked by a unique non-nucleated, clustered city plan and by the absence of kingship or centralised state-focused power. This innovative survey explores the origins and development of these cities, comparing them with the indigenous urban landscapes of Mesopotamia, the Nile valley and northern China, and making us rethink cherished beliefs about the 'whys' and 'wheres' of ancient urbanism.
Synopsis
Survey of the emergence of the ancient urban civilization of Middle Niger.
About the Author
Roderick J. McIntosh is Professor of Anthropology at Rice University and visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His recent publications include The Peoples of Middle Niger: Island of Gold (1998), The Way the Wind Blows: Climate, History, and Human Action (2000) and Geomorphology and Human Palaeoecology of the Mma, Mali (2005).
Table of Contents
1. Discovery; 2. Transformed landscapes; 3. Accommodation; 4. Excavation; 5. Surveying the hinterland; 6. Comparative urban landscapes.