From the exodus of early modern humans to the growth of African diasporas, Africa has had a long and complex relationship with the outside world. More than a passive vessel manipulated by external empires, the African experience has been a complex mix of internal geographic, environmental, sociopolitical and economic factors, and regular interaction with outsiders. Peter Mitchell attempts to outline these factors over the long period of modern human history, to find their commonalities and development over time. He examines African interconnections through Egypt and Nubia with the Near East,through multiple Indian Ocean trading systems, through the trans-Saharan trade, and through more recent incursion of Europeans. The African diaspora is also explored for continuities and resistance to foreign domination. Commonalities abound in the African experience, as do complexities of each individual period and interrelationship. Mitchell's sweeping analysis of African connections place the continent in context of global prehistory and history. The book should be of interest not only to Africanists, but to many other archaeologists, historians, geographers, linguists, social scientists and their students.
Peter Mitchell is University Lecturer in African Prehistory at St. Hugh's College and Curator of African Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.
Table of Contents
1 Foreword by J. O. Vogel2 Preface3 1. Introducing Africa: Definitions, Routes, Resources and Interactions4 2. The Development and Spread of African Farming Systems5 3. The Nile and Red Sea Corridors6 4. Africa in the Indian Ocean World System7 5. Africa's Other Sea: The Sahara and its Shores8 6. Africa's Opening to the Atlantic9 7. Out-of-Africa III: The Archaeology of the African Diaspora10 8. Reconnecting Africa: Patterns, Problems and Potentials11 References12 Index13 About the Author
