Book contents
- Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond
- The Trans-saharan Archaeology Series
- Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Oasis Origins in the Sahara: A Region-by-Region Survey
- Part III Neighbours and Comparanda
- 9 Early States and Urban Forms in the Middle Nile
- 10 Mediterranean Urbanisation in North Africa
- 11 Numidian State Formation in the Tunisian High Tell
- 12 The Origins of Urbanisation and Structured Political Power in Morocco
- 13 Architecture and Settlement Growth on the Southern Edge of the Sahara
- 14 Long-Distance Exchange and Urban Trajectories in the First Millennium AD
- 15 First Millennia BC/AD Fortified Settlements at Lake Chad
- 16 At the Dawn of Sijilmasa
- 17 The Early Islamic Trans-Saharan Market Towns of West Africa
- 18 Urbanisation, Inequality and Political Authority in the Sahara
- Part IV Concluding Discussion
- Index
- References
13 - Architecture and Settlement Growth on the Southern Edge of the Sahara
Timing and Possible Implications for Interactions with the North
from Part III - Neighbours and Comparanda
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 March 2020
Book contents
- Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond
- The Trans-saharan Archaeology Series
- Urbanisation and State Formation in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Oasis Origins in the Sahara: A Region-by-Region Survey
- Part III Neighbours and Comparanda
- 9 Early States and Urban Forms in the Middle Nile
- 10 Mediterranean Urbanisation in North Africa
- 11 Numidian State Formation in the Tunisian High Tell
- 12 The Origins of Urbanisation and Structured Political Power in Morocco
- 13 Architecture and Settlement Growth on the Southern Edge of the Sahara
- 14 Long-Distance Exchange and Urban Trajectories in the First Millennium AD
- 15 First Millennia BC/AD Fortified Settlements at Lake Chad
- 16 At the Dawn of Sijilmasa
- 17 The Early Islamic Trans-Saharan Market Towns of West Africa
- 18 Urbanisation, Inequality and Political Authority in the Sahara
- Part IV Concluding Discussion
- Index
- References
Summary
Since the 1970s, there has been a significant increase in regional data sets relating to tell sites in the West African Sahel. Previous colonial notions that Trans-Saharan commerce in the Islamic era created the first Sub-Saharan towns and polities have now been largely abandoned; it is all too apparent that complex settlement systems were widespread in the south long before the eighth century. Yet questions of Trans-Saharan interactions with the Berber world in preceding centuries have not been so effectively addressed. In this chapter, I examine archaeological evidence for architectural development and settlement growth within the Hodh and Middle Niger basins: the Tichitt, Walata, Tagant and Néma escarpments, the Méma, the Inland Niger Delta, the Lakes Region, the area of Timbuktu and the Gourma (Fig. 13.1). The advent of different types of dry stone, coursed earth or mudbrick structures and the regional timing of settlement growth will be the primary factors under consideration.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
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