A Reconsideration of Wangara/Palolus, Island of Gold

1981 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Keech McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Niger Delta ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Niger Delta Region ◽  
Inland Niger Delta ◽  
Alternative Identification ◽  
Major Urban Centre

There is a general consensus among West African historians that the Island of Gold, known to Arab geographers as Wangara and to European cartographers as Palolus, refers to the Bambuk/Bure goldfields. This article examines the evidence for an alternative identification of the Island of Gold with the Inland Niger Delta, where the place name Wangara would be derived from Soninke long-distance traders (Wangara). Many of the details on the Island of Gold provided in the original sources can be shown to apply more convincingly to the Inland Niger Delta than to Bambuk/Bure. Until now, this hypothesis has not received serious consideration, partly because of the belief that the Inland Delta and its most important entrepot, Jenne, did not play a significant role in long-distance trade networks until the fourteenth century. This is contradicted by archaeological evidence for a major urban centre at Jenne-jeno by 900 a.d.The existence in the later first millennium a.d. of the Soninke town of Jenne-jeno, and the oral traditions which maintain that the western Inland Delta was the heartland of the Soninke trade diaspora, combine to indicate that commerce along the Middle Niger was substantial by the early second millennium. Indirect confirmation of this trading activity is found both in al-Bakri's discussion of riverine trade routes along the upper Niger Bend and in al-Idrisi's account of the Wangara along the Middle Niger. The continuing identification of the Inland Niger Delta region as the Island of Gold from the eleventh through the fourteenth centuries implies that part of this trade involved gold. A possible early gold source in Lobi is suggested.

The Pre- and ProtohistoricToguéof the Niger Alluvial Plain, Mali

2010 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 319-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette M. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Niger Delta ◽  
Alluvial Plain ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Rural Sites ◽  
Inland Niger Delta ◽  
Landscape Units

The Inland Niger Delta in Mali is scattered with thousands of tell-like dwelling mounds that testify to the rich archaeological heritage of this attractive occupation area. The results of archaeological research suggest an occupation history of more than two millennia in which large urban settlements such as Djenné-Djeno and Dia play a central role. Regional surveys have revealed primary information on the vast rural hinterland of these extensive cities, but little is known about the structure and evolution of this considerable settlement system. The aim of the re-examination of 128 sites in the southern part of the Niger alluvial plain was to obtain an understanding of intersite relations based on sites' chronological, functional, socio-economic, and hierarchical differentiation and their participation in different trade networks. For the research it was crucial to find a method to date the last occupation period of the sites using surface remains. The results of the study emphasise the former occupants' preference for the most elevated landscape units close to fertile pastures, good cultivation grounds, and extensive fishing potential for their settlement sites. The occupants' ability to distribute and exchange agricultural surplus for luxury goods – imported via regional, inter-regional and trans-Saharan trade networks – is impressive, showing that they were able to compete with occupants of the large urban centres. Although the rural sites were much smaller than Djenné-Djeno and Dia, they were well connected. The rural hinterland apparently played an important role in most of the great West African empires. Population densities of the Inland Niger Delta were high for a long time, until the trade routes changed in the 15th century AD and the region became socio-politically unstable. This led to the abandonment of settlements, first around the urban settlements, and later also in the rural hinterland. The present-day occupation of the region is only a poor reflection of its impressive past.

The Soninke in Ancient West African History

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kassim Kone
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
West African ◽  
African History ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The West ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Ecological Zones

The Soninke are an ancient West African ethnicity that probably gave rise to the much larger group that is called the Mande of which the Soninke are part. The Soninke language belongs to the northwestern Mande group but through the dynamism of its speakers has loaned many words and concepts to distant ethnic groups throughout the West African ecological zones. Mande groups such as the Malinke and Bambara may be descendants of the Soninke or a Proto-Soninke group. The Soninke are the founder of the first West African empire, Ghana, which they themselves call Wagadu, from the 6th to the 12th centuries ad Ghana was wealthy and powerful due to its access to gold, its geographic location between the Sahara and the Sahel, and its opening of trade routes from these ecological zones into the West African forest. Long distance trade contributed to the development of an ethos of migration among the Soninke, arguably making them the most traveled people of the whole continent. As they embraced Islam, some Soninke clans became clerics and proselytizers and followed the trade routes, sometimes becoming advisers to kings and chiefs. By the time of Ghana’s fall, the Soninke diaspora and trade networks were found all over West Africa. At present, pockets of Soninke, small and large, are found on all continents.

COMBINING ORAL TRADITIONS AND BAYESIAN CHRONOLOGICAL MODELING TO UNDERSTAND VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT IN THE GULF OF PAPUA (PAPUA NEW GUINEA)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Chris Urwin ◽  
Quan Hua ◽  
Henry Arifeae
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Spatial History ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gulf Of Papua ◽  
The Village

ABSTRACT When European colonists arrived in the late 19th century, large villages dotted the coastline of the Gulf of Papua (southern Papua New Guinea). These central places sustained long-distance exchange and decade-spanning ceremonial cycles. Besides ethnohistoric records, little is known of the villages’ antiquity, spatiality, or development. Here we combine oral traditional and 14C chronological evidence to investigate the spatial history of two ancestral village sites in Orokolo Bay: Popo and Mirimua Mapoe. A Bayesian model composed of 35 14C assays from seven excavations, alongside the oral traditional accounts, demonstrates that people lived at Popo from 765–575 cal BP until 220–40 cal BP, at which time they moved southwards to Mirimua Mapoe. The village of Popo spanned ca. 34 ha and was composed of various estates, each occupied by a different tribe. Through time, the inhabitants of Popo transformed (e.g., expanded, contracted, and shifted) the village to manage social and ceremonial priorities, long-distance exchange opportunities and changing marine environments. Ours is a crucial case study of how oral traditional ways of understanding the past interrelate with the information generated by Bayesian 14C analyses. We conclude by reflecting on the limitations, strengths, and uncertainties inherent to these forms of chronological knowledge.

Participation in Community Development Micro Projects in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: Implications for Social Work Education and Practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-352
Author(s):  
Oghenechoja Dennis Veta
Keyword(s):  
Niger Delta ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Delta Region ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Niger Delta Region ◽  
Borehole Water ◽  
Work Education

This study sought to investigate factors militating against community participation in development projects executed under the Micro Projects Programme and how to reduce such factors to the barest minimum in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study. A questionnaire, an in-depth interview (IDI) guide and a focus group discussion (FGD) guide were used for data collection. Borehole water, generator-house, health centres, staff quarters and markets were the projects executed. Inadequate devolution of power to the grassroots, among others, was the major problem that hindered involvement of community members in the development process of the Micro Projects Programme in the study areas. To enhance active participation of beneficiaries in the development process of the programme, suggestions are proffered.

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