Early Metal Working in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Recent Research

1994 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan E. Miller ◽  
Nikolaas J. Van Der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
The Past ◽  
Iron Smelting ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Metallurgy ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Technical Terms

Thispaper is a review of the course of research during the past decade into the history of indigenous metal working in sub-Saharan Africa. It comprises three sections: a summary of the chronology of early metallurgy and the spread of metal working; a description of African metal working in terms of mining, smelting and smithing, with particular emphasis on recent interpretations of the iron-smelting technology; and a conclusion summarizing the main developments and some lines of future enquiry. A glossary of technical terms used in this paper is appended.

Radiocarbon Dates for Sub-Saharan Africa

1961 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Fagan
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African History ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Carbon 14 ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Southern Rhodesia

In the belief that the results of this system of absolute dating are of considerable interest to historians and others concerned with the pre-colonial history of Africa, the Journal of African History has decided to publish from time to time lists of dates since c. 1000 B.C. which are being established for sub-Saharan Africa by the Radiocarbon (Carbon 14) method. (A description of this technique will be found in Professor F. E. Zeuner's Dating the Past.) The Rhodes-Livingstone Museum has kindly agreed to compile these lists for the Journal, and would be most grateful if those possessing relevant results could send a note of them to the Director, the Rhodes-Livingstone Museum, P.O. Box 124, Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia. The attention of readers is also drawn to the new dates for Southern Rhodesia published in the appendix to Mr Roger Summers'ps article in this number of the Journal.

scholarly journals The Position of Sub-Saharan Countries in the World Economy

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (33) ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Boris Baumgartner
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Export ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Most of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa belong to the most underdeveloped and poorest countries in the world economy. This region consists of forty-nine countries but at world GDP, world export, world import and inflow of foreign direct investment share only by small percent. There are some positive facts in the recent history of sub- Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa has grown faster than the world economy in the past ten years. The predictions are also positive. There is an expectation of another growth till the 2020. If the sub-Saharan countries want to keep the growth in the future they have to invest to infrastructure, in educational system, in research and science to make their economies more competitive.

Christianity in the Twentieth Century

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Regional Survey ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Different Parts

This book charts the transformation of one of the world's great religions during an age marked by world wars, genocide, nationalism, decolonization, and powerful ideological currents, many of them hostile to Christianity. The book traces how Christianity evolved from a religion defined by the culture and politics of Europe to the expanding polycentric and multicultural faith it is today—one whose growing popular support is strongest in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, China, and other parts of Asia. The book sheds critical light on themes of central importance for understanding the global contours of modern Christianity, illustrating each one with contrasting case studies, usually taken from different parts of the world. Unlike other books on world Christianity, this one is not a regional survey or chronological narrative, nor does it focus on theology or ecclesiastical institutions. The book provides a history of Christianity as a popular faith experienced and lived by its adherents, telling a compelling and multifaceted story of Christendom's fortunes in Europe, North America, and across the rest of the globe. It demonstrates how Christianity has had less to fear from the onslaughts of secularism than from the readiness of Christians themselves to accommodate their faith to ideologies that privilege racial identity or radical individualism.

Forced Labour in the “Gorgulho Years”: Understanding Reform and Repression in Rural São Tomé e Príncipe, 1945–1953

Itinerario ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Keese
Keyword(s):  
Economic Change ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
History Of ◽  
Colonial Policies ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Incomplete Images ◽  
Forced Labour ◽  
Sao Tome E Principe

The crossroads of nationalist historiographies in sub-Saharan Africa and of the history of developmentalist attempts that characterise the European late colonial states, have left us with very incomplete images of important trajectories. In the seemingly more “liberal” large colonial empires—notably the French and British—sails were set by 1945 towards a policy of investment and economic change. Some of the scholarly debates question whether this investment was genuine or just a last resort to avoid (rapid) decolonisation; others put the emphasis on inadequate routines of development implemented in these territories, many of which have apparently been continued since decolonisation.In this context, we encounter a clear lack of understanding about how decisions made by individual actors on the administrative level interacted with the larger panorama of social conditions in colonial territories, and of the consequences that these interactions had for the paths towards decolonisation. For a smaller empire such as the Belgian colony of Congo-Léopoldville, these processes are still more obscure; and for the colonies ruled by authoritarian metropoles, as in the cases of territories under Spanish and Portuguese rule, stagnation and absence of change are often taken for granted. In other words, these territories, which were under the rule of metropoles regarded as rather weak in economic terms, are treated as unrepresentative of the broader, European movement towards change in colonial policies. However, the conditions of change towards economic and social modernisation in this latter group of empires, even when inhibited by lack of funding and weak professionalisation of the administration, are frequently very telling for the broader range of challenges that the late colonial states faced.

Women in Gabon

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire H. Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Women ◽  
Female Population ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Tropical Woods ◽  
New Research ◽  
Export Revenue

Gabon, a small oil-rich country straddling the equator on the west coast of Africa, is the wealthiest of France’s former colonies. An early period of colonization in the 19th century resulted in disease, famine, and economic failure. The creation of French Equatorial Africa in 1910 marked the beginning of the sustained lucrative exploitation of Gabon’s natural resources. Gabon began off-shore oil production while still a colony of France. Uranium was also discovered in the last decade of the French Equatorial African empire. Coupled with rich reserves in tropical woods, Gabon has achieved, since independence in 1960, a higher level of export revenue per capita of population than any other country in sub-Saharan Africa in the postcolonial era. However, significant inequality has characterized access to wealth through paid employment throughout the recorded history of monetized labor. While fortunes have been amassed by a minute proportion of the female population of Gabon associated with the ruling regime, and a professional female middle-class has emerged, inequalities of opportunity and reward continue to mark women’s experience of life in this little-known country of West Central Africa. The key challenge facing scholars researching the history of women in Gabon remains the relative lack of historical resources. While significant strides have been made over the past decade, research on women’s history in Francophone Africa published in English or French remains embryonic. French research on African women began to make a mark in the last decade of colonization, notably with the work of Denise Paulme, but then remained a neglected area for decades. The publication in 1994 of Les Africaines by French historian Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch was hailed at the time as a pioneering work in French historiography. But even this new research contained no analysis of and only a passing reference to women in Gabon.

scholarly journals Dengue Virus Infection in Sub-Saharan Africa Between 2010 and 2020: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid Eltom ◽  
Khalid Enan ◽  
Abdel Rahim M. El Hussein ◽  
Isam M. Elkhidir
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Dengue Virus ◽  
Subgroup Analysis ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Denv Infection ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Infection Markers

Dengue virus (DENV) infection has garnered a global interest in the past few decades. Nevertheless, its epidemiology in certain developing and low-income regions remains poorly understood, due to the absence of comprehensive surveillance and reporting systems. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the prevalence of DENV infection in the population of Sub-Saharan Africa using DENV infection markers, and to track any changes in its prevalence during the past ten years. It was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, targeting the literature available at MEDLINE/PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane library and Google Scholar. All articles published in English language between January 2010 and June 2020 were screened for eligibility. Random effects model was used to calculate the pooled prevalence of all infection markers. The Inconsistency Index (I2) was used to assess the level of heterogeneity between studies. Subgroup analysis according to country and time-frame of studies was conducted to provide possible explanations to substantial heterogeneity. The critical appraisal tool for prevalence studies designed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) was used to assess the risk of bias in all included studies. A total of 84 articles, covering 21 countries, were included in this review. Quantitative meta-analysis estimated a pooled IgG prevalence of 25% (95% CI: 21-29%, I2 = 99%), a pooled IgM prevalence of 10% (95% CI: 9-11%, I2 = 98%) and a pooled DENV RNA prevalence of 14% (95% CI: 12-16%, I2 = 99%). Evidence for possible publication bias was also found in all three meta-analyses. Subgroup analysis according to the time of sample collection was performed to closely track the changing prevalence of DENV infection markers between 2010 and 2019. This meta-analysis estimates a high prevalence of DENV infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. More cost-efficient vector control strategies should be designed and implemented in order to adapt to the low-resource nature of this region.

scholarly journals The impact of African-trained neurosurgeons on sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. E4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Karekezi ◽  
Abdeslam El Khamlichi ◽  
Abdessamad El Ouahabi ◽  
Najia El Abbadi ◽  
Semevo Alidegnon Ahokpossi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
National Income ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Federation ◽  
Neurosurgical Procedures ◽  
Ct Scanner ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

OBJECTIVESub-Saharan Africa (SSA) represents 17% of the world’s land, 14% of the population, and 1% of the gross domestic product. Previous reports have indicated that 81/500 African neurosurgeons (16.2%) worked in SSA—i.e., 1 neurosurgeon per 6 million inhabitants. Over the past decades, efforts have been made to improve neurosurgery availability in SSA. In this study, the authors provide an update by means of the polling of neurosurgeons who trained in North Africa and went back to practice in SSA.METHODSNeurosurgeons who had full training at the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) Rabat Training Center (RTC) over the past 16 years were polled with an 18-question survey focused on demographics, practice/case types, and operating room equipment availability.RESULTSData collected from all 21 (100%) WFNS RTC graduates showed that all neurosurgeons returned to work to SSA in 12 different countries, 90% working in low-income and 10% in lower-middle-income countries, defined by the World Bank as a Gross National Income per capita of ≤ US$995 and US$996–$3895, respectively. The cumulative population in the geographical areas in which they practice is 267 million, with a total of 102 neurosurgeons reported, resulting in 1 neurosurgeon per 2.62 million inhabitants. Upon return to SSA, WFNS RTC graduates were employed in public/private hospitals (62%), military hospitals (14.3%), academic centers (14.3%), and private practice (9.5%). The majority reported an even split between spine and cranial and between trauma and elective; 71% performed between 50 and more than 100 neurosurgical procedures/year. Equipment available varied across the cohort. A CT scanner was available to 86%, MRI to 38%, surgical microscope to 33%, endoscope to 19.1%, and neuronavigation to 0%. Three (14.3%) neurosurgeons had access to none of the above.CONCLUSIONSNeurosurgery availability in SSA has significantly improved over the past decade thanks to the dedication of senior African neurosurgeons, organizations, and volunteers who believed in forming the new neurosurgery generation in the same continent where they practice. Challenges include limited resources and the need to continue expanding efforts in local neurosurgery training and continuing medical education. Focus on affordable and low-maintenance technology is needed.

The History of Romantic Love in Sub-Saharan Africa: between Interest and Emotion

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Love ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Project ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Theoretical Issues

This chapter looks at the history of romantic love in Sub-Saharan Africa. This text comes from a lecture given at the British Academy's 2009 Raleigh Lecture on History. This text attempts to explore some of the methodological and theoretical issues involved in an historical study of love in Africa. It argues that romantic love in Africa is not simply an extension of an imperialist cultural and political project and that emotional regimes cannot be divorced from economic circumstances. It explains that though the configurations of interest and emotion take specific forms in African societies, there is nothing peculiarly African about the evident need of individuals to balance realism and idealism in their emotional lives.

scholarly journals Recurrent Collection of Drosophila melanogaster from Wild African Environments and Genomic Insights into Species History

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 627-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin D Sprengelmeyer ◽  
Suzan Mansourian ◽  
Jeremy D Lange ◽  
Daniel R Matute ◽  
Brandon S Cooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Wilderness Areas ◽  
Southern Central ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Improved Model

Abstract A long-standing enigma concerns the geographic and ecological origins of the intensively studied vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster. This globally distributed human commensal is thought to originate from sub-Saharan Africa, yet until recently, it had never been reported from undisturbed wilderness environments that could reflect its precommensal niche. Here, we document the collection of 288 D. melanogaster individuals from multiple African wilderness areas in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. The presence of D. melanogaster in these remote woodland environments is consistent with an ancestral range in southern-central Africa, as opposed to equatorial regions. After sequencing the genomes of 17 wilderness-collected flies collected from Kafue National Park in Zambia, we found reduced genetic diversity relative to town populations, elevated chromosomal inversion frequencies, and strong differences at specific genes including known insecticide targets. Combining these genomes with existing data, we probed the history of this species’ geographic expansion. Demographic estimates indicated that expansion from southern-central Africa began ∼13,000 years ago, with a Saharan crossing soon after, but expansion from the Middle East into Europe did not begin until roughly 1,800 years ago. This improved model of demographic history will provide an important resource for future evolutionary and genomic studies of this key model organism. Our findings add context to the history of D. melanogaster, while opening the door for future studies on the biological basis of adaptation to human environments.

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