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.

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.

Aeolian and fluviolacustrine landforms and prehistoric human occupation on a technically influenced floodplain margin, the Méma, central Mali

2007 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Makaske ◽  
E. de Vries ◽  
J.A. Tainter ◽  
R.J. Mclntosh
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
History Of ◽  
Climatic History ◽  
Inland Niger Delta ◽  
Semi Arid Region

AbstractThe Mema is a semi-arid region in central Mali with a rich archaeological heritage indicating the former existence of large urban settlements. The archaeological data suggest millennia of occupation history of the Méma preceding relatively sudden abandonment by the 14th or 15th century AD. Population numbers have remained low since then and today’s human presence in the area is sparse and largely mobile. Geomorphologically, the Méma can be characterized as a graben hosting various generations of aeolian landforms and (presently mostly dry) interdunal channels and lakes, linked to the neighbouring Inland Niger Delta floodplain. Given this setting, and the variability of the Sahelian climate, climatic contributions to the region’s sudden abandonment are likely. A geomorphological survey of the region, and interpretation of the observed geomorphological record in terms of climatic history, aimed at providing a basis for understanding the intensive occupation and subsequent abandonment of the Méma. The results of this study underscore dramatic Holocene climatic variability, leading to the region’s present geomorphological diversity, but also suggest that neotectonic movements constitute an important additional cause of regional desiccation. Both may have encouraged prehistoric people to abandon the Méma after a long period of occupation.

scholarly journals Demographic Dividend: The Rich Source of Skilled People in India

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shivesh Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Skill Development ◽  
Rich Source ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Young Population ◽  
Demographic Dividend ◽  
Working Population ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Rich ◽  
And Training

<p>As compared to western economies where there is a burden of an ageing population, India has a unique 20–25 years window of opportunity called the “demographic dividend.” The current focus of skill development has shifted to the learner and his/her needs and expectations from vocational education and training. To empower the working population, is it essential to start from the source, i.e., the learner. Our Country is having largest young population than any other country which acts as a power to make India a stronger and sustainable nation.<br />India is a rich source of Skilled peoples, the aim of the paper is to understand and comprehend the issues surrounding skill development in the field of healthcare the paper also shows some issues which shows that from long time India is rich in skills.</p>

Psychogenic causes of somatic symptoms in gynecology and obstetrics, psychoanalysis and psychotherapy

1926 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 1283-1289
Author(s):  
B. S. Tarlo
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Somatic Symptoms ◽  
Gynecology And Obstetrics ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Cellular Pathology ◽  
The 19Th Century

The localistic view of the origin and treatment of diseases, which for a long time prevailed in medicine, particularly in gynecology, especially became firmly established in the second half of the 19th century, when Virchow's cellular pathology, looking for sedes morborum in organs, took over the general medical thought. The brilliant development of surgery, which coincided with the triumphant march of bacteriology, antiseptics and asepsis, did not prompt a reassessment of this view of the essence of disease. Soon, however, a reaction to Virchow's cellular pathology rose. The rich results of serology and gematology, studies on immunity, etc., were difficult to reconcile with the old basic views of pathology. The doctrine of internal secretion and the doctrine of constitutions (Martius) contributed even more to the turn in the views on the essence of diseases.

Discovering Natural Assets

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Collier
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Railway Line ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The Rich ◽  
National Borders

Natural assets are living dangerously: lacking natural owners they are liable to be plundered. Since mankind has had a long time in which to plunder, those depleting natural assets that are still around are there because they are difficult to extract. They lie beneath the earth, hence why they are called “subsoil assets.” Where are they? The world currently consists of 194 nation states, which can conveniently be grouped, as we’ve seen, into four roughly equal quadrants: the rich countries of the OECD; the countries of the bottom billion; Russia and China with their satellites; and the emerging market economies, such as India and Brazil. Each group occupies around a quarter of the planet’s land surface area. Occasionally national borders have been determined by the presence of subsoil assets. British colonial pioneers, for example, got wind of the existence of deposits of copper in central Africa and so pushed a railway line northward from South Africa. They found the copper belt in what is now Zambia. Having pushed over two thousand miles, however, they missed by some thirty the far richer copper deposits that now lie in the southeast corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But usually, national borders do not reflect the endowments of subsoil assets to any significant degree. It would therefore be reasonable to regard subsoil assets as being randomly distributed between countries. Further, countries in the four groups are scattered across the planet. Although each group adds up to around a quarter of the planet’s total land area, it does not literally make up a quadrant, a neat quarter-slice out of a global orange. Since subsoil assets are randomly distributed among the 194 countries, and each of the four groups of countries is fairly randomly distributed around the earth, we might expect the law of large numbers to even out the distribution of subsoil assets among the groups. That is, while the random distribution over the 194 countries is likely to produce some spectacular differences between lucky and unlucky countries, by the time we have aggregated them into four massive groups the remaining differences should be much smaller.

The Dia archaeological project: rescuing cultural heritage in the Inland Niger Delta (Mali)

Antiquity ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (290) ◽  
pp. 837-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogier Bedaux ◽  
Kevin MacDonald ◽  
Alain Person ◽  
Jean Polet ◽  
Kléna Sanogo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Niger Delta ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Site Survey ◽  
University College London ◽  
Sciences Humaines ◽  
Close Cooperation ◽  
Inland Niger Delta

Mali is a country with a rich history and diverse cultures. Its cultural heritage is, however, threatened by both the pillage of archaeological sites and illicit trade (ICOM 1995; Bedaux & Rowlands, this volunle). Looting has dramatically increased in recent years, especially in the Inland Delta of the Niger, and has obliged Malian authorities to take measures to counteract this destruction. Within the framework of a long-term Malian-Dutch cultural heritage programme, the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde at Leiden recently initiated large-scale excavations in the Inland Niger Delta at Dia, in close cooperation with the Université du Mali, the Institut des Sciences Humaines and the Musée National du Mali in Bamako, the Mission Culturelle in Djenné, the Universities of Paris I and VI, the C.N.R.S., University College London and Leiden University. This excavation, financed principally by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, started in 1998 and will continue until 2004. It is a continuation of previous international programmes of site survey and documentation in the Inland Niger Delta, which the Institut des Sciences Humaines in Bamako has co-ordinated over the past two decades (e.g. Raimbault & Sanogo 1991; Dembele et al. 1993; Togola 1996). An initial season of prospection was carried out in 1998 in the Inland Delta, following which the vicinity of Dia was chosen as the principal research zone for the project.

Urban Sociology

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Monti
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Sociology ◽  
Far East ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Urban Places ◽  
The Way

Urban sociology is among the earliest and richest areas of sociological inquiry. It touches on topics and problems related to the way urban areas develop and the way people live in urban areas. While most of the attention of urban sociologists has been on more contemporary urban settings in Western societies, they’ve shown increasing interest in urban development and urban life in so-called developing countries and the Far East, especially India and China. By nature an interdisciplinary pursuit, five major academic fields contribute to urban sociology: anthropology, economics, history, political science, and social psychology. Specialists in these respective disciplines read and cite each other’s work and borrow from each other’s theoretical insights. One major profession, urban planning, is affiliated with urban sociology. It, too, has its own entry in Oxford Bibliographies in Geography “Urban Planning and Geography”. Another broad field that draws on all the same intellectual sources is urban studies. It was added to the curricula of US colleges and universities in the late 1960s in response to the turmoil that was occurring in many urban areas at that time. Given all the rich disciplinary sources that feed into urban sociology, this area of inquiry probably can be best understood by the themes that allow researchers to connect the disparate kinds of studies they do. The several sections into which this essay is divided have works that reflect one or more of the following four themes: (1) Urban sociologists focus on either the physical development of urban places (i.e., urbanization) or the way of life or culture practiced there (i.e., urbanism). (2) The work of urban sociologists asks how urban places are built and laid out. It also asks how urban settlements might be rebuilt or developed so they better serve or complement the way people live there. (3) Some urban sociologists look at smaller groups or venues such as neighborhoods (i.e., “micro” studies). Others look at much larger geographic areas and whole communities (i.e., “macro” studies). (4) Persons who do this kind of work tend to be either optimistic about the prospects for urban places and people or, more frequently, pessimistic about how well they will fare.

Ancient Developments in the Middle Senegal Valley and the Inland Niger Delta

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alioune Dème
Keyword(s):  
Niger Delta ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Ecological Diversity ◽  
Horizontal Differentiation ◽  
Secret Societies ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Inland Niger Delta ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Complexity Theories

The study of West Africa has contributed to the expansion of comparative arid-lands floodplain prehistory, from both the data collection (cultural and historical) and the theoretical aspects. The neoevolutionary approach that often pictures Africa as a backward continent has been successfully challenged. In the Middle Senegal Valley and in the Inland Niger Delta, research on their societies’ complexity done along these two subcontinent’s floodplains has described new processes (including urbanization) that were not previously featured in the archaeological literature. The two floodplains, because of their ecological diversity, with the richness of their ecological diversity, attracted Saharan populations affected by drought at the end of the second millennium and the first millennium BC. However, after their initiation occupation the two areas took different trajectories in complexity and settlement organization. Large complex settlements have been found at Jenne-jeno and in the Ile a Morphil that illustrate whole new trajectories of civilization. These forms of complexity, found in areas with historically known polities, were not included in the range of possibilities predicted by standard complexity theories regarding civilizational development. Ethnographic and historical data, reveal the existence of societies with a central authority embedded within and balanced by a diffuse, segmented and heterarchical power structure; often as a strategy to resist the individual consolidation of power. These societies exhibit evidence of horizontal differentiation and consensus-based decision making. All these types of organization are characterized by the presence of several sources of power vested in corporate entities, such as lineages, age groups, cults and secret societies.

Irrigation in the Inland Niger Delta of the French Sudan

1951 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
R. J. Harrison Church
Keyword(s):  
Niger Delta ◽  
Inland Niger Delta

scholarly journals Historical and cultural heritage of the Tyumen Territory and the possibility of its use

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-43
Author(s):  
O. Anoshko
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Transport Network ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Tourist Industry ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Natural Landscape ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Natural Landscapes ◽  
The Rich

The  article  presents  brightness  and  identity  of  ancient  and  medieval monuments  of  the  Tyumen  region  and  demonstrates  the  possibilities  of  their  use  in  the  development  of  the  tourist  industry  of  this  region,  which  was  distinguished  by  extensive  lowland  territories  and  a  convenient  transport  network.  The  high  concentration  of  archaeological  sites  on  certain  sites  surrounded  by  unique  natural  landscapes  allows  us  to  talk about  the  creation  of  natural  landscape  archaeological  complexes  as  synthesis  of  nature, archeology  and  architecture.  Particular  attention  is  paid  to  the  rich  archaeological  heritage  of  Tobolsk,  the  first  Russian  capital  of  Siberia,  the  need  to  organize  museum  and  tourist complexes in historically significant urban areas, free from any constructions.

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