The Archaeology of Islamisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Study

Islamisation ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 244-274
Author(s):  
Timothy Insoll
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Funerary Practices ◽  
New Markets ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Ways Of Life

The archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa is remarkably diverse in relation to its material components, its geographical and chronological frameworks, and the life ways that were influenced by Islam, from settled and nomadic populations, peasants and kings, to merchants, farmers, warriors and townspeople. Islamisation processes were equally varied involving, for example, trade, proselytisation, jihad and prestige. Economically, new markets might be reached. Politically, the adoption of Arabic, of new forms of administration and of literacy could have a significant impact. Socially, material culture and ways of life could alter as manifest via diet and funerary practices, house types and settlement patterns. It is not possible to adequately summarise this diversity here.1 Instead emphasis will be placed upon selectively considering the evidence in order to indicate what archaeology can tell us about Islamisation processes in Africa, and to demonstrate the value and utility of archaeology for examining this Islamisation

Vernacular architecture in eastern Senegal: Chaînes opératoires and technical choices

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-378
Author(s):  
Thomas Pelmoine ◽  
Anne Mayor
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Vernacular Architecture ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Heritage Studies ◽  
Environmental Adaptations ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Linguistic Groups

Architecture is an important component of cultural identity, but knowledge regarding construction techniques using local materials is gradually disappearing, and this subject has rarely been studied in sub-Saharan Africa. This ethno-archaeological study of current vernacular architecture and its evolution during the past three centuries in eastern Senegal therefore brings innovative results that are interesting on different levels. In relation to West Africa, the authors aim to provide new knowledge useful for archaeologists lacking references for interpreting past remains, as well as an archive for historical and heritage studies. More widely, the study constitutes a reference for the description of various mud-building techniques and an attempt to understand the mechanisms explaining their transformations, which should concern all scientists interested in vernacular architecture, in Africa and beyond. More precisely, this article accounts for the variability of techniques used for constructing walls and roofs of dwellings in the Faleme valley among different ethno-linguistic groups, while considering the environmental, cultural and socio-economic factors at play. The authors’ methodology is based on a description of the chaînes opératoires of construction, interviews, mapping and statistical analysis. The patterns observed facilitate a discussion on the evolution of techniques, environmental adaptations, the transfer of knowledge and the role of history in material culture dynamics.

scholarly journals Explaining the Constitutional Integration and Resurgence of Traditional Political Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 973-995
Author(s):  
Katharina Holzinger ◽  
Florian G Kern ◽  
Daniela Kromrey
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Traditional Leaders ◽  
Constitutional Level ◽  
Traditional Institutions ◽  
Sub Saharan

Social scientists have recently observed a ‘resurgence’ of traditional political institutions on the constitutional level in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, the scope and causes of the resurgence remain unclear. We base our analysis on original data on the degree of constitutional integration of traditional institutions and on their constitutional resurgence since 1990 in 45 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. We test six theoretical explanations for constitutionalization: former colonial rule, democratization, state capacity, economic development, foreign aid and settlement patterns. First, we verify the broad resurgence of traditional political institutions on a constitutional level. Second, our analysis suggests that, particularly in former British colonies, traditional leaders were able to translate the arrangements of British colonial rule as well as the advantages of a country’s deconcentrated settlement pattern into greater constitutional status. Third, settlement patterns proved important for traditional leaders to gain or increase constitutional status – leading to a constitutional resurgence of traditional institutions.

The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Archaeology

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Islamic Art ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Islamic Archaeology ◽  
First Time

Born from the fields of Islamic art and architectural history, the archaeological study of the Islamic societies is a relatively young discipline. With its roots in the colonial periods of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, its rapid development since the 1980s warrants a reevaluation of where the field stands today. This Handbook represents for the first time a survey of Islamic archaeology on a global scale, describing its disciplinary development and offering candid critiques of the state of the field today in the Central Islamic Lands, the Islamic West, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. The international contributors to the volume address such themes as the timing and process of Islamization, the problems of periodization and regionalism in material culture, cities and countryside, cultural hybridity, cultural and religious diversity, natural resource management, international trade in the later historical periods, and migration. Critical assessments of the ways in which archaeologists today engage with Islamic cultural heritage and local communities closes the volume, highlighting the ethical issues related to studying living cultures and religions.

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