History & Archaeology

Reading Questions AFRICANS, Chapters 1-3:

(1) The frontiersmen of mankind

• According to Iliffe, what are the central themes of African history?
• Why was Africa underpopulated until the later 20th century?
• What effects did the African environment have on ideologies and social organization?
• How did European innovations lead to the late 20th century crisis in Africa? 
• What is "the thread that ties African history together"? 
• Besides archaeological evidence, what can we use to uncover the pre-literate past?

(2) The emergence of food-producing communities

• What are the important developments of the Microlithic period?
• List the four ancient language families of Africa and who spoke them.
• What led some Africans to begin producing food? What food? When?
• Describe the expansion/dispersal of Bantu speakers.

(3) The impact of metals

• Don't look for very much about metals until page 33.
• Why did so little Egyptian culture spread to the rest of the continent?
• What's so important about Iron for Sub-Saharan Africa?
  

The True Size of Africa

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Reading questions for Chapter 1 of Short, "The Idea of Africa":

• Why does the book say that African history is a very new topic?
• Who created the idea of Africa and where does the word "Africa" come from?
• What do different texts books and scholars  include or leave out of a definition of Africa and its history?
• How did the diaspora help shape the idea of Africa? (define diaspora and pan-Africanist)
• Briefly describe the physical landscape of Africa.
• How has the Sahara desert changed and what effects did the change have on people/history?
• What's so amazing about Jenne-Jeno?