ancient african social structure ancient african social structure

Despite the obstacles to population growth, there was an extremely slow rise in numbers throughout historical times. NjI3NjM4ODlkZDhlYWEyNmY2NmFiMDk1NjJjYjUwZTQxNmQwMmM4M2E4Mzkz Later, they faced competition from Hausa traders, who created an even more far flung network. This had probably been first introduced to sub-Saharan Africa by Portuguese or Arab visitors, but the fact that it had been picked up by local healers and spread from people to people over hundreds of miles shows how open they were to new approaches. Africa has some giant lakes, including a number strung out down the spine of the continent, from Lake Turkana in northern Kenya to Lake Malawi in south-east Africa. YjU5YTA2MjA2ZTZjNTRkNmQ0OTBmNzIzM2EzZTIyZWFlMDBlMGViZTQzMDMw They were much more likely to have to go and live in their husbands familys village after marriage, which put them in a comparatively powerless position. Underpopulation meant that disgruntled people could always seek new land beyond the reach of royal authority. Although it is generally agreed that the term social structure refers to . M2M4NGNlYzZmM2IzNmFlYTA3OGFjMDcwMWRiZjdmY2UyMzM5ZDg5OTcwNjA1 These were societies that had no. Africas other rivers are all interrupted by falls and rapids along their courses. Like the gold miners they were also hereditary, and in fact formed a distinct ethnic group within desert society. European travelers to Africa were surprised to find, even in the interior of the continent, inoculation being practiced. In times of external danger such societies could come together to resist attack; however, they were peculiarly vulnerable to slave raiding from predatory states. In that case, though not always, the excluded group has the propensity to oppose the incumbent extractive governance system. To the south of the Sahara desert is the Savannah zone. It offers a general survey of the geographical environments they inhabited; their settlements, social structures and economies; and their religions and cultures. In the second millennium CE copper crosses served as a form of currency across much of southern and central Africa. Here, the early settlers often used fire to clear the bush, and over large swathes of East and Central Africa in particular, thick forest was reduced to, first, open woodland, and then, in some places, to treeless steppe, more suited to cattle herding than crop production. As a result of these factors, throughout Africas premodern history, locations where densely-populated farming societies could emerged, and in which urban civilizations could be built, have been fewer and more scattered than most other regions of the world. Where there is a spring, a lake or a river, however, cultivation is possible, and in some areas, for example in the inner delta of the River Niger (see below), or on the shores of Lake Chad in West Africa, or the Great Lakes of central Africa, intensive cultivation has allowed concentrations of dense population to grow up. Such traders were men, and they ranged from single itinerant traders with perhaps a donkey to carry his goods, to those in charge of caravans of donkeys or, in the desert, of camels. Most involved a keen belief in spirits of different kind; of the afterlife; of a spiritual dimension to the land; and of evil. Together with drought, famine, epidemic, violence, and an unforgiving food-producing environment, it is easy to see how African populations struggled to grow. Malaria was probably the biggest killer, especially of infants. Generated by Wordfence at Sat, 4 Mar 2023 18:37:22 GMT.Your computer's time: document.write(new Date().toUTCString());. After about A.D. 500, several centrally organized, warring states appeared in parts of Africa. Explain the social structure, unique aspects, and decline of Great Zimbabwe . They required widespread international contacts to be successful. Africa was not just the birthplace of humanity but also the cradle of early civilisations that made an immense contribution to the world and are still marvelled at today. In more densely populated societies a number of such lineages might be clustered together to form a large village or small town. Africa Africa's Great Rift Valley is the largest landform on Earth, and the only one visible from the moon. As we have seen, the only major trading towns in these regions were on the Swahili coast of the Indian Ocean. This was Islam, which gradually spread throughout the region over a number of centuries. Between ten and fifty people might live here, sometimes much more, in a complex of houses forming one compound. NzA0NTc2MTNjMDFjMzQ0ODY3ODRmNjZhMzc0ZGFjNDExMDIzN2VhMGNhNGE4 Egyptians believed that the gods controlled the universe. Rice was grown on particularly well-watered areas such as along the banks of the River Niger. Even large towns often resembled several villages grouped together, with each lineage group in its own walled sector. So too did the more widespread infestation of tsetse fly, which set a limit of animal transport. makes it the largest ancient structure south of the Sahara Desert. At the opposite end of the scale, however, women probably made up the majority of slaves, and occupied a powerless and utterly dependent position in society. The tsetse fly infested many wooded areas, especially along waterways, killing cattle and causing sleeping sickness amongst humans. This task would be helped by the fact that a defeated ruler had, by definition, been shown to have lost the support of the gods, and the victorious ruler had proved himself to be the more spiritually powerful. Craft workers were often dedicated to meeting the needs of the ruler and the elite, their workshops located within the royal compound. Women of a particular lineage could live together in a close-knit group until long after they were married, while their husbands worked for their (the wifes) father until they had earned the right to take their wives back to their own communities. These encompass the worship of gods, ancestors and spirits, and are based on an understanding that the spiritual infuses every aspect of daily life. The majority of townsmen, like villagers, were cultivators. Apart from in West Africa and on the Swahili coast, where true cities had developed, African towns tended to have the appearance of large villages, or clusters of villages. eyJtZXNzYWdlIjoiYTQ3YTllNzM5MzNhY2U5MTg3MDQzZTY2YzI0NGNiOTQx Imperialism Africa was among the last regions of the globe to be subject to imperial rule. Rulers displayed their power by the number of retainers they had, and the sophistication of their court, where urbanity, eloquence, and quickness of wit were cultivated. This was a strategy to counter a shortage of population, embarking on war and raids with the deliberate intention of taking captives to build up a concentration of unfree farmers under direct royal control. David Beach believes that the city . The previously hidden corridor is the latest discovery of the ScanPyramids project, a mission made up of heritage experts from . Moreover, away from areas especially favored with plentiful rainfall or rivers, the grasslands which cover much of Africa do not make ideal land for crop growing, and are prone to droughts and famines. With distances between centers of population usually large, transport costs were high. The culture,language and customs of this empire were greatly influenced by the culture of Western African cities and the people were divided into sects or sections based on their social standing. This limited the number of children they might have in their child-bearing years, which would have been much more diminished, on average, by the incidence of infant mortality, childhood diseases and the dangers of childbirth. NTlmYTU5OWZlYjIyNzk0NmRkZjAxMGZiMTRhMzBkYWViYTY4ZmNjYjlmNDMz It offers a general survey of the geographical environments they inhabited; their settlements, social structures and economies; and their religions and cultures. Even in West Africa, and certainly for Africa as a whole, salt was probably the most traded commodity, being an essential part of peoples diet, especially for those in regions where meat was hard to come by. ODRhYzAzZTNiOTc2MTJiMGNkYmQ3ZjdiYThjMzE5M2I5MTIzMzMwODE5OWJm Some states were created by rulers of village clusters who, through military prowess, were able to use their manpower to conquer other clusters. The most productive salt mines were located deep in the Sahara desert, and the miners lived isolated lives working in appalling conditions. In some cases such children were castrated as a further measure to reduce ambition they would not then be able to establish an independent dynasty. Ancient African Civilizations: East. Most crafts supplied local markets, even when using high levels of skill. MTJmOWQxYjMzYzM3MzdkNTQ0ZDhiZWYzMWEzZThiZWJlOTZmODA5ZmM3ZDI0 Otherwise, large urban settlements were rare: Great Zimbabwe, Mbaza Kongo, and a handful of other towns were exceptional. In the 14th and 15th centuries this tradition was transferred to brass. NmQ3NzU3NWZiNGRmMjNjOWYyMzgyNGI5NTRhMWYxMDU4YzQ3NDY5ZWFiYmU3 Still others were created by nomadic pastoral groups imposing control over a population of farmers, such as the Fulani kingdoms in West Africa. Religious and medical knowledge was interwoven, and was mysterious to the community at large (except in so far as the healing properties of many plants were commonly appreciated). 'Democracy gives people the space to get the best out of themselves, which leads to creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. As such it was essentially a form of theatre. In East, Central and Southern Africa, the mix of staple crops varied from place to place according to environment, but normally included yams and sorghum, later supplemented by plantain. Crafts were usually hereditary, and expertise was often a closely-guarded secret of particular kin-groups. So too could warfare or misrule. MDg2MzFiMDZmODM4NDFlY2UyNjFkYzVlM2U3MWExNTI3ODU4YmEyZTM3NWYx If another man, through skilled farming, plenty of children and a charismatic personality, attracted a following, he could lead his people out into some vacant land and establish his own group. The histories and cultures of Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia and North Africa are covered elsewhere. Once a cluster had acquired some form of statehood, its people were able to act in a much more co-ordinated fashion. African farming has relied on a thorough understanding of local environments, to an extent which has astonished Western observers. The grasslands of East Africa spread eastwards almost to the Indian Ocean, where a narrow belt of forest hugs the coastline. Long-distance trade rested chiefly on high value goods produced only in confined areas. There is a direct link between a strong democratic state and a prosperous and attractive country.' Female slaves were employed as domestic servants or concubines. As one should expect for such a vast region as sub-Saharan Africa, with its thousands of societies and cultures, religious beliefs and practices varied enormously. In folktales, the rewards for perseverance, intelligence and courage were wives, children, status, wealth, and security in other words, to become a Big Man. Witches were widely blamed for misfortunes, especially involving the fertility of women and the survival of children. It was only with the spread of the Fulani herdsmen across West Africa in the 2nd millennium that pastoralists would begin to live in areas between agricultural clusters, a development which would have a major impact on the history of this region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Underpopulation meant that disgruntled people could always seek new land beyond the reach of royal authority. In the West African savannah the earliest kingdoms had appeared by the mid-first millennium CE. There are also some large mountain ranges, such as the Ruwenzori mountains in Uganda (the Mountains of the Moon). As warriors they would cultivate a military ethos and be sent out to military outposts to guard the groups cattle and territory. Circumstances might have been against African societies in the effort to create advanced material cultures, but this did not stop some of them from producing some of the most highly regarded works of art known to man. This crosses much of the continent from east to west, from the Atlantic coast to the highlands of Ethiopia. Sometimes these were royal kinsmen or aristocrats, at other times royal slaves completely dependent upon the king for his authority. The 25th dynasty was a line of pharaohs who originated in the Kingdom of Kush that reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt for nearly a century, from 744 to 656 BC. The surrounding bush remained untamed, wild, a source of harm, the abode of dangerous animals and evil spirits. The first king was king Tenkamenin, and the second king of the Ghana Empire was Kaya Maghan. Today they are confined to comparatively restricted areas in and around the Kalahari desert, or in the densest forests of the Congo basin; The transition to a settled, farming way of life is quite a difficult one for many hunter-gatherers, but some of them were able to adapt to keeping cattle. Ancient Africa boasts of the practice of democracy years before Lincoln and well-established governments that were able to expand and last for many centuries. In the savannah and forest regions of West Africa, an international group of traders grew up named the Dyula, who achieved an impressive scale of organization to handle commercial activities over a very wide area. First adopted by Western scholars, the notion of caste in West Africa refers to a form of hierarchical social classification of individuals into . There was intense competition for women, and great inequality in access to them. These probably belonged mostly to hereditary groups, often closely associated with the monarchy they were sometimes high-status slaves who lived within the palace precinct; in other towns they were members of guild-like organizations under their own chiefs. Having said all this, disease remained common, debilitating and in may cases, fatal. ZDQ1YTJjMTY4ZmNjMzllMjdlY2MwMTUyYmJiMDBiZTQ2M2IxYjg4OGY2YTBi Connected with this, feats of memory were a key part of African religious, political and commercial life. Many of the market traders were local women, but above them was a class of comparatively wealthy merchants. Elsewhere, transport being limited to human porterage meant that there was little long-distance trade. OTg3ZTYwNWY1OWRjMGZiYzY3ZjQ0MGEzYTgyOTVhZDY3M2YwZDIyMzFjMzJk The Bantu, a large group of related peoples, originated along what is now the border between NIGERIA and CAMEROON and spread throughout central and southern Africa. In some kingdoms, such as Songhai and the Hausa states in West Africa, and Kongo and Luba in Equatorial Africa, slave labour was on a larger scale than in other places. MmYyNjc5MzNiN2Y1ZWY3NWJhMmMyZTBhZGE4YzI0OTI2MjAwZTRmODkwN2M1 Of the outlying settlements, only the more successful ones would survive. It has captivated visitors since it was built as a royal burial chamber some 4,500 years ago. Throughout Africa, bearing and bringing up children was probably the most vital task after brute survival. One of the biggest threats to harmony within society was witchcraft. Everyone on the community would take part, but the central roles were reserved for the mediums with their trance-dancing. These were the miners. This The Call of the Wild by Jack London Middle School reading unit and novel study is exactly what you need to teach your . Africa, where humans first evolved, today remains a place of remarkable diversity. One group of industrial workers should be mentioned in this context, although they were not strictly speaking craftsmen in the normal use of the term. Around this would be clustered the huts of other households, with four or five members each. Facts about Ancient Africa 1: the great civilization Africa is the home to some great civilizations. YWZkYWVmMTM2NzEyZTQ1NTBhOWQ3NWRjZGNiNDQwMTUzN2M1NjlhZjE0NzUx Caste systems in Africa are a form of social stratification found in numerous ethnic groups, found in over fifteen countries, particularly in the Sahel, West Africa, and North Africa. The histories and cultures of Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia and North Africa are covered elsewhere. The herding way of life probably dated to the third millennium BCE, and preceded agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. However, state-building was not a straightforward process in African conditions. FIAT DOBLO (2015-) VANIKA DO KUFRA. The absence of roads very labour-intensive for scattered communities to construct and maintain wheeled vehicles such as carts could not be used. YWRiNDliMWQ0MWZmY2UzNDg1NWZhM2Q5NmQzMTM1MzQwZWY5MGZjYjQwNWI2 On Thursday, scientists shared the discovery of a corridor inside the 4,500-year-old structure at an unveiling ceremony held at the Giza Plateau.. MWQxZmFmZDU1YzRiOTgwN2YwNjgwNGEyMWVmYmVjZTQ1YTI4ODkzMTA1OGQ2 Surrounding this would be rings of less and less dense settlement and fields, eventually merging into the surrounding bush. More often, they might be tested by a poison ordeal and if found guilty, put to death, often with great cruelty. ZDQwYTliY2VjMzM2YmIyZDM1ODQ4Zjc4NzY2ZWQ4NWU5YTliYzE4N2FhMTQw Small, isolated areas of dense population were surrounded by large tracts of sparsely peopled wilderness. Much dance was narrative in purpose, telling and retelling myths and stories. With the evolving of African settlements into bigger towns and cities, the Caste system slowly began to take shape and become a distinctive social structure. Over the millennia they have become highly adapted to life in an ecosystem which is fiercely hostile to other peoples. As we have seen, different African peoples specialized in different modes of food production hunter-gathering (and fishing), nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralism, and cultivation of crops. The surrounding bush remained untamed, wild, a source of harm, the abode of dangerous animals and evil spirits. Big Men had four, five or more wives. The diet in most parts of Africa meant that many did not reach sexual maturity until their late teens or early twenties. West Africa had the oldest, densest and most enduring urban tradition, with famous cities such as Timbuktu, Gao, Jenne and Kano. Surrounded as they were by vast stretches of bush, agricultural villages and the human societies they sheltered were fragile places, always under threat from the encroaching forest. If they were too old, ill or handicapped to work effectively; or if through misfortune they had no children; or if they had no kinsmen to aid them clear land and tame fields, they were very vulnerable. But it was ancestors with whom these people directly interacted, and approaching them with sacrifices of cattle. Therefore, it was important to keep them happy. All climate zones in sub-Saharan Africa were characterized by a highly uneven settlement pattern. The surviving examples re terracotta, though there may well have been a much more substantial tradition of wood carving which lay behind these. These West African trade systems were facilitated by an international currency based on cowrie shells, whose distinctive appearance, durability, and limited supply made them very suitable for such a role. OTZhNjdjMmQ4MzVlNTAyODMzY2ZjOTFlOWE3NjJkOGI5NjVmODQ2NGRhN2Y2 African societies were often fluid from one generation to another, however. Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. Those humans whose livelihood depended on adventuring into the bush hunters above all but also herbalists and iron workers, who needed wood for their furnaces were regarded with awe, for they must be protected by strong magic to survive such trips.if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'timemaps_com-leader-4','ezslot_13',198,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-timemaps_com-leader-4-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'timemaps_com-leader-4','ezslot_14',198,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-timemaps_com-leader-4-0_1'); .leader-4-multi-198{border:none !important;display:block !important;float:none !important;line-height:0px;margin-bottom:15px !important;margin-left:auto !important;margin-right:auto !important;margin-top:15px !important;max-width:100% !important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px;padding:0;text-align:center !important;}. Such famines were usually caused by drought, but plagues of locusts or unseasonably heavy rains could also devastate crops. NjhkMjY1MGEwZGFkNGU1MTkyY2ZlMDdlNWEwMTIxZGI5YjQwNzljMmRjOWI2 Highly advanced and sophisticated African civilizations, cultures, societies, and statessuch as Ancient Egypt, Kush/Nubia, Axum, Ghana, Mali, and Asanteevolved throughout the continent from the ninth century before the Christian era (BCE) to the nineteenth century CE.African political systems and institutions were traditionally based on kinship and lineage (i.e., common ancestry .