Top 7 Books on the Archaeology of Africa
Only a handful of recent books on archaeology of the African countries have reached my doorstep to date; luckily, what there is is choice.
Subtitled "Symbols of a Nation," this brief but stylishly published book on the history, description, and meaning of the eight soapstone carvings found at the Great Zimbabwe site in Zimbabwe. Author Edward Matenga provides a historical background to the interpretation of the objects as well as the history of archaeological studies at the site.More »
1. African Archaeology
David W. Phillipson's 2005 edition (the third) of African Archaeology has become a well-thumbed staple of my nearest bookshelf. Covering everything from paleontology and well into the 20th century, African Archaeology also includes a big fat bibliography and a great index, something every interested generalist needs.More »2. Digging through Darkness
South African archaeologist Carmel Schrire's inventive personal memoir, subtitled, "Chronicles of an Archaeologist."More »
3. The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors
I thoroughly enjoyed science writer Ann Gibbon's The First Human, even if the pettiness of the scholars made me cringe. Some might say it would have been better to have left all the heat out: but it is clear that the heat--the competition to find the earliest human ancestor--is what drives the search for the origins of human kind. This fascinating look into the men and women of the search for the earliest human ancestor is well worth investigating on your own.More »4. The Rise and Fall of Swahili States
Between the 11th and 16th centuries AD, a truly cosmopolitan civilization rose and fell on the eastern coast of Africa. A thorough and very useful text by Chapurukha M. KusimbaMore »5. The Soapstone Birds of Great Zimbabwe
Subtitled "Symbols of a Nation," this brief but stylishly published book on the history, description, and meaning of the eight soapstone carvings found at the Great Zimbabwe site in Zimbabwe. Author Edward Matenga provides a historical background to the interpretation of the objects as well as the history of archaeological studies at the site.More »
6. Making History in Banda
Subtitled "Anthropological Visions of Africa's Past," this book by Ann B. Stahl applies the force of ethnohistorical research to build a history of the Banda region in western Africa.More »7. The Berbers
This book by Michael Brett and Elizabeth Fentriss melds archaeology and history to provide a terrific introduction to the culture history of the Berbers of North AfricaMore »
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