Name:_______________________________________
Block:__________
Development of Civilization in Africa
Directions: Read the following passage, and answer the questions that follow based on the readings and
discussion from class.
1. Evolution
This is the period beginning in approximately 10 to 5 million BC when hominids evolved in
Africa and moved out of the tropical rainforests to populate other parts of the continent. The
evolution time period culminates with the full development of Homo sapiens in roughly 40,000
BC. This is the time period most reflective of the “cradle of “perspective on Africa. The work of
archaeologists and paleontologists is instrumental for our historical knowledge of this time
period.
2. Pre-History
The beginning of the Paleolithic era is dated from when the hominid populations of Africa
started to regularly make rudimentary tools from intentionally shaped stones for use in their daily
lives. The "stone ages" (Old and New) ended when ancient humans began to use metals, such as
copper or iron, as their principal tool making materials. Metal decorations, tools and weapons
began to appear about 8,000 years ago in some places, but were not in general use, even in the
'civilized world' of the time, until about 3,000 years ago. This is the period before written records
and oral traditions provide any information on the past. Its beginnings coincide with the full
development of Homo sapiens. Its end is less clearly defined; it hinges on the emergence of
written or oral records in specific localities. In Africa, the pre-historic period is characterized by
the formation of hunter-gatherer societies, pastoral societies, farming societies, and the advent of
chieftaincies.
After 200,000 BCE regional specialization of tools appears for the first time, again in Africa.
Regional specialization describes the move from the production of generic, all-purpose tools, to
those designed for more specific tasks, such as trapping animals specific to a particular
environment.
From the standpoint of African history the most important development of the late Stone Age
was the emergence of more settled ('sedentary') societies. These probably developed first along
the banks of the Upper Nile in the Cataracts region, in modern day southern Egypt and northern
Sudan (ancient Nubia). The ability to make greater use of abundant wild grains led to a more
settled existence for some people. This way of life spread from the Upper Nile into a much larger
area of Africa during the last great wet phase of African climate history, which began about
9,000 and peaked about 7,000 BCE. The higher rainfall levels of the period created numerous
very large shallow lakes across what are now the arid southern borderlands of the Sahara desert.
This provided abundant food supplies, particularly high in protein and supported the earliest
known permanent settlements. .
3. African State Formation
This is the period during which many African states developed. Long-distance trade was a strong
building block in the formation of such states. Examples of early African states are Mali,
Songhai, Ghana, and the Swahili city-states. Also, this period saw elements of specialization and
hierarchy in African societies.
Food producing economies became typical for African people living north of the equatorial
forest between about 6000 and 1000 BCE. The shift to dependence on food production from
gathering and hunting at first occurred very gradually and only in certain favorable locations
where developments were stimulated by a combination of local, independent innovations and
diffusion of new knowledge from elsewhere.
As was the case elsewhere in the world, the shift from dependence on foraging to dependence on
food production (domesticated plants and/or animals) brought with it major changes of life-style.
For farmers a settled (sedentary) existence became mandatory, with all its attendant benefits and
problems. Small villages surrounded by fields came to dominate the landscape, where seasonal
foraging camps had been before. Although it seems likely that endemic diseases, such as malaria
and sleeping sickness, kept populations relatively smaller in tropical Africa than in the subtropical Middle East and southeastern Europe, even very small permanent agricultural
settlements require more formal rules and authority than similar-sized bands of foragers.
Kinship ideas and practices must have provided some basis for developing more complex social
structures, such as those associated with the terms lineage and clan. The dynamics of coresidence in the same household or settlement also must have played a role. In other words,
ways had to be found to get along with the neighbors or a fairly consistent basis.
Typically African practices of managing resources (land and labor) through village, family and
clan organization probably originated during this time. Marriage and child rearing practices in
particular must have changed substantially to accommodate the changing economic and social
circumstances. New crafts (pottery), new specialties (clan head) and new gods (in connection
with lineage ancestors, land and crops) appeared. The relations between the sexes probably
changed as well, with new emphasis perhaps being given to the female and her connection to
gathering, domesticated plants and to life-giving cycles of the earth.
While farmers had to settle down to accommodate the cycle of planting, cultivation and harvest
of plants, those who came to depend primarily on cattle or goat raising retained a nomadic way
of life. In herding societies, the animals became central to everyone's concerns. Dependence on
herds of domestic animals gave rise to a nomadic pastoralist way of life. Finding suitable
pasture, protecting the young animals--owning, admiring, and making use of them--provided
social purpose and inspiration for the imagination as well as milk, skins and meat to eat or trade.
Social organization may have been more male-centered, since animal domestication was more
continuous with hunting large game, which has been associated with males historically. Some
types of patrilineal and patriarchal social organization, which later came to characterize many
pastoral peoples, may have had their roots in these early times.
Last, but not least, new possibilities for both communication and conflict came into being with
the food production 'revolution.' Commerce, regular exchanges of goods (and ideas and
marriage partners) between villages or herding camps grew up as more and more well-trodden
paths linked people in search of needed items, such as good pottery, not available in their own
locality.
Questions:
1. Where did humans first evolve?
2. Why did early humans first migrate out of Africa?
3. What allowed early humans to settle into sedentary societies?
4. How did the geography of Africa affect the way societies developed?
5. Describe the characteristics of life in early African villages. (What were the roles of men
and women, what values did people have, how were children raised?)