Recent Archaeological Research and Dates from West Africa

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Periodical article

Title:	Recent Archaeological Research and Dates from West Africa
Authors:	McIntosh, Susan K. McIntosh, Roderick J.
Year:	1986
Periodical:	The Journal of African History
Volume:	27
Issue:	3
Pages:	413-442
Language:	English
Geographic term:	West Africa
Subjects:	archaeology Bibliography/Research Anthropology and Archaeology History and Exploration
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/181410
Abstract:	This article reports over 250 new radiocarbon dates relevant to recent archaeological research in West Africa. Thanks to the continuing trend towards series of dates from either single sites or groups of related sites, some major blanks on the archaeological map of West Africa have been replaced by well-dated regional sequences. Examples are the Malian Sahara, the middle Senegal valley, the Inland Niger Delta, and the Bassar region in Togo. Other research included reinterprets previously studied, 'classic' Late Stone Age sequences. There are also new dates for early copper in Niger and Mauretania which prompt a reconsideration of the true nature of this proposed 'Copper Age'. Of particular significance is the documentation of regional and longdistance trade accompanying the emergence of complex societies along the middle Senegal and middle Niger in the first millennium A.D. App., notes, ref.