The Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa

In East Africa, as in many other regions, the initial shift from hunting and gathering to food production was a secondary process involving the introduction of species domesticated elsewhere. Specifically, the East African Neolithic, or Pastoral Neolithic, centered on herding livestock, some of which may have been domesticated in the Sahara and all of which were almost certainly imported from areas to the north. The development of the Pastoral Neolithic was lengthy and complex, having begun before 4000 B.P. and lasted until about 1300 B.P. Although detailed information on this segment of African prehistory is not abundant, data so far available reveal a succession of cultural transformations within the Pastoral Neolithic, such that it can be divided into early, evolved, and late stages, each exhibiting distinctive combinations of ceramic wares, lithic industries, and subsistence regimes. The transformations seem to have been fostered by both environmental change and population movements.     

Problems in the interpretation of radiocarbon dates: the Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa

For the Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa radiocarbon dates suggest two apparent anomalies in the archaeological record: pastoralism in the Central Rift at perhaps 7000 bp, and the very long duration of particular pottery traditions. This paper examines the dating evidence closely, in particular the assertion that apatite gives more reliable dates than collagen. Both the assertion and the anomalies appear to be false. It is shown that there is no firm evidence for pastoralism in East Africa before about 4000 bp. Similarly, the Narosura tradition is of shorter duration and more recent than previously supposed. The meagre dating evidence for the Namoratunga sites and its implications are also assessed. Examination of the dates for the Pastoral Iron Age shows that the Turkwel tradition is dated only by a single date and that the appearance of twisted cord rouletted pottery in the present millennium post-dates the end of stone tool manufacture by several centuries. The paper concludes with a plea for more critical assessment of radiocarbon dates and for greater rigour in their presentation.     

Poverty and Neo‐Liberal Bias in the Middle East and North Africa

This article examines the definition of poverty and the evidential base for the claims that the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has historically low levels of poverty and relatively good levels of income distribution. It argues that the dominant trend in the literature on poverty in the global south in general, and in MENA in particular, has a neo‐classical bias. Amongst other things, that bias fails to understand that poverty does not emerge because of exclusion but because of poor people's ‘differential incorporation’ into economic and political processes. It also raises the question: if the MENA has indeed had relatively low levels of poverty and good income distribution, does this complicate the issue of autocracy and the western drive to remove political ‘backwardness’ in the region? In particular, the characterization of autocracy and the west's attempt to promote political liberalization is likely to impact adversely on the social contract that autocratic rulers have enforced regarding the delivery of basic services.     

Sustaining Livelihoods on Mongolia's Pastoral Commons: Insights from a Participatory Poverty Assessment

Under the socialist regime that prevailed until the start of the 1990s, Mongolia made great progress in improving human development indicators, and poverty was virtually unknown. Political and economic transition in the 1990s ushered in a rapid rise in asset and income inequality, and at least a third of the population has been living in poverty since 1995. Many workers made redundant from uneconomic state‐owned enterprises were absorbed into the extensive livestock sector in rural areas and by the growing informal economy in urban areas. The livestock sector grew dramatically, with herders accounting for over a third of the total population and half of the active labour force by the late 1990s. Three consecutive years of drought and harsh winters in 1999–2002 then drastically reduced the national herd. These trends are viewed against a backdrop of relative neglect of the livestock sector in development priorities and a concomitant decline in agricultural productivity. Pressures on common pasture have mounted, and conflict over grazing is becoming endemic. In such a context, sustainable management of Mongolia's pastoral commons should be central to the country's economic development agenda in general, and to its poverty reduction strategy in particular. This article draws on the findings of a country‐wide participatory poverty assessment conducted in 2000. Blending quantitative and qualitative data, these findings help to bring into sharper relief the broad outlines of an integrated approach to building secure and sustainable livelihoods both on and off the pastoral commons.     

神奇的东非高地

<正>肯尼亚——神秘的非洲之旅踏上神秘的非洲大地,旅行变得更像是一场舞台剧。这里有太多的主角在演绎着一幕幕自然故事,而我只是微不足道的看客而已。之所以会选择肯尼亚,因为它最能代表非洲。原不敢奢望有美景可赏,也许正因事先未有太多奢望,心中不时涌起些许的触动,甚而感慨人类企图征服自然的种种。乞力马扎罗厚重的白雪、安博塞     

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa

African archaeology has primarily been concerned with precolonial Africa. Consequently, the archaeology of colonial and postcolonial Africa has been neglected, in spite of the fundamental importance of how Africa's relationships with Eurasia after 1488 shaped its history. Although the slave trade was an important aspect of post-sixteenth century experiences of Africans, current research methodologies make the archaeology of slavery in Africa nearly impossible because evidence of the slave trade or slavery--including slave quarters, cemeteries, holding areas, shackles, and dungeons--can be interpreted in various ways. In this article I argue that the archaeology of slavery and the slave trade in Africa is possible. Like history and economics, archaeology is well placed to investigate slavery in Africa as it already does effectively in the Americas. Using the study of defensive rock shelters in Southeast Kenya as an example, I propose that the systematic archaeology of slavery in Africa is not only possible, but also should break new grounds and develop an innovative methodology for studying slavery. L'archéologie africaine a été principalement concernée par l'Afrique précoloniale. Par conséquent, l'archéologie de l'Afrique coloniale et postcoloniale a été oubliée, malgré l'importance fondamentale de la façon dont les rapports de l'Afrique avec Eurasia après 1488 ont tracé son histoire. Bien que le commerce d'esclaves soit un aspect important des expériences africaines du post-seizième siècle, les méthodologies courantes de recherches rendent l'archéologie de l'esclavage en Afrique presque impossible car l'évidence du commerce ou de l'esclavage - comprenant les quarts, les cimetières, les camps, des cachots, et des donjons des esclaves - peut être interprété de diverses manières. Dans cet article, j'argue du fait que l'archéologie de l'esclavage et le commerce d'esclaves en Afrique est possible. Comme l'histoire et les sciences économiques, l'archéologie est bien placée pour effectuer l'étude de l'esclavage en Afrique comme elle l'est déjà efficacement en Amérique. En utilisant l'étude des abris rocheux défensifs au Kenya du sud-est comme exemple, je propose que la systématique de l'archéologie de l'esclavage en Afrique est non seulement possible, mais devrait également permettre de franchir de nouveaux pas et de développer une méthodologie innovatrice dans l'étude de l'esclavage.     

Modern Trend Found in Traditional Lives in Rural/Pastoral Areas

ＺＨＡＧＡＲＴｈｅＴｉｂｅｔａｎｆａｒｍｅｒｓａｎｄｈｅｒｄｅｒｓｆｏｕｇｈｔｔｅｎａｃｉｏｕｓｌｙａｇａｉｎｓｔｐｏｖｅｒｔｙｉｎｔｈｅｐａｓｔ．Ａｌｏｎｇｓｉｄｅｗｉｔｈｓｏｃｉａｌｐｒｏｇｒｅｓｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｉｚｅｄｂｙｉｍｐｒｏｖｅｄｆａ...     

新形势下青海省农牧区改革发展的态势分析

积极推进农牧区改革发展,是全面建设小康社会和实现现代化的重大战略任务。本文围绕总体目标任务,应用态势分析方法,对新形势下青海省农牧区改革发展的内部条件和外部环境进行分析,提出了促进青海农牧区改革发展的策略。     

Trade and sorcery accusations in East Africa

Gerald W. Hartwig. The Art of Survival in East Africa: The Kerebe and Long‐Distance Trade 1800–1895. New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc. Africana Publishing Company, 1976. Maps, appendix, references, and index. $24.00.     

Targeting Research for Poverty Reduction in Marginal Areas of Rural Syria

Agricultural research in marginal dry areas can contribute to reducing poverty through the development of technological, institutional and policy options for poor farmers. Such research should address diversified opportunities and development pathways. This article analyses the diversity of livelihood strategies of rural people living in the Khanasser Valley in northwestern Syria, an area that is typical of marginal drylands. It proposes an operational classification of households based on their different livelihood strategies, applying an integrated methodology within a Sustainable Livelihoods framework. Households are classified into three clusters: agriculturists, labourers and pastoralists. The article examines the diversity of livelihoods involved, and considers where and how research should be directed to have greatest impact on poverty. Given that rural households are not homogeneous but dynamic entities, with diverse assets, capabilities and opportunities, the definition of household typologies can help to target development research. The article concludes that while agriculturists benefit most, poor labourers with enough land can also gain from pro‐poor agricultural research. The poorest households with little land, and pastoralists, benefit little or only indirectly.     

Beyond the Coastalscapes: Preindustrial Social and Political Networks in East Africa

The archaeological community worldwide now readily recognizes the role and significance of interregional interaction in the development and sustenance of urban societies (e.g., Marcus and Sabloff 2008; Sinclair et al. 2010; Trigger 2003). Over the past two decades, we have carried out a systematic, problem-oriented research program on the Kenyan coast and its hinterland in an effort to understand the ecological and cultural milieu that enabled towns and city-states to develop along the East African coast beginning in the late first millennium CE. Archaeological research complemented with historical sources of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries shows that different scales of analysis can be used to understand the long-term history of the development of urbanism along this Swahili coast: local, regional, and trans-continental frames of reference each show that Swahili communities were part of numerous networks of interactions. An emerging picture of preindustrial urbanism shows that local, regional, and trans-continental interaction spheres tied coastal towns to the hinterland and to wider Indian Ocean commercial and social networks. Not all of the theorized links between the coastal towns and their local and regional trade and interaction partners will be visible archaeologically. We address the still poorly known elements of preindustrial regional networks of alliance and interaction spheres between urban and rural polities and argue that an integrative approach is necessary to understand the context of coastal urban society.     

Religion and society in central Africa and East Asia

MacGaffey, Wyatt. Religion and Society in Central Africa: The BaKongo of Lower Zaire. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1986. xi + 295 pp. including photographs, references, index, and glossary. $45.00 cloth; $16.95 paper.

DeVos, George A., and Takao Sofue, eds. Religion and Family in East Asia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986. ix + 267 pp. including chapter references and index. No price.     

Challenging the odds of vulnerability and resilience in lone migration: coping strategies of Zimbabwean unaccompanied minors in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Childhood vulnerability attracts more societal and scholarly attention than child resilience. This article presents experiences of some Zimbabwean Unaccompanied Minors (ZUMs) in South Africa as an example of children who adapt to living as migrant minors separated from their parents. Using life history and aspiration interviews with eighteen ZUMs, we explore their coping strategies to test theoretical perceptions about childhood vulnerability and expand knowledge of how they are being affirmed and/or challenged. With research conducted in Makhado (Louis Trichardt), a non-border town in South Africa, the article highlights the nuances of ZUMs living in-shelter with catered needs versus ZUMs living out-of-shelter and fending for themselves. The interconnected effects of this on the children’s agency, vulnerability and resilience, now and potentially in future are also explored. In engaging the philosophy that some childhoods are inherently difficult, the study confirms that some ZUMs cope successfully despite being caught-up in tensions between structure-agency and vulnerability-resilience. The coping strategies of ZUMs reinforced some forms of vulnerability, while they camouflaged or silenced others. This cautions against the adoption of uncritical, or generic views about children’s agency and capabilities. The study concludes that individual and societal context matter greatly in discourses about child agency, vulnerability and resilience.     

East Africa and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean world

The Indian Ocean has long been a forum for contact, trade and the transfer of goods, technologies and ideas between geographically distant groups of people. Another, less studied, outcome of expanding maritime connectivity in the region is the translocation of a range of species of plants and animals, both domestic and wild. A significant number of these translocations can now be seen to involve Africa, either providing or receiving species, suggesting that Africa’s role in the emergence of an increasingly connected Indian Ocean world deserves more systematic consideration. While the earliest international contacts with the East African coast remain poorly understood, in part due to a paucity of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological studies, some evidence for early African coastal activity is provided by the discovery of early hunter-gatherer sites on offshore islands, and, possibly, by the translocation of wild animals among these islands, and between them and the mainland. From the seventh century, however, clear evidence for participation in the Indian Ocean world emerges, in the form of a range of introduced species, including commensal and domestic animals, and agricultural crops. New genetic studies demonstrate that the flow of species to the coast is complex, with more than one source frequently indicated. The East African coast and Madagascar appear to have been significant centres of genetic admixture, drawing upon Southeast Asian, South Asian and Middle Eastern genetic varieties, and sometimes yielding unique hybrid species. The biological patterns reflect a deeply networked trade and contact situation, and support East Africa’s key role in the events and transformations of the early Indian Ocean world.