Containers and mobility in West Africa

In West Africa, containment practices have long been localized in their production, moulded by environmental forces, and scaled to the human body. In the twentieth century, fossil fuels have changed how people keep and carry things. But newer technologies have tended to alter, rather than eliminate, older forms of storage.     

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.     

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.     

东西:日本文化中的一对概念

日本地处中国的东部,是亚洲东方文明国家之一。面积为37．78万平方公里,与我国云南省的面积大体相同。长期以来,由于受历史、地理等诸方面条件的影响,自日本的中部分为东、西,东国与西国、关东与关西;江户与上方、东京与大阪等。下面从日本文化、民俗方面介绍一下日本的东、西。     

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.     

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.     

Combating light weapons proliferation in West Africa

Light weapons proliferation is a serious problem in West Africa. A regional moratorium on imports of small arms and light weapons has not worked and UN arms embargoes on Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire have had limited impact. The Economic Community of West African States is currently drafting a new binding legal instrument aimed at controlling flows in West Africa but this will only succeed if the heads of state and government seriously adopt it. This needs to include greater compliance of UN sanctions, international reform of the End User Certificate system, mapping the spread of artisan production and an examination of ammunition imports to West Africa. Better control of ammunition imports in particular may assist the combat of light weapons proliferation as well as the comprehensive destruction of weapons from disarmament efforts. The illicit weapons trade in West Africa is increasingly transnational and it requires regional and international cooperation and support to combat it.     

The economic development of West Africa

Almost all documented landslides in Scotland belong to one of four categories: non‐rotational rock slope failures (major rockfalls, translational slides, topples or sags, often in some combination); rotational rock slope failures; debris flows; and translational slides in drift or regolith. Non‐rotational rock slope failures are particularly common on Highland metamorphic rocks, especially schists, and on igneous scarps in the Hebrides and Midland Valley; rotational rock slope failures almost invariably occur in weak sedimentary rocks overlain by resistant igneous rocks; and debris flows are most common on sandy drift or regolith. Former glacial activity has also been of importance in determining landslide distribution. The great majority of rock slope failures are ancient features, but debris flows and small translational slides in drift (both triggered mainly by intensive rainstorms) are much more frequent at present and cause much greater damage, particularly to communications.     

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.