1 Foreword by J. O. Vogel 2 Preface 3 1. Introducing Africa: Definitions, Routes, Resources and Interactions 4 2. The Development and Spread of African Farming Systems 5 3. The Nile and Red Sea Corridors 6 4. Africa in the Indian Ocean World System 7 5. Africa's Other Sea: The Sahara and its Shores 8 6. Africa's Opening to the Atlantic 9 7. Out-of-Africa III: The Archaeology of the African Diaspora 10 8. Reconnecting Africa: Patterns, Problems and Potentials 11 References 12 Index 13 About the Author
Peter Mitchell is University Lecturer in African Prehistory at St. Hugh's College and Curator of African Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.
I was quite delighted to come across Peter Mitchell's African
Connections as a potential text. . . Mitchell is an archaeologist
with a breadth of vision and who sees the material record less as a
record of discreet cultures than as a foundation of historical
patterns of interaction. His narrative is, in fact, far more lively
and comprehensive than one might fear from an archaeologist since
he often uses the first person and allows the reader a sense of the
interpretive subjectivity that pre-modern history often
requires.
*International Journal of African Historical Studies*
Highly recommended.
*CHOICE*
[Mitchell] does succeed, without fanfare, in destroying entirely
the useless boundary between prehistoric and historic archaeology.
This success if founded upon an ability to keep the archaeology
front and center while niether ignoring nor being overwhelmed by
documentary sources. He also manages to steer well away from the
tyranny of the ethnographic present and the analogies that lurk
therein. Overall, a job well done.
*Journal Of African Archaeology*
The book is richly complemented by extensive maps, charts,
illustrations, and tables. It is required reading for Africanists
and world historians, while other archaeologists, historians, and
social scientists will find the wealth of information, approach,
conclusions and insights richly rewarding.
*History: Reviews Of New Books*
Having compressed an amazing amount of information into 241 pages
of text, this tour-de-force will be a welcome addition to any
Africanist's library, and is highly recommended for graduate
student use. I hope that African historians get to know about it,
as archaeology is too often seen by them as a Cinderella
discipline.
*H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online*
A most welcome effort. . . . Mitchell's command of the literature,
sources, theoretical debates in the field and areas of contention
is sweeping, and backed up by an extensive familiarity with work in
such related fields as historical linguistic reconstruction,
botany, and palynology which have played important roles in
enriching our knowledge of the African past. His approach is
measured and evenhanded in its assessment of the evidence. . . . An
immense amount of reading and a great deal of thought and care went
into the writing of this book. . . . Mitchell succeeds in bringing
to light many specifics of African innovation and independent
agency across a variety of areas of culture and history.
*Journal of Anthropological Research*
Mitchell. . . presents an impressively wide-ranging synthesis
around his chosen theme of Africa's centrality to human
development.
*Antiquity*
In short African Connections is a worthy attempt to synthesize a
tremendous amount of information about a continent that is
incredibly diverse—both culturally and ecologically.
*Journal Of The Royal Anthropological Institute*
Peter Mitchell's book must be read by anyone with any interest not
only in Africa, but also in archaeology and history. As the world
shrinks through telecommunication and mass transportation,
Mitchell's book reminds us that we have always been connected and
that Africa was always part of the world. To deny or underestimate
the role of Africa in the future of humankind would be a grave
mistake.
*African Archaeological Review*
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