The cities of West Africa's Middle Niger, only recently brought to the world's attention, make us rethink the 'whys' and the 'wheres' of ancient urbanism. They present the archaeologist with a novelty; a non-nucleated, clustered city-plan with no centralized, state-focused power. This book explores the emergence of these cities in the first millennium B.C. and the evolution of their hinterlands from the perspective of the self-organized landscape. Cities appeared in a series of profound transforms to the human-land relations and this book illustrates how each transform marked a leap in complexity.
Contents
1. Discovery; 2. Transformed landscapes; 3. Accommodation; 4. Excavation; 5. Surveying the hinterland; 6. Comparative urban landscapes.
Review
"...an impressive, path-breaking explanation of the origin of urban settlements on the Middle Niger River, climaxed by a fascinating final chapter in which the author offers a comparative overview of the archaeology of urban landscapes in Mesopotamia, the Nile valley, and northern China."
-David C. Conrad, Emeritus, SUNY Oswego, American Historical Review
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