Classification of African Languages Afro-Asiatic Niger-Congo Bantu Swahili Nilo-Saharan Khoisan (Click) Semitic (Arabic)
Other Languages Afrikaans Malagasy European Languages English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German
SIX CIVILIZATIONS Limits set by productivity Shared ideology Essential experience
BOW S. Africa Namibia Botswana Congo (Zaire) Tanzania Kenya
Small scale bands No chiefs Social sanctions/harmony
Hunting, gathering, fishing (Foraging)
Rock art, from the past Marginal areas No iron Few material possessions
SPEAR Ethiopia Somalia Kenya Tanzania Uganda Sudan Mozambique Swaziland Lesotho S. Africa
Pastoral--nomads Livestock as wealth
Warrior mentality Military organization Age grades
Little material art
Body as Template
Red ochre Scarification Songs and poetry
Aristocrats Royalty Sometimes divine king
House decoration
CLEARINGS Cameroon Congo Congo (Dem Rep of) Ghana Ivory Coast Gabon part CAR Liberia Sierra Leone
Forest Agriculture Difficult farming --modest yields Shifting cultivation No livestock
Axe, hoe, iron Root crops--yams, cassava Banana Palms
Lineages & family units Patrilineal
Good sculptors
Heavy wood carvings
Benin Bronzes
Indigo--stamping method
Weaving: both women and men, but different looms
GRANARIES Congo (DRC) Angola Zambia Malawi Zimbabwe Mozambique
Granaries
Agriculture Savanna Shifting cultivation, fallow Poor soils/ hoe/iron Fertilization methods
Surplus for Market
Livestock More productive than clearings
Lozi chiefs
Chiefs and states Redistribution Matrilineal and Patrilineal
Elaborate Decoration
Raffia cloth
Elaborate decoration
Masks are light weight and elaborately decorated