1. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE ROUTES ACROSS SAHARA Early Saharan Cultures:
Early hunting culture joins with cattle breeders (West African)
Horse herders & charioteers displace cattle breeders
Camel riders follow charioteers; camel is introduced from Arabia…used to traverse Sahara
Diffusion of camel riding is from south to north!
Camels allow southern highlands to connect with people of northern Sahara

2. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE ROUTES ACROSS SAHARA Trade across the Sahara:
Initially trade across Sahara develops slowly:
Lots of salt available in Sahara desert…traded for kola nuts and palm oil (sub-Sahara)
Berbers revolt against Arabian control…establish vital trade network city states – Sijilmasa and Tahert
Gold dust traded for salt…

3. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE ROUTES ACROSS SAHARA
Patterns of trade across the Sahara:
Berbers
Out – copper & manufactured goods
In – Gold
Nomads
Out – salt
In – Gold from Niger and other West African River areas

4. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE ROUTES ACROSS SAHARA
The kingdom of Ghana was one of the early sub-Saharan beneficiaries of this new trans-Saharan trade!
Origins are obscure…
per Al-Bakri, 2 towns
Muslim merchant town
Capital of an animist king and his court
After 1076, Ghana is permanently weakened by Almoravids (Morocco)

5. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Challenging geography…
Large area with varied environmental zones:
Sahel
Tropical Savanna
Tropical Rain forests
Steppe
Desert
Temperate Highlands

6. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Development of Cultural Unity
Great traditions (ruling elite culture) vs. small traditions (common persons culture)
SSA…vast territory of many small traditions (origins unclear)
Diversity – 2000 languages, food production systems (ecology), etc.
Difficulty of communication and trade between different groups
No foreign power conquers Africa

7. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Development of Cultural Unity (cont.)
Despite diversity, African cultures display certain common features – some refer to as Africanity
Kingship – ritually isolated and oversee societies arranged by age groups and kinship groups
Use of hoe/digging stick
Use of rhythm in music
Dancing and mask wearing in rituals

8. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Development of Cultural Unity (cont.)
Why common cultural traits:
Descendants from people who occupy southern Sahara during wet period and migrate south to the Sahel, where cultural traditions develop!

9. TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Advent of Iron and the Bantu Migrations
SSA agriculture had its origins north of the equator
Iron working also inherited from north
Linguistic evidence suggests migration of iron work (technology) was a result of the Bantu migrations
Bantu – homeland was on border of Nigeria/Cameroon; spread out toward the east and south…take language and culture with them