AGE3011F - The Roots Of Recent African Identities

Course Outline:

In this course we explore the history of Africa’s people over the past 2000 years with special reference to southern Africa. Why are southern African populations so diverse? What lies behind the linguistic map that we see today? What social, technological and palaeoenvironmental systems shaped the evolution of societies? Did Africa have any civilisations? Who did Africa interact with? We discuss the archaeological record of artefacts, settlement systems, food waste, environmental contexts and human skeletons. We deploy historical, material science, molecular science, anthropological and palaeoclimatic techniques to explore this rich and diverse heritage of the last two thousand years.