Historical archaeology in sub-Saharan Africa—A review

African-European Contacts in the Kongo Kingdom (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries): New Archaeological Insights from Ngongo Mbata (Lower Congo, DRC)

“…In actual fact, given its early contacts with Europe and the wealth of historical testimonies this yielded, the Kongo represents an excellent test case for historical archaeology. In other regions of sub-Saharan Africa, similar interactions between Africans and Europeans gave a boost to the development of this specific subdiscipline of African archaeology (Connah 2007;Kelly and Norman 2007;Monroe Monroe and Ogundiran 2012;Posnansky and De Corse 1986;Reid and Lane 2004;Swanepoel 2009;Thiauw and Richard 2013). Mitchell (2002, p. 380) characterizes historical archaeology within the Southern African context as having "an emphasis on tracking European colonial expansion and the associated processes of the growth of capitalism and a modern way of life, using archaeology to understand this from the standpoints of colonisers and colonized alike" (with reference to Orser 1996).…”

Collective and interpretive openings: perforated Gbe ritual ceramics at local, regional and Diasporic spheres of interpretation

“…Many more seem unaware or uninterested in the debate (however, see Stahl 1993;DeCorse 1999, 142;Ogundiran and Falola 2007, 19), possibly with good reason, as such analyses fit with previous Africanist calls for systematic methods, historical care and theoretical rigour to winnow out uncritical assumptions of continental wide homogeneity (Posnansky 1984(Posnansky , 1999Posnansky and DeCorse 1986). Indeed, Africanist archaeologists have taken great pains to argue for the complexity of African states, the unique nature of African settlement organisation, the layers and nuance associated with African political regimes and the resulting complexity and diversity of African material culture (McIntosh and McIntosh 1984;McIntosh 1999;DeCorse 2001a, b;Schmidt 2006).…”

Introduction

“…62 The European forts and castles, the most tangible monuments to Africa's intersection with the Atlantic world, have only emerged as symbols for 59. DeCorse 2008a;Lawrence 1963;Posnansky and DeCorse 1986: 5-6.…”