“…The early signs were propitious. Key figures at this time like Roland Oliver, Jan Vansina, Ray Inskeep and Desmond Clarke had remarkable overview of the developing scholarship in sub-Saharan Africa (for example Inskeep 1961Inskeep , 1964Vansina 1962Vansina , 1971Clarke 1965Clarke , 1970Oliver 1966;Oliver and Fagan 1975) and facilitated the emergence of networks of connected scholars. They also had a strong sense of the importance of ongoing exchanges between archaeology and history work in uncovering more of Africa's past.…”