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15 Cards in this Set

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"tik"
Linguists consider "tik" the root word of all languages. They hypothesize that the language "tik" belonged in evolved in to the Khosian linguistic group. Languages developed for social, not hunting/food-gathering purposes. Languages let humans form relationships among one another so that stronger communities could develop.
Seasonal Migration
The migration of animals and the sparcity of edible plants forced hunter gatherer foragers, and later pastoralists, to seasonally migrate throughout Africa. The migrations, however, prove pivotal to bringing different societies in to contact with one another so that there could be a diffusion of culture, innovation, and knowledge. This led to the development of short and long distance trade, though short distance trade dominated.
Sahara (social)
Archeologists found the first evidence of heavy dependence on food production in the Sahara. Saharan dwellers developed in to complex socieites and domesitcated plants and live stock and much technological innovation. They also established villages, which increased their level of social interdependence by creating new niches, such as craftsmen, that individuals need to fulfill.
Saharan Pastoral Period
Between 6500-4500 years ago, the rainfall in Sahara increased again, and African pastoralists moved in with domesticated catle. Pastoralists depended on agriculturists in order to have a complete diet, and vice versa for agriculturists. During this time period, societies with distinct, different lifestyles coexisted for the first time. Societies exploited animals and fish around lakes, hunted gam, became wild grass seed gatherers, processed grain, or herded.
Tsetsi Fly
The tsetsi fly, considered a K strategists, unlike other bugs, spread the "sleeping sickness" among cattle and humans. The tsetsi fly lived in the southern, more humid areas of Africa, and therefore limited the spread of Africans southward. Pastoralists and Hunter Gatherers, such as the Nilo-Saharans spread in to the Sahel region of Africa only after the tsetsi fly belt moved southward because of decreased rainfall. Southward migrating societies avoidance of the tsetsi fly explains the stunted development of complex societies in Southern Africa when compared to the development of complex societies in northern Africa, such as the Nubians, Sub-saharan pastoralists, and the Egyptians.
Aksum
Aksumites lived along hte Red sea, and became successful traders between the Arabian peninsula, the Red Sea, and Ethiopia. Their location let them become influenced by eurasian cultures, and they used coins, written language and even adopted Christianity. Most importantly, their trade diaspora made them very wealthy, and they invested their wealth locally. They made the "miracle of Lower Egypt" by builiding retaining pools for water in order to grow crops in an otherwise inhospitable region. Historians consider this innovation highly complex and developed for their time period. Aksumites even used aplows for farming. But, the Aksumites peaked around 500 CE, then went in to decline and eventually fell. Historians speculate that the socieity might have fallen apart because their trading partners began to trade with other Muslims instead of Christian Aksum.
Bantu
Contemporaries coined the term as a linguistic label. Bantu speakers originated in the area around Benue Valley in Niger and the grasslands of Cameroon. They slolwy dispersed throught Sub Saharan Africa, bringing their language and innovations with them. They improved food supplies and changed the human landscape of Africa.
Hamitic Hypothesis
Charles Seligman, in his book RAces of Africa, written in 1930, asserted that Europeans brought to the continent all things important in Africa
Phoenicians
Phoenicians established an independent colony in present day Tunisia called Carthage 2800 years ago. Their colony became a base for maritime exploration through the Strait of Gibraltar and the coast of North West Africa. However, since archeological evidence suggests that Phoenicians probably only explored as far as Morocco, they probably did not introduce Iron to the continent.
Berber Traders
Berber Traders lived as pastoralists in the Sahara. They involved themselves in a trade system, sending salt, ivory, animal skins, and slaves northward, and manufactured goods, pottery, glass, and metalwork southward. Most likey, since they were an important leg of this north to south Africa trade, they helped to introduce iron to the continent.
Iron
Sub Saharan societies discovered abundant iron ore in regions where the trans-Saharan trade route struck the southward curve of the Niger River. The introduction of iron transformed many hunter gatherr and pastoralist societies' culture by turning them in to iron traders. Iron smelters found it easiest to work at the location of iron ore reserves, however, the smelting of iron ore in to iron destroys the environment because of the amount of wood it takes to heat the ore. The great extent of destruction of forests provided more grassland for Bantu pastoralists, and also allowed for further southern expansion since the cutting down of forests destroyed the tsetsi fly's habitat, a bug that carried the fatal Sleeping Sickness.
Age-grade system
The AGS, used by socieites such as the Maasai in East Africa, spread authority and power horizontally throughout the group as a whole, and touched every lineage and family. It divied all the males in to groups with in ranges of ages, and the system made each group responsible for a different set of social and political duties. This social structure developed because communities in harsher environments needed to focuse on minimizing failures, and thus needed to limit change and evolution in the society, and rather centralize cntrol.
Gerontocracy
Historians have identified gerontocracy as a unifying characteristic of Sub-Saharan Africa. the social system enforced respect for elders and their way of doing things, and did not encourage innovation or change. The system functioned on compromise, not coercion because the societies could not afford conflict, because it would mean less focus on food production/gathering.
Salt
Anthropologists identify salt as the most saught after food supplement known. Traders probably used salt as the earliest and most frequent commodity traded over long distances. Societies transformed in order to make salt. Societies formed aroun Kiber, the Uganadan shores of Lake Alber, and East Africa. The long distance trade of salt dramatically boosted the economy in Sub Saharan Africa.
Camel
The camel originiated in North America, and spread via the Bering Strait. The domesticated camel became widespread in africa due to the Saharan gold-salt trade, and traders needed an animal that could withstand the conditions and easily transport goods across the desert. The introduction of the camel to the area helped expedite trading in Sub Sahara africa and boost the economy and make the lives of traders easier.