Africa has the longest record of human habitation in the world. The first hominins emerged 6–7 million years ago, and among the earliest anatomically modern human skulls found so far were discovered atOmo Kibish,^[1]Jebel Irhoud, andFlorisbad.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

European archaeology, as well as that ofNorth Africa, is generally divided into theStone Age (comprising theLower Paleolithic, theMiddle Paleolithic, theUpper Paleolithic, theMesolithic, and theNeolithic), theBronze Age, and theIron Age. ForAfrica south of the Sahara,African archaeology is classified in a slightly different way, with the Paleolithic generally divided into theEarly Stone Age, theMiddle Stone Age, and theLater Stone Age.^{[7][page needed]} After these three stages come thePastoral Neolithic, the Iron Age and then later historical periods.

Africa's prehistory has been largely ignored, with the exception of research into early human evolution.^[1] However, it is overseen by thePanAfrican Archaeological Association, whose members consist of professional archaeologists from all over Africa.^[8]

African archaeology faces a range of environmental, demographic, and institutional challenges that contribute to uneven research coverage across the continent. In many regions, harsh climates limit the preservation of materials, making it difficult to recover long-term archaeological evidence. Vast deserts such as the Sahara, which were once far more habitable, now conceal sites beneath shifting sands, further restricting research.^[9]

Additionally, much of Africa historically had a relatively low population density across large geographic areas, reducing the amount of large settlements that typically leave behind many archaeological traces.^[9]

Research efforts have also been shaped by patterns of funding. Much archaeological work in Africa has relied on financial support from Europe and the United States, and fluctuations or cuts in this funding have disrupted projects.^[9]

The Early Stone Age (ESA), which spanned from approximately 2.6 million years ago (mya) – 280,000 years ago (ya), describes a period in African prehistory in which the first stone tools were developed, including both Oldowan and Acheulean.^[10] Early sites along the East African Rift includeLomekwi in theTurkana Basin, Kenya, andOlduvai Gorge farther south in modern-day Tanzania. The earliest hominids were discovered in Ethiopia and titledArdipithecus ramidus. The diverging species of hominin are known asaustralopithecines and were first discovered in Olduvai. Australopithecines and their fossils includeParanthropus boisei, the most famous being nicknamed "Zinj" or "Nutcracker man" byMary Leakey, the archaeologist who found it. Another older, famous australopithecine, related to those found at Olduvai Gorge but found approximately 2000 kilometers to the north east in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia, isLucy, who was discovered byDonald Johanson and his team in 1974.^[11]

The earliest relative dating for stone tool use was discovered in 2015, by Sonia Harmand, at Lomekwi 3 in West Turkana, Kenya with stone tools dating to 3.3 million years ago.^[12] Lomekwi tools differ from Oldowan tools in their primitive technological features making them large and heavy. The Lomekwi are thought to have been made byAustralopithecus afarensis.^[13] Prior to this discovery, some of the oldest stone tools were found at Lokalalei 2C in West Turkana, where artifacts exhibitingknapping processes conducted byAustralopithecus africanus date to about 2.34 million years ago, marking the beginning of the ESA. Incorporation of tools provided early hominins the ability to respond to changes more readily outside of the immediate needs of daily-life and extended adaptability behavioral patterns into long-term trends experienced over generations.^[14]

Around a million years later,Homo erectus evolved into a more advanced species and made tools known as theAcheulean handaxes. These handaxes were a multipurpose bifacial technology that remained unchanged for thousands of years. The technology demonstrates an increase in brain development and complexity inHomo erectus, as shown by the increased level of forethought and knowledge of material required for production of the tools.^[15]Homo erectus are also associated with the first instances of "modern human living,, such as fire, "modern emotions", and art.^[16] The earliest evidence for hominins controlling fire is found inWonderwerk Cave, South Africa.^[17] Along with their new technologies, they were also a part of the first "Out of Africa" movement and spread to all parts of the world. This movement took place somewhere around 1.8–0.8 million years ago, whereHomo erectus spread out from Africa and intoEurasia.^[18] One of the most notableHomo erectus skeletons ever found was that ofNariokotome Boy, who was found nearLake Turkana inKenya, discovered byRichard Leakey andKamoya Kimeu. Nariokotome Boy was a teenager when he died, and his skeleton exhibits the first evidence for caring in the archaeological record, because he was cared for through his debilitatingscoliosis.^[19]

Just recently discovered was a new addition to the line of human ancestors namedHomo naledi. Found inRising Star Cave in South Africa,Homo naledi is undated but has features of both primitive and modern humans.^[20]

TheMiddle Stone Age (MSA), dating to roughly 280,000 to 40,000 years ago, is characterized by the continuation ofhunter-gatherer lifestyles and, as more recently recognized, perhaps the origins ofmodern human behavior and cognition.^[10] Even though hominin species' brains were reorganized and modernized at a fast rate, the behavior of these hominins did not adapt quite as fast. This caused the hominin species to be quite primitive.^[10] African hunter-gatherers hunted larger mammals and relied on an assortment of edible plants,^[21] both in the grasslands that are now theSahara desert, and the rain forests of Central Africa.^[22] Coastal peoples also subsisted on seafood and numerousmiddens indicate their diet.^[10]

Homo sapiens appear for the first time in the archaeological record around 300–270,000 years ago in Africa.^{[23][2][3][4][5]} They soon developed a more advanced method of flint tool manufacture involving strikingflakes from a preparedcore. This permitted more control over the size and shape of finished tool and led to the development of composite tools,projectile points andscrapers, which could be hafted onto spears, arrows or handles. In turn, this technology permitted more efficient hunting such as that demonstrated by theAterian industry. In eastern Africa, stone tools were made from raw materials such as quartz and obsidian using the prepared core method, which varied by region.^[13] It was during the late Middle Pleistocene that many groups began to migrate away from eastern Africa, especially southward. Technological improvements such as Aterian methods and the development of new skills helped these people adapt to new landscapes.^[10]

Although still hunter-gatherers, there is evidence that these early humans also actively managed food resources as well as simply harvesting them. TheCongo Basin was first occupied around this time; different conditions and diet there produced recognizably different behaviors and tool types. There are also the earliest signs ofart appearing through the use ofochre as a body decoration and paint, and burialrituals may have been practiced as well.^[24]

Evidence of a variety behaviors indicative ofBehavioral modernity date to the African Middle Stone age, associated with earlyHomo sapiens. Abstract imagery, widened subsistence strategies, and other "modern" behaviors have been discovered from that period in Africa, especially South, North, and East Africa. TheBlombos Cave site in South Africa, for example, is famous for rectangular slabs ofochre engraved withgeometric designs. Using multiple dating techniques, the site was confirmed to be around 77,000 and 100–75,000 years old.^[25][26] Ostrich egg shell containers engraved with geometric designs dating to 60,000 years ago were found atDiepkloof, South Africa.^[27] Beads and other personal ornamentation have been found from Morocco which might be as much as 130,000 years old; as well, the Cave of Hearths in South Africa has yielded a number of beads dating from significantly prior to 50,000 years ago.^[10] These types of ornamentations represent some of the earliest signs of symbolic behavior amongst human ancestors, including developments in cognition and social relations.^[28] The beads from Bizmoune Cave, in southwest Morocco, are thought to be over 142,000 years old.^[28] Shell beads dating to about 75,000 years ago have been found at Blombos Cave, South Africa.^[29][30][31]

Specialized projectile weapons as well have been found at various sites in Middle Stone Age Africa, including bone and stone arrowheads at South African sites such asSibudu Cave (along with an early bone needle also found at Sibudu) dating approximately 60,000-70,000 years ago,^{[32][33][34][35][36]} and bone harpoons at the Central African site of Katanda dating to about 90,000 years ago.^[37] Evidence also exists for the systematic heat treating of silcrete stone to increase its flake-ability for the purpose of toolmaking, beginning approximately 164,000 years ago at the South African site ofPinnacle Point and becoming common there for the creation of microlithic tools at about 72,000 years ago.^[38][39] Early stone-tipped projectile weapons (a characteristic tool ofHomo sapiens), the stone tips of javelins or throwing spears, were discovered in 2013 at the Ethiopian site ofGademotta, and date to around 279,000 years ago.^[40]

In 2008, an ochre processing workshop likely for the production of paints was uncovered dating to ca. 100,000 years ago at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Analysis shows that a liquefied pigment-rich mixture was produced and stored in the two abalone shells, and that ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones and hammer-stones also formed a composite part of the toolkits. Evidence for the complexity of the task includes procuring and combining raw materials from various sources (implying they had a mental template of the process they would follow), possibly using pyrotechnology to facilitate fat extraction from bone, using a probable recipe to produce the compound, and the use of shell containers for mixing and storage for later use.^[41][42][43]Modern behaviors, such as the making of shell beads, bone tools and arrows, and the use of ochre pigment, are evident at a Kenyan site by 78,000-67,000 years ago.^[44]

Expanding subsistence strategies beyond big-game hunting and the consequential diversity in tool types has been noted as signs of behavioral modernity. A number of South African sites have shown an early reliance on aquatic resources from fish to shellfish.Pinnacle Point, in particular, shows exploitation of marine resources as early as 120,000 years ago, perhaps in response to more arid conditions inland.^[45] Establishing a reliance on predictable shellfish deposits, for example, could reduce mobility and facilitate complex social systems and symbolic behavior. Blombos Cave and Site 440 in Sudan both show evidence of fishing as well. Taphonomic change in fish skeletons from Blombos Cave have been interpreted as capture of live fish, clearly an intentional human behavior.^[10]

Humans in North Africa (Nazlet Sabaha,Egypt) are known to have dabbled inchertmining, as early as ≈100,000 years ago, for the construction ofstone tools.^{[46][self-published source?][47]}

Evidence was found in 2018, dating to about 320,000 years ago, at the Kenyan site ofOlorgesailie, of the early emergence of modern behaviors including: long-distance trade networks (involving goods such as obsidian), the use of pigments, and the possible making of projectile points. It is observed by the authors of three 2018 studies on the site, that the evidence of these behaviors is approximately contemporary to the earliest knownHomo sapiens fossil remains from Africa (such as atJebel Irhoud andFlorisbad), and they suggest that complex and modern behaviors began in Africa around the time of the emergence ofHomo sapiens.^[48][49][50]

In 2019, further evidence of early complex projectile weapons in Africa was found at Aduma, Ethiopia, dated 80,000–100,000 years ago, in the form of points considered likely to belong to darts delivered by spear throwers.^[51]

TheHofmeyr Skull is a specimen of a 36,000-year-oldhuman skull that was found in 1952 nearHofmeyr,South Africa. Osteological analysis of the cranium by theMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology indicates that the specimen is morphologically distinct from recent groups in subequatorial Africa, including the localKhoisan populations^{[citation needed]}. The Hofmeyr fossil instead has a very close affinity with other Upper Paleolithic skulls from Europe. Some scientists have interpreted this relationship as being consistent with theOut-of-Africa theory, which hypothesizes that at least some Upper Paleolithic human groups in Africa, Europe and Asia should morphologically resemble each other.^[52]

Around 10,000 BCE, African hunter-gatherer societies developedmicrolith technologies. Composite microlithic tools were useful for harvesting wild grasses and also permitted the production of fine shell and bone fish hooks, which may have allowed for the exploitation of a broader range of food resources. Some of the earliest pottery in Africa has also been found in the Sahara and is associated with hunter/gatherer populations.^[53] By 9,400 BCE, in Ounjougou, central Mali, pottery is thought to been independently invented by local hunter-gatherers as they became more sedentary and began to intensively gather local wild grains (such as millet).^[54]

Archaeological evidence has attested that population settlements occurred in Nubia as early as the LatePleistocene era and from the 5th millennium BC onwards, whereas there is "no or scanty evidence" of human presence in the Egyptian Nile Valley during these periods, which may be due to problems in site preservation.^[55]

In 2013,Iberomaurusian skeletons from the prehistoric sites ofTaforalt andAfalou in the Maghreb were analyzed for ancient DNA. All of the specimens belonged to maternal clades associated with either North Africa or the northern and southern Mediterranean littoral, indicating gene flow between these areas since theEpipaleolithic.^[56][57] The ancient Taforalt individuals carried the mtDNA haplogroupsU6,H,JT andV, which points to population continuity in the region dating from the Iberomaurusian period.^[58]

There is an on-going debate in regards to using modern-day hunter-gatherer societies, like theSan, as an analogy to societies of the Later Stone Age.^[59]

Cultural developments during the earlyNeolithic led nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to be slowly supplanted bypastoralism in northern Africa.^[60][61] Africa's earliest evidence for domesticated animals comes from the Sahara c. 7000-6000 BCE, and evidence for new cattle herding lifestyles are preserved at both archaeological sites such asGobero and inSaharan rock art.^[60] As the Sahara increased in size due to aridification, early pastoralists migrated south and eastwards into theNiger andNile valleys, bringing with them herding practices that would also spread throughout eastern and southern Africa.^[62] TheSavanna Pastoral Neolithic and theElmenteitan material culture traditions are found in eastern Africa. RecentaDNA research has provided evidence for the spread of Pastoral Neolithic herders from eastern Africa into southern Africa.^[63][64]

In the westernSahel, the rise of settled communities occurred largely as a result of the domestication ofmillet and ofsorghum. Archaeology points to sizable urban populations in West Africa later, beginning by the 2nd millennium BCE. Symbiotic trade relations developed before thetrans-Saharan trade, in response to the opportunities afforded by north–south diversity in ecosystems across deserts, grasslands, and forests. The agriculturists received salt from the desert nomads. The desert nomads acquired meat and other foods from pastoralists and farmers of the grasslands and from fishermen on theNiger River. The forest-dwellers provided furs and meat.^[65]

In West Africa,Dhar Tichitt andOualata in present-dayMauritania figure prominently among the early urban centers, dated to ~2,000 BCE. About 500 stone settlements litter the region in the former savannah of the Sahara. Its inhabitants fished and grew millet. The ancestors of theSoninke, of theMandé peoples, may have been responsible for constructing such settlements. Around 300 BCE the region became more desiccated and the settlements began to decline, most likely relocating toKoumbi Saleh.^[66] Architectural evidence and the comparison of pottery styles suggest that Dhar Tichitt was related to the subsequentGhana Empire andDjenné-Djenno cultures (in present-dayMali).^[67][68]

Farming societies in Africa developed after the origins and spread of livestock pastoralism throughout the continent. The early use of metallurgy by farming communities may have been developed independently in Africa around 3000-2000 BCE.^[69] Pockets of iron usage appeared in subsequent millennia but metal did not supplant stone in the south of the continent until around 500 BCE, when both iron and copper spread southwards through the continent, reaching the Cape around 200 CE. Although some details regarding theBantu expansion are still controversial amongst archaeologists, linguists, and historians, the widespread use of iron does seem to have played a major role in the spread ofBantu farming communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Contact and interaction between hunter/gatherer, pastoralist, and incoming farming communities remains an important topic of interest in African archaeology today.

In 2014, ancient DNA analysis of a 2,330-year-old male forager's skeleton insouthern Africa found that the specimen belonged to theL0d2c1c mtDNA haplogroup. This maternal clade is today most closely associated with the Ju, a subgroup of the indigenousSan people, which points to population continuity in the region.^[70] In 2016, a Late Iron Age desiccated mummy from the Tuli region in northern Botswana was also found to belong to haplogroup L0.^[71]

In centralNigeria, West Africa, around 1,500 BCE, theNok culture developed on theJos Plateau.^[72] The Nok people produced lifelike representations interracotta, including human heads and human figures, elephants, and other animals. By 500 BCE, and possibly a few centuries earlier,^[73] they were smelting iron. By 200 AD the Nok culture had vanished. Based on stylistic similarities with the Nok terracottas, the bronze figurines of theYoruba kingdom ofIfe and those of theBini kingdom ofBenin are now believed to be continuations of the traditions of the earlier Nok culture.^[74]

Another site in southern Africa that used different types of metal wasBosutswe. The people who lived there used materials such as copper, bronze, and iron.^[75] It was proven that this metalworking was the basis for the trade that was responsible for the site's success^[76] and kept the power in the ruling Lose class.^[75]

Historical archaeology is a field of study that uses historical sources to help understand and interpret archeological evidence. This could include oral histories, written histories, or practiced traditions. One significant difference betweenhistory andarchaeology as fields is that historical research typically focuses on a specific moment or event whereas archaeology focuses on process. Early historical archaeology often tended to use archeology to confirm what colonial literature said. This was problematic since it meant that no one tested the validity of European and Arabic historic sources and since it did not allow for the discovery of African ways of life.^[77]

Historic archaeology tends to focus on the 1600s and onward, or the era of colonialism and European expansion. Trade with the Near East and Europe led to strong mercantile empires growing such as the Ethiopian kingdom ofAxum andHarla Kingdom. Various states and polities also developed in West Africa includingIfe, theKingdom of Benin,Igbo Ukwu,Djenné-Djenno,Ghana Empire,Bono State and theAshanti Empire. Bantu peoples in southern Africa built the impressive site ofGreat Zimbabwe between the 10th and 15th centuries CE. The north of the continent had close cultural and economic ties with the Classical and medievalMediterranean. Cattle herding became important in theHorn of Africa and huge earthwork enclosures were built to corral the animals. The people of ChristianEthiopia produced impressive rock-cutmonolithic churches such as that of St George atLalibela during the 13th century and the firstPortuguese forts appeared soon after this, penetrating as far south asZambia.

Today, historical archaeology has been used and practiced differently in different regions of Africa. Historical archaeology today typically attempts to draw from a larger breadth of sources, created by different actors.

Historic archeology is most commonly used inWest Africa. A majority of research had been concentrated inNigeria,Ghana, andSenegal. Though, there is increasing work inMali,Benin, andCameroon. West Africa has a high concentration of historic archeology because of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Especially since the 1980s, archeologists have tried to better understand the slave trade and slavery through the different sites.^[78] One example site isBadagry.

There are two limitations to completing historical archeology in West Africa. The first is, from an archeological perspective, the climate in the region has limited what has been physically preserved. The second is, from a historical perspective, sources can often be misinterpreted because the term “slavery” meant different things to different African societies. For example, theAsanti had five varying layers of servitude—which does not correspond to European and current understandings of the word. Even with these limitations, historical archeaology is useful for studying West Africa because oral traditions and memory help archeologists interpret data they excavate.^[78]

Historic archeology has been used to study the polity of Hueda and their interactions with European traders in the 17th C, Danish Plantations, and theBight of Benin. Examples of popular books about historic archeology include the Archaeology of Slavery: A Comparative Approach to Captivity and Coercion, edited by Lydia Wilson Marshall and African Historical Archaeologies, edited by Andrew M. Reid and Paul J. Lane.^[78]

South African historic archeology has been used to understand missionaries in the region. The first documented investigation was in 1964 by Revil Mason in Matlwase. A European settlement north of theVaal River was being studied. His justification for studying the reason was similar to early archaeological justifications; he wanted to confirm what he had read in historical documents written by missionaries.^[79]

One limitation of historic archaeology in South Africa is there are many complications about how missionaries changed the landscape, culture, and society. However there is extensive written evidence in South Africa because missionaries often transcribed and recorded what they observed. Additionally, they transcribed the bible into local African languages. Finally, there were extensive printing offices for press at many missions.^[79]

Recent historic archaeological work in South Africa has been done in 2018. The work was at the Wittenbergen Native Reserve, which was founded byCape Colony political authorities and theWesleyan Missionary Society. The work found the area was not permanently occupied and instead an area that different groups passed through.^[79]

Recent historical archaeology work has been done by Jonathan Walz inTanzania. His work is concerned with how historic objects moved along trade routes to the interior of Tanzania. He tracks Ivory and Slave caravan routes toPangani from the Middle of the 19th C. He uses a combination of oral histories, written texts, and archaeological trade material. His work found that the Ivory and Slave Caravan routes let to Pangani. It also discovered that escaped slaves attempted to hide in the outer areas of Pangani. Another example of historic archeology in East Africa is studying village revolutions. Walz studied the 1890 Bushiri rebellion against Germans, which eventually resulted in Germans hanging the revolt leader.^{[80][pages needed]}

One challenge when conducting historic archeology in East Africa is the loss ofheritage sites in the area. Increasing tension between the owners and government groups has led to poor site management. In countries likeKenya and Tanzania this has resulted in destruction of heritage sites and different areas described during the colonial period. One reason is the increasing investment in resettlement of the areas and tourism.^[81]

Historic archaeology conducted in theHorn of Africa, or Northeast Africa, focuses on how trade, migration, violence, colonies, and missions changed in the area. As a general trend, long distance trade declined around the 1600s. The decrease in trade meant some areas, such as theAxumite Empire, became more isolated. However, it also led to the increase in commercial integration for some areas, such asSudan. Historic archaeology has helped fill in gaps when archaeological evidence is missing in the region. For example, theOromo expansion has almost no archaeological evidence but is documented with significant historical evidence. Other studies have focused on tracking landscape changes, looking at when colonies were established, studying border disputes, and looking at the impact of bothChristian andIslam missions on the area.^[82]

One challenge with applying the term "historic archaeology" to Northeast Africa is the assumption that the region was not literate (historic) before the 15th century. If one wanted to categorize the term using the colonial era or the beginning of European arrival, the typical time frame still does not apply. Archeologists have not found significant evidence of Western objects or written record until the 1870s. However, using the techniques of historic archeaology can still be useful to understand colonialism and European expansion in the area.^[82]

• African Archaeological Review
• Prehistoric North Africa
• Archaeology of Banda District (Ghana)
• Egyptology
• Nubiology

• Barham, Lawrence; Mitchell, Peter (2008).The First Africans: African Archaeology from the Earliest Toolmakers to Most Recent Foragers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-61265-4.

• African Archaeology – African Archaeology: a web directory on Africa
• Journal of African Archaeology
• African Archaeological Review
• Excavations at Karkarichinkat Nord and Sud

• Archaeology in Africa
• Prehistoric Africa

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