This is the first book devoted to the archaeology of African life on both sides of the Atlantic; it highlights the importance of archaeology in completing the historical records of the Atlantic world's Africans. Archaeology of Atlantic Africa and the African Diaspora presents a diverse, richly textured picture of Africans' experiences during the era of the Atlantic slave trade and offers the most comprehensive explanation of how African lives became entangled with the creation of the modern world. Through interdisciplinary approaches to material culture, the dynamics of a comparative transatlantic archaeology is developed.

The material culture of the slave trade explored

About the Author

Akinwumi Ogundiran is Chair of the Africana Studies Department and Professor of Africana Studies, Anthropology and History at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He is author of Archaeology and History in the Ilare District, 1200-1900.

Toyin Falola is the Frances Higginbotham Nalle Centennial Professor in History at the University of Texas at Austin. He is editor (with Matt D. Childs) of The Yoruba Diaspora in the Atlantic World (IUP, 2005).

Reviews

Should be required reading for Africanist archaeologists and students of African American and diasporic archaeology. . . . Highly recommended.January 2009

* Choice *

. . . an excellent book . . . .This is an important and readable work that represents a milestone in a holistic approach to Africa and its Diasporas in the Atlantic world.July 28, 2009 (online)

* African Archaeology Review *

A breakthrough volume in the study of the material culture of the slave trade. . . [P]resents a diverse, richly textured picture of Africans' experiences during the era of the Atlantic slave trade and offers the most comprehensive explanation of how African lives became entangled with the creation of the modern world.

* Assn for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora ASWAD *

For those who want to expand their knowledge of African religion, this is an important addition to a growing series of probing studies.Volume 52 - 2011

* The Journal of African History *

Ogundiran and Falola's collection charts a powerful and ambitious starting point for a truly transatlantic diasporan archaeology. 2010, 44 (2)

* Historical Archaeology *

[T]he true value of this book perhaps lies in its ability to acquaint very different readerships with a wealth of sources and research with which they may hitherto have been unfamiliar with. Volume 12, Issue 1, Fall 2010

* African Studies Quarterly *

. . . this volume is an important contribution to understanding the diverse and global extent of African experiences and cultural transformations, as well as demonstrates the important role of Africa in the creation of the modern world. . . . all archaeologists and historians working in the Africana world should, not only read this book, but engage the findings presented here in their own work. . . .September 2009

-- Paula V. Saunders * African Diaspora Archaeology Network Newsletter *

. . . this book is remarkably successful. It is equally useful for specialists in later African archaeology and for archaeologists of the African Diaspora. Furthermore, . . . [it] provides an excellent introduction to the state of research on the subject, and is appropriate for anyone wishing to develop an understanding of the big issues in the archaeology of the African Diaspora.Vol. 44.2 August 2009

-- Kenneth G. Kelly * University of South Carolina *

A rich perspective on the archaeology of African life in the Atlantic world. . . . The volume will be widely appreciated by readers wishing to learn about an exciting area of archaeological research.

* International Journal of African Historical Studies *

[The editors] skilfully articulate the importance of integrating the African Atlantic and the African Diaspora within a single analytical framework . . . Common to most of these papers is a breadth of vision that encompasses the archaeological record and relevant history, ethnographic and palaeoclimatic data in ways that highlight the complexity of the processes taking place in Atlantic Africa from (indeed, before) the fifteenth century.2008

* Journal of African History *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253221759
Author Akinwumi Ogundiran
Format Paperback
Page Count 528
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 857g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 155mm * 27mm