| 1. |
Focus Question: How
did the physical and geological features of Africa affect the development
of African societies? |
|
In what sense have Africans societies, outside of the Nile valley and
the Ethiopian highlands, down to the recent times been civilized?
Why don’t we know more about African societies? What are our most
important sources of information for most past African societies?
What geographical feature dominates Africa? Which is the only
African river with a relatively long navigable reach below its cataracts
(waterfalls)? How much of Africa is tropical rain forest? What
natural resources have Africans enjoyed and what have they traditionally
lacked? |
| 2. |
Focus Question: What were the
characteristics of early African societies? |
|
Where and when did
homo sapiens (sapiens)
evolve? How accurate
is the view that Africa below the Sahara was isolated until discovered
by the Europeans? How many languages are found in Africa?
What affected the development of the complex language map of present-day
Africa? What is the most widely dispersed “tongues” in Africa?
Where are the Khoisan speakers found today? Why cannot racial
theories be used to explain the developments of languages, agriculture
and state-building in Africa? |
| 3. |
Focus Question: What
was the nature of the early Saharan cultures? |
|
What feature has separated the North African and Egyptian worlds from
the wide expanse of the Sudan and , farther south, West and central Africa?
How did the climate of the Sahara change after 2500 B.C.? What types
of people lived in this area prior to 2500 B.C.? To what extent was
North Africa "cut off" from the sub-Saharan Africa after 1000 B.C.E.?
What impact did the desiccation of the Sahara have on later settled communities?
Where did the Nok people live and for what are they famous? |