posted
No, in their perception the price was lower, that's all. It's the same phenomena today. Most people will buy a lower priced item and buy it again when it wears out rather purchase a well made article of greater lasting worth that costs more. Umbrellas immediately come to mind.
quote:Originally posted by Whatbox:
quote:Yeah, the imported from Europe advanced technology mass produced stuff was inexpensive compared to the traditional goods but it was cheaper (shoddy) yet pricing allowed easy replacement.
Insightful, i liked this explaination.
A lot of the times sources simply say they went bonkers over European trinkets for no reason.
In their perception, they were lower priced, massed produced and more advanced. They didn't *know* they were cheap.
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
A comment By Explorer about some people even here on E/S not realizing that stone structures exist south of the desert and that Zimbabwe is not the be all..inspired me to bump this thread.
Here is some more pics and drawings:
http://www.walata.org/eng/conoce_historia.htmThis is known as the Dhar Tichitt-Walata culture, a unique neolithic culture dating from between BC 2000 and the third century BC. No less than 400 settlements, some of them complete cities, made up this group of towns. www.allempires.net/stone-masonry-civilization... Kerma What’s clear is that Kerma’s civilisation emerged out of an ancient pastoral culture that had flourished in that part of Sudan since at least 7000 B.C. when the first settlements were established. Nearby Kerma archaeologists have discovered one of the two oldest cemeteries ever found in Africa – dating back to 7500 B.C. – and the oldest evidence of cattle domestication ever found in Sudan or, indeed, in the Egyptian Nile Valley. Around 3000 BC a town grew up not far from the Neolithic dwellings place. Mali of course everyone know this one Debre Damo Monestary Axumite era Gede ruins The most famous of these city states were Kilwa, Lamu, Pate and Mombasa. Lamu town is the oldest living Swahili town in Kenya all other great cities Kilwa, Pate are now in ruins. The town is one of the last still viable reminders of the Swahili civilisation that dominated the East African coast for many centuries. my.telegraph.co.uk/.../blog/cat/general/page/3
From Wire Reports Anita Powell, The Associated Press HARAR, Ethiopia – For 1,000 years, this city on a hilltop has been a center of Islamic faith in the Horn of Africa, with a forbidding, 13-foot wall surrounding ancient mosques and serpentine alleyways.
Photos by ANITA POWELL/The Associated Press Left: The wall-ringed ancient city of Harar is the fourth-holiest city in Islam - behind Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Last year, UNESCO designated it a World Heritage site. Now leaders of Harar are hoping it can become a center of tourism as well.
"The future of Harar is tourist attraction," says regional president Murad Abdulhadi.
Harar was named a UNESCO World Heritage site last year, joining some of the world's top landmarks such as the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China and the Acropolis in Greece.
It also is the fourth-holiest city in Islam – behind Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem.
Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
A comment By Explorer about some people even here on E/S not realizing that stone structures exist south of the desert and that Zimbabwe is not the be all..inspired me to bump this thread.
Trust me, I speak out of experience. Been on this site for quite some time now.
Posts: 7516 | From: Somewhere on Earth | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thulamela was a counterpart of Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe that displayed similar architectural design and method.
Terraced hill, entranceway of Khami, capital of the Torwa StateKhami was the capital of the Torwa State and the successor of Great Zimbabwe. The techniques of Great Zimbabwe were further refined and developed. Elaborate walls were constructed by connecting carefully cut stones forming terraced hills The Lunda Empire (western) established its capital 100 kilometers from Kassai in open woodland, between two rivers 15 kilometers apart. It was surrounded by fortified earthen ramparts. and dry moats about 30 plus kilometers. The Mwato Yamvo's compound musumba was surrounded with large fortification of double layered live trees or wood ramparts. The musumba had multiple courtyards with designated functions, straight roads, and public squares. Its immense hygenic and cleanly value has been noted by European observers.[27]
Lunda dwellings displaying the Square and the Cone On Ground type of African Vernacular ArchitectureThe Eastern Lunda dwelling of the Kacembe(king) was describe as containing fenced roads, a mile long. The enclosed walls were made of grass, 12 to 13 span in height. The enclosed roads lead to a rectangular hut openned on the west side. In the center was a wooden base with a statue on top about 3 span.[28] A view from a much berated area the kingdom of the Kongo Mbanza Congo was the capital of the Kingdom of Kongo with a population of 30,000 plus. It sat on a cliff with river below and forested valley. The King's dwelling was describe as a mile and half enclosure with walled pathways, courtyard, gardens, decorated huts, and palisades. One early explorer described it in terms of a Cretan labyrinth.[25] Six important Hausa city states existed Kano, Katsina, Daura, Gobir, Zazzau, and Biram. Kano was the most important. The city was surrounded by a wall of reinforced ramparts of stone and bricks. Kano contained a citadel near which the royal class resided. Individual residence was separated by "earthen" wall. The higher the status of the resident the more elaborate the wall. The entranceway was mazelike to seclude women. Inside near the entrance were the abode of unmarried women. Further down were slave quarters.[14] The best known building of the period in the region is the ruined or eight century BC multi-story tower at Yeha in Ethiopia, believed to have been the capital of D'mt. Ashlar masonry was especially dominant during this period Ndebele Houses
Historical Background The history of the Ndebele people can be traced back to Mafana, their first identifiable chief. Mafana’s successor, Mhlanga, had a son named Musi who, in the early 1600’s, decided to move away from his cousins (later to become the mighty Zulu nation) and to settle in the hills of Gauteng near where the capital, Pretoria is situated.
After the death of Chief Musi, his two sons quarrelled over the chieftainship and the tribe divided into two sections, the Manala and the Ndzundza. The Manala remained in the north while the Ndzundza, also known as the Southern Ndebele, travelled to the east and the south. Both groups remained distinctly Ndebele.
In 1883, during the reign of the Ndebele chief Mabhogo, war broke out between the Ndzundza and the (Boer) Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (South African Republic). For eight months, the Ndebele held out against the onslaught by hiding in subterranean tunnels in their mountain stronghold at Mapoch’s Caves near the town of Roossenekal.
From time to time, Mabhogo’s brave warriors crept past the enemy lines undetected to fetch water and food. However, after two women of the tribe had been ambushed in the nearby woods and tortured, one revealed the Mabhogo’s whereabouts. After Mabhogo’s defeat, the cohesive tribal structure was broken up and the tribal lands confiscated. Despite the disintegration of the tribe, the Ndebele retained their cultural unity. www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_ndebele.html Gotta love their use of colors.
Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Just came across this pic of a building in Mauritania..sure looks Nile Valley like. A door to an ancient libarary Qualata Mauritanin winding walls Mauritinia and Zimbabwe
Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Doug M: An interesting discussion started in another thread that involved how many ancient African cultures built in stone versus those that did not.
The first issue is how you define a "culture". The second issue is how many built in stone.
My impression is that there were more cultures in Africa that DID NOT build in stone than those that DID. Building in stone alone is NOT a sign of advanced civilization, since many groups around the world built primarily in wood, mud brick and other such less durable materials.
Either way, the point of this thread is to lay out FIRSTLY, how many cultures can be identified from Africa around 1000 BC and how many of these cultures built in stone. I am going to do some research to come up with some well defined "cultures" and then do some research into how many DID build in stone. If anyone has some lists of cultures and whether they built in stone or not during or sometime after this period, please list the "culture" or group, time period and whether they did build in stone.
If you are asking for cultures in Africa around the year 1000 BC that built in stone then I would say none other than what you find in North East Africa. Africans weren't a building type of people just as much they weren't a writing type of people.
Posts: 2088 | Registered: Feb 2007
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
A door to an ancient libarary Qualata Mauritanin 
Printer-friendly view of this topic