The least of their inhabited villages are fortified

The walled settlements of Segou

Bibliographic Data

ID6042422
AuthorsKevin C Macdonald (University College London, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume47
Issue3
Pages343-364
Publication date2012-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAzania Archaeological Research in Africa (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0067-270X • E-ISSN: 1945-5534
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0067270x.2012.707478
OpenAlexW2007762508
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited17

The penetration of Sahelian West Africa by Europeans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries revealed landscapes dotted with fortified settlements of every size and shape; none more so than that of Segou, the pre-eminent Mande polity of the era. This is not surprising given the insecurity which reigned at that time, with interminable warfare or raiding linked to the capture of slaves, whether for the state itself, or for the brokers of the Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Saharan trades (Richards 1987; MacDonald and Camara 2011). Since 2005, I have worked on the archaeology and place-specific oral traditions of Segou with Seydou Camara (MacDonald and Camara 2011, 2012). In the present text, and with an eye to Graham Connah's (2000) own interest in African city walls, I seek to exploit both three seasons of field research and French colonial sources to examine the technology, function and social role of these walls in Segovian settlements. Finally, I consider the history of fortified settlements along the Middle Niger and whether or not the ubiquitous walls of Segou are something new, or something connected with earlier traditions

Archaeology · Colonialism · Ethnology · Geography · Human settlement · Political science · Politics · Polity · African Studies and Ethnography · African Studies and Geopolitics · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · History · Law

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