Ancient Africa Research Paper

Ancient Mali was a country located in North-West Africa. It was a country that had once thrived as one of the biggest empires. Their location also had an impact that made them known for trading because of the surrounding resources. Taking advantage, as well as their ruler, who led them to be rich, ruled at his peak. So, ancient Mali represents history, geography, and trade/economics, because it was a part of what changed their empire as a whole.

In Basil Davidson’s video “Different but Equal,” he outlines the European perception of Africa upon their discovery of the continent. Claims that the Europeans were making about African culture, however, were far fetched and did not depict Africa in a positive manner. History according to pre-European Africa was rich and diverse, but once Europeans saw for themselves how different their continent was from Africa, they began to make up their own version of African history.

Well the government in ancient Mali was lead by the emperor called the Mansa. The Mali Empire was divided up into providence and each were led by a governor. Present day Mali is one of the least densely population of Africa. The people who live in Mali live in small villages. People pursue traditional occupations such as farming, fishing, herding, crafts, and trade. Nomadic groups of Berbers, Tuareg, and Moors live north of the Niger River. As a herder you mostly raise cattle, sheep, and goats and are always on the move in search of

Ancient Ghana was originally found in the 830 AD. They built their capital on the edge of the Sahara and the city quickly grew into a thriving trade market and became a very wealthy place. the city turned into one of the most wealthy places on earth and made its wealth from gold and silver.

Like many other continents in the world Africa has a lot of differences in itself for example there are differences in geography ,language, politics, religion and other things in life due to Africa’s lack of political government over an extended period of time.

Ancient civilizations have had profound effects of what we know as the modern world today. The primary purpose for anything that lives is to survive. Throughout history animals, plants and humans have adapted to their surroundings. All living things have changed throughout time. The thing that differs humans from rest is, humans are more cognitively advanced. Over the course of time the shape and size of the human skull has changed. The size of the human brain has increased, which has allowed humans to adapt more to their surroundings. To survive, humans were making tools for hunting and to cut with. The closer you lived to the equator the darker your skin may have been, so you could adapt to the intensity of the sun’s rays. If you lived further

The theory of Pangaea suggests that the continents were once stuck together into one huge continent. Eventually they started drifting into separated landmasses, which gave birth to the modern continents.

How to eat in ancient Ghana. The Ancient Ghana civilization lasted from about 300-1200 A.D.. The Ancient country lies in Western Africa where the modern countries of Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal are today (Kingdom of Ghana). The people of Ghana ate what they could provide by farming. They farmed crops such as corn and rice. The Niger river ,which cut across ancient Ghana, flooded like the Nile during the rainy season bringing water and nutrients to their fields (Social Aspects of Ancient Ghana) . They raised animals such as Goats, chickens, and sheep to eat. The people mostly ate several different types of soup with fufu, plantain, bread, rice, and potatoes. The soups were nut based with different meats such as fish, mutton, goat, or chicken added (Ancient Ghana Environment).

Africa’s past was shaped by many different influences. The evolutionary theory and traditions/myths of origin played a big part in contributing to the reconstruction of Africa’s past. The PowerPoint, “The peopling and early history of Africa” explains in detail the reasons how these items influenced the reconstruction of Africa. The PowerPoint describes the idea that evolutionary theory was one the main reasons the reconstruction occurred. The second idea explained in the PowerPoint was the myths and traditions that were spoken in story form thousands of years ago. The third explanation for the reconstruction that was described in the PowerPoint was that the Stone Age era had effects that played a big part in shaping African traditions.

In the early years, long before humans roamed the earth, there was a protocontinent it’s name was Gondwana. And of course Gondwana wasn’t as big or as mass as Pangaea was, that’s because Gondwana wasn’t alone. In fact, there was another protocontinent

Pangea was a supercontinent that consisted of seven continents, it existed until the Triassic period where the continents started to drift 200-225 millions years ago. The theory was thought of by Abraham Ortelius. Evidently, three centuries later in 1912 by German scientist Alfred Lothar Wegener had a theory about how South America and Africa could fit together. Following in Wegener’s footsteps, Alexander Du Toit, a professor of geology, and his supporters theorized that Pangea first split into two separate into 2 large continents. Laurasia, in the north, and Gondwanaland in the south. Laurasia and Gondwanaland later split into the 7 continents we know today.

Pangaea was one major landmass. It is the hypothesis that vast landmasses used to be framed together in one extensive mainland, and that as the plates moved it separated the continents that were joined together to spread out. Pangaea started shaping about 300 million years back, and was completely together by 270 million years prior and started too partitioned around 200 million years back. However, fossils of a Meosaurus were also founded in South Africa and Brazil. A Mesosaurus was a little reptile that lived 275 million years ago and it swam in shallow waters. It couldn't cross into the sea. These remains of the fossils spotted in these two different continents tell us that South America and Africa must’ve have once been connected together and then divided.

Geographical location: Ancient Africa is nearly 5,000 miles from north to south, Africa that lies south of the Sahara desert is the second-largest continent and was the home of some of the earliest and most advanced cultures of the ancient world. Most of the rivers and streams in the Sahara are seasonal or intermittent, the chief exception being the Nile River, which from its origins in central Africa, crosses the desert underground before emptying into the Mediterranean.

A reason that the emergence of the First Civilizations was a negative development for humankind was that it lead to many inequalities.

The one thing that made civilization possible was the digging stick. The digging stick tool made holes into the ground to plant seed. Afterward, animals where worked to cover the seed with soil.