Slavery in Africa c. 500–1500 <span class='sc'>CE</span>: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives

doi:10.1017/9781139024723.022

Chapter 22 - Slavery in Africa c. 500–1500 CE: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives

from Part V - Africa, the Americas, and Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 September 2021

Paul J. Lane

Edited by

Craig Perry ,

David Eltis ,

Stanley L. Engerman and

David Richardson

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Craig Perry: Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta
David Eltis: Affiliation:
Emory University, Atlanta
Stanley L. Engerman: Affiliation:
University of Rochester, New York
David Richardson: Affiliation:
University of Hull

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Summary

The study of pre-modern (i.e. pre-sixteenth century) systems of enslavement and slave trading in sub-Saharan Africa have relied heavily on textual, especially Arabic, sources. By contrast, there have been few archaeological studies of these phenomena, although reference is often made to the Trans-Saharan and Red Sea/Indian Ocean slave trades in archaeological studies of early state formation and globalisation on the continent. This chapter provides a brief review of some of the key written sources concerning the presence of slaves in different regions of sub-Saharan Africa between c. 500-1500 CE, and what these can tell us about prevailing systems of enslavement. This is followed by discussion of the limited number of archaeological studies of enslavement during this same period across the continent, their main findings and the key interpretative challenges faced when trying to detect the presence of slaves from material evidence alone. The chapter concludes with suggestions for the direction of future work, laying emphasis on the need for multi-sited projects that aim to reconstruct landscapes of enslavement and how slave-based economies were organised and functioned.

Keywords

Sub-Saharan Africa archaeological approaches Trans-Saharan trade Indian Ocean Red Sea bioarchaeology landscapes of slavery

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge World History of Slavery , pp. 531 - 552

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139024723.022 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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References

A Guide to Further Reading

Battuta, , Ibn, Travels, A.D. 1325–1354, ed. Gibb, Hamilton A. R., trans. with revisions and notes from the Arabic text by Charles Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti, 5 vols. (Cambridge, 1958–1994).Google Scholar

Botte, Roger, “Les réseaux transsahariens de la traite de l’or et des esclaves au haut Moyen Âge: VIIIe–XIe siècle,” L’Année du Maghreb, 7 (2011): 27–59.CrossRef Google Scholar

Hamel, Chouki El, Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam (Cambridge, 2013).Google Scholar

Jayasurya, Shihan de S., and Pankhurst, Richard (eds.), The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean (Trenton, NJ, 2003).Google Scholar

Lane, Paul J., and MacDonald, Kevin C. (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Archaeology and Memory (Oxford, 2011).CrossRef Google Scholar

Lovejoy, Paul E., Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa, 3rd edn. (Cambridge, 2011).Google Scholar

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Marshall, Lydia Wilson (ed.), The Archaeology of Slavery: A Comparative Approach to Captivity and Coercion (Carbondale, IL, 2014).Google Scholar

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Nixon, Sam (ed.), Essouk – Tadmekka: An Early Islamic Trans-Saharan Market Town (Leiden, 2017).Google Scholar

Popović, Alexandre, The Revolt of African Slaves in Iraq in the 3rd/9th Century (Princeton, 1999).Google Scholar

Power, Timothy, The Red Sea from Byzantium to the Caliphate: AD 500–1000. (Cairo, 2012).Google Scholar

Renault, François, La traite des noirs au Proche-Orient médiéval, VIIe–XIVe siècles (Paris, 1989).Google Scholar

Savage, Elizabeth (ed.), The Human Commodity: Perspectives on the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade (London, 1992).Google Scholar

Willis, John R. (ed.), Slaves and Slavery in Africa, Vol. 1: Islam and the Ideology of Enslavement (London, 1985).Google Scholar

Willis, John R. (ed.), Slaves and Slavery in Africa, Vol. 2: The Servile Estate (London, 1985).Google Scholar