Early State Formation, Slavery and Colonial Conquest in Africa
- Submitted by: monalize
- Views: 281
- Category: History: European
- Date Submitted: 03/31/2015 03:23 AM
- Pages: 3
- Report this Essay
|
HSY2602 |
Early State Formation, Slavery and ColonialConquest in AfricaAssingment 01 |
|
|
The importance of archaeology and oral tradition in the reconstruction of early African history
Archaeoloy’s importance
Archaeology can be defined as the study of man’s past by using scientific analysis of the material remains of his culture. When we look at the importance of archaeology one cannot help but see that archaeology offer many advantages. It can take one back in time and scientific evidence is there to prove the existence of such important past events, therefore the work of the archaeologist to dig at sites, examine material and remains of old buildings prove to be of insignificant value. Oral tradition is merely a word by mouth story, folklore, a tale ect, it does not really prove the existence of a historical event in such a manner as would archaeological material and research.
Archaeology tells us about the lifestyle of people, how they performed traditional ceremonies, how they lived, what they ate, how they gathered food, their beliefs ect.
Changes over time can be traced, as most of the evidence of this would have been recorded. Archaeology keeps trace of specific artefacts and African historians who try to write history of indigenous people from their own point of view and who relied quite a bit on oral tradition can now also in conjunction with archaeologists and the physical evidence they have collected provide new, insightful and more accurate evidence to African history who could have been lost forever if Archaeology and oral tradition were not used in combination with each other.
Oral tradition
Oral tradition in the form of storytelling was the one main way that African tradition and history were passed on from generation to generation. The main reason for this was that most African societies as early as pre-colonial days were mostly non-literate, historical knowledge were passed down from Grandfather to father to son ect....
HSY2602 |
Early State Formation, Slavery and ColonialConquest in AfricaAssingment 01 |
|
|
The importance of archaeology and oral tradition in the reconstruction of early African history
Archaeoloy’s importance
Archaeology can be defined as the study of man’s past by using scientific analysis of the material remains of his culture. When we look at the importance of archaeology one cannot help but see that archaeology offer many advantages. It can take one back in time and scientific evidence is there to prove the existence of such important past events, therefore the work of the archaeologist to dig at sites, examine material and remains of old buildings prove to be of insignificant value. Oral tradition is merely a word by mouth story, folklore, a tale ect, it does not really prove the existence of a historical event in such a manner as would archaeological material and research.
Archaeology tells us about the lifestyle of people, how they performed traditional ceremonies, how they lived, what they ate, how they gathered food, their beliefs ect.
Changes over time can be traced, as most of the evidence of this would have been recorded. Archaeology keeps trace of specific artefacts and African historians who try to write history of indigenous people from their own point of view and who relied quite a bit on oral tradition can now also in conjunction with archaeologists and the physical evidence they have collected provide new, insightful and more accurate evidence to African history who could have been lost forever if Archaeology and oral tradition were not used in combination with each other.
Oral tradition
Oral tradition in the form of storytelling was the one main way that African tradition and history were passed on from generation to generation. The main reason for this was that most African societies as early as pre-colonial days were mostly non-literate, historical knowledge were passed down from Grandfather to father to son ect....