Description

Ethnoarchaeology of Shuwa-Arab Settlements demonstrates the imperative need for ethnoarchaeology to include a deep sense of the history of the specific social group under analysis for its findings to truly impact archaeological thinking. Based on research from a long-term archaeological and ethnoarchaeological project conducted in the northernmost part of Cameroon, Augustin Holl's new work probes the ethnic survival of the Shuwa-Arab descendants of generations of pastoralists who migrated from Arabia to the Chad basin. The book robustly engages macro issues connected to processes of sedentarization, ethnic interaction in a multi-ethnic setting, and relations of power and dominion. On the micro level the work deciphers clues for the cultural survival and later prosperity of the Shuwa-Arab hidden in the material record of their daily settlement life. This book will be of great interest to students of African history, African studies, archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, and ethnic and cultural studies seeking to understand how to successfully integrate history into the interpretation of the archaeological record.