Convenors: Kola Adekola (Nigeria), Raphael Alabi (Nigeria) and Samuel Nnkumbaan (Ghana)
Has archaeology come of age in Africa? Although African archaeology remains in many respects the poor relation of archaeology elsewhere, such as in Europe, North America, Asia, South America and Australia, substantial progress has been made in the last 150 years to make archaeology in Africa comparable to that of these other continents.
Advances have been made on such subjects ranging from human evolution, the study of prehistoric arts, ethno-archaeology, metallurgy, isotope research, paleoenvironment and heritage management, among others. New research designs are also formulated, while earlier hypothesis and theories are being re-investigated through contemporary skills and equipment.
Nevertheless, limitations still persist in terms of infrastructure, understaffing, lack of funds and poor support systems, as well as collaboration with others in related fields.
This theme is designed to critically examine the status of archaeology in Africa, its history, its current state and the possibility to have a predictive model for its future. Issues of epistemology and pedagogy are crucial, even as we are interested in new datasets from the African field and studies of wider regional significance.
We, therefore, seek for sessions on the Archaeology of Africa—North, South, West, East, Central, and even from the diasporic lenses.
Contacts:
Kola Adekola
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Kolawole.adekola@gmail.com
Raphael Alabi
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
raphael_alabi@yahoo.com
Samuel Nnkumbaan
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
snkumbaan@ug.edu.gh
THEME 13 SESSIONS
T13/Session 01: Archaeology, Heritage Standards and International Development – Theory and Practice
T13/Session 02: Exploring the Archaeology of Nigeria: Unearthing the Past, Enriching the Present