Historical Archaeology in Africa: Representation, Social Memory, and Oral Traditions (review)

Peter Schmidt is a well-known archaeologist who has conducted pioneering research in Tanzania, Gabon, and Eritrea. This book is a welcome addition to the AltaMira series on African Archaeology. Readers who have followed Schmidt's long career in African archaeology will be very pleased to see some of his major papers compiled in one volume. There are also chapters co-written by two graduate students, Jonathan Walz and kharyssa rhodes.

Eleven chapters cover a range of topics and case studies. Many deal with the application of oral traditions to the archaeological record, emphasizing the use of figures of speech (tropes, metonymy) and symbolism, and exploring the relationships of this evidence to the interpretation of past sociopolitical changes within the context of the local landscape. The book also includes analysis of the technical, symbolic, and political implications of ancient iron technology in Africa. Moreover, the authors provide important reinterpretations of the supposed role of foreign influences on key sites or areas in Africa and the ways in which historical silences on indigenous developments have been perpetuated.

These case studies center on correcting the misrepresentation of the past in Africa. Highlights include reinterpretation of the significance of the famous Periplus Maris Erythraci and the Swahili coastal area, of the technical skills of African iron production, of the Cwezi myth of statehood, and of the role of the Sabaeans in early state formation in Eritrea. The biases of the colonial period are critiqued and alternative information supporting local developments is discussed. Africanists will applaud the restoration of local African agency, an important theme of this book. They will find a thoughtful discussion of the intersection between the perspectives of Western science and African traditions in interpreting the past. In addition, there is a very interesting discussion of the great potential of historic archaeology in African universities as a means of recovering and writing histories, as well as the challenges of funding and political struggles over the role of archaeology.

Historical Archaeology in Africa is clearly a thought-provoking book. Readers may take issue with some of the assumptions and points of view discussed. Some of the contentious issues of the book are territorial in nature, centering on the subdisciplinary boundaries in archaeology. Is there really a difference between prehistoric and historic archaeology when one examines sites in Africa that date to the last several thousand years? How does one deal with the split between the dominant view of historic archaeology that centers on European colonial expansion, supported by documentary and archaeological evidence, and the practice of historic archaeology advocated in this book—as a practice that is not rooted in European colonial expansion and one that makes heavy use of oral traditions? How far back in time can archaeologists validly apply oral traditions? This book explores these questions.

However, Historical Archaeology in Africa is not necessarily easy reading. For example, what is the meaning of the following: "The consequences of constructing a 'lived past'—if we are to use the concept—must be examined reflexively. It is a powerful trope, a metonymy that animates and has the potential to transform and homogenize pasts by renaming them" (47)?