Abdoulaye Bathily, "A Discussion of the Traditions of Wagadu with Some Reference ¹ This may be partly because studies of African politics and political development have been dominated by a conceptual framework which contrasts two types of society, the ‘traditional’ or ‘tribal’ and the ‘modern’ or ‘developed’. Over the course of a complex history of research, the Empire of Ghana became equated with the Soninké people's legend of Wagadu and the archaeological site of Kumbi Saleh in southern Mauritania was identified as its capital. One century after its discovery, the Columns Tomb of Kumbi Saleh (Mauritania) remains an archaeological riddle. Recherche sur les Civilisations, Mémoires présentés par divers savants à l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres de l'Institut de France. Finally, their origin forgotten, stories like the voyage of Hanno have become established historical facts through constant repetition in the authorized literature. 4 (1982); and "It’s been a bad decade for politics, but a great decade for political theory. Rotavirus gastroenteritis, non-rotavirus gastroenteritis, and intussusceptions were most prevalent in children under 15 months [80.3%, 74% and 91% respectively]. Complementary, large exposure excavations of the abandonment layer were undertaken by Gestrich in 2010. de Ghana," Bulletin IFAN XIII, no. Begin training for a career in hair, skincare, or nails at Empire Beauty School! northern parts of Ghana. (41.) Repeatedly named in connection with fabulous riches in gold, Ghāna had acquired a preeminent role in the western Sahel and was a leader among a large group of smaller polities. These exchanges are said to have been made according to very particularized rules: two (and only two) trading parties would transact business with one another. In addition, when it comes to inheriting a man’s property, women have fewer rights than men. L’empire du Ghana se développe au VIIIe siècle. la production du fer sur le plateau de Bandiagara (Mali) durant les empires précoloniaux, This may reduce the congestion of cases in the formal courts in Ghana. Ghana is a West African country with a coastline on the Gulf of Guinea and occupies a total area of 239,567 sq. recherche sur les civilisations, Mémoire 54 (Paris: Éd. But with subsequent adjustment, plus the potential from trans-Saharan trade carried out by the North Africans, the basic, pre-existing pattern re-emerged, resulting eventually in a second and much more powerful African political organization in this area – the Ghana Empire. This concerns the monuments themselves but equally their direct environs, where settlements are supposed but remain largely undiscovered despite extensive standard surveys. 02, p. 442. Stools were tested for 50.2% (1077/2147) of AGE cases. traditional capital (Arhin 1983: 475). Musées Nationaux, 1993), 103. appropriée," in Histoire d'Afrique. Mamadou Diawara, personal communication, August 2018 The available accounts may conveniently be grouped into two categories. belong to individuals. Centre of trade. © 2008-2020 ResearchGate GmbH. Jean Polet, Tegdaoust IV: Fouille d'un Quartier de Tegdaoust (Mauritanie —A baby girl, born on Feb. 8, 1952, had numerous vegetative forms of Endameba histolytica in loose stools examined in our laboratory on Feb. 21, 1952. That study delivered useful information on the preservation, layout and inner structure of the sites and its results are presented here. Humphrey J. Fisher, "Early Arabic Sources and the, Listening for Silences in Almoravid History, Almoravid Conquest of Ghana," Journal of African History 23, no. Despite this mutual avoidance and the resulting impossibility of negotiating rates of exchange, agreement presented no serious difficulties. The study is necessitated by current inundation of the formal court in Ghana with cases. The study uses the basic principles of the Protocols to both the African Charter and the CEDAW on women’s inheritance rights as the assessment criteria. Opening Paragraph Salmonella is a frequent agent in infancy. As a result of this battle, the dominance of the Sosso came to an end and the Mali Empire was established. Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias, "Intellectual Innovation and Reinvention of the The prompt diagnosis is important to prevent bacteraemia and eventual contamination of other newborns host in the nursery. In addition to locating previously unreported habitation sites in several sectors, analysis of surface pottery has permitted recognition of several temporally differentiated assemblages associated with different types of sites encountered during the survey. At the same time, a review of their accomplishments and shortcomings will help understand how many such initiatives failed to meet the expectations of their intended and potential users. (59.) Trade was facilitated by the abundance of iron, copper, … L’EMPIRE DU GHANA . Il se situe au sud du désert du Sahara et au nord-ouest du fleuve Niger, en Mauritanie et au Mali. And where this is true for the Almoravids in the Maghrib, the synthetic role of hypotheses finds even greater play in attempts to understand the history of the Almoravids to the south. The approaches of the study are that of an anthropological qualitative case study and a survey. As observed on the map above, Ghana is dissected by the largest artificial lake on the planet (Lake Volta), nearly 50% of Ghana lies less than 152 meters above sea level. 2 (1951). The study of this monument was recently resumed, motivated by the rediscovery of bones collected in the tomb in 1914 and stored at the Musée de l'Homme (Paris, France). L’empire fut dirigé par deux grandes dynasties : les Sonni et les Askia. JC, selon maintes sources écrites arabes et archéologiques, est considéré comme le 1 er État noir organisé et le 1 er empire de l’Ouest-africain. Journal of the American Medical Association. In the national and international discourses, it has become clear that the formal legal sector alone cannot handle the enormous volumes of cases. Toby Green and Benedetta Rossi (Leiden: Brill, Regardless, a range of Pre-Tichitt and Tichitt Tradition settlements are documented for the region, including evidence for millet agriculture equivalent in age to that of the Dhar Tichitt region. Bathily, Actes du Colloque, 113-117. Légende des Soninkés," in L'Islam et la politique musulmane française en A.O.F. Thousands of earthen mounds of varying sizes, presumed to be funerary monuments, occur throughout a 32,000 km2 area of western Senegal. All content in this area was uploaded by Victor Selorme Gedzi on Mar 10, 2016, International Journal of African Society Cultures and, Published by European Centre for Research, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), fluid over time. Il est réalisé à l’INRA en collaboration avec des partenaires professionnels du projet. Publication du Comité de l'Afrique française, 1912), 144-159); or C. Monteil, "La Légende For one explanation, see Devisse and Diallo. (54.) Christianity is the largest and the most popular religion in Ghana with … The Decline of Rural Industry Under Export Expansion: A Comparison among Burma, Philippines, and Thailand, 1870–1938 and Economic Forms in Pre-Colonial Ghana: Comments. This section deals with who the Asante really are. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. inherit from their father. Il se situait par ses limites Nord aux portes du Sahara et dans sa partie Sud au sortir de la forêt, entre la vallée supérieur du Niger jusqu’au Haut Sénégal à la frontière de l’Afrique blanche. Ce stage a pour R. Arnaud, "La Singulière Deep stratigraphic excavations were directed by MacDonald and Togola in 1993, 1995 and by MacDonald in 1996. Première série, Sujets divers d'érudition 13, Albert Bonnel de Mézières, "Recherches sur l'emplacement de Ghana et sur le The former usually implies a rural community with a relatively self- sufficient political system. 3. Étude d'un secteur d'habitat à Koumbi Saleh, Mauritanie; Campagnes II, III, IV, V; (1975-, Berthier, Recherches archéologiques sur la capitale de l'empire de Ghana, 30; and. All rights reserved. Levtzion, Ancient Ghana and Mali. a) 6 March 1957. The study used qualitative approach of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Sophie Berthier, Recherches archéologiques sur la capitale de l'empire de Ghana: Étude d'un secteur d'habitat à Koumbi Saleh, Mauritanie; Campagnes II, Subscriber: Universitaet Frankfurt a.M.; date: 01 April 2019 The first (Figure 5.1) is of the king of Asante, Asantehene Agyeman Prempe I, and the Queenmother, Asantehernaa Yaa Kyaa, seated with a small group of retainers. Ghana Quiz Questions with Answers. With the establishment of a relative chronology, the archaeology of this region now holds great potential for a better understanding of the broader cultural history of the Ghana Empire. b) English. Two sites in particular are closely examined: the settlement mound of Djiganyai with stratified intermittent occupation between c. 2000 and 800 cal. It is a study of conjugal and kin relationships among a set of urban, educated, Akan Senior Civil Servants in Accra. recherche sur les civilisations, Mémoire 25 (Paris: Éd. The political status of strangers in African societies, particularly in urban areas, has been insufficiently analysed. Prevalence of severe acute rotavirus gastroenteritis and intussusceptions in Ghanaian children under... Salmonella gastroenteritis in the newborn. Raymond Mauny, "The Question of Ghana"; and Mauny, "État actuel de la question (56.) The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries. The study is significant because, inter alia, it contributes towards the strengthening of procedures in chiefs’ courts, and in the reform of indigenous principles that are gender discriminatory. This work analyses core elements of variant dispute resolution procedures in chiefs’ courts, and substantive laws among the Anlo and the Asante of Ghana. (Mauritanie), Recherche sur les civilisations, Mémoire 69 (Paris: A.D.P.F, 1986); All Rights Reserved. (40.) Previous inventory work and extremely limited excavation have not adequately addressed basic questions such as the relation of tumulus sites to habitation sites, the relative chronology and cultural affinities of the tumulus phenomenon in the northern and southern parts of the tumulus zone, and the temporal and cultural relationship of the southern tumuli to the megalithic monuments whose distribution they partially overlap. L’empire du Ghana est le premier grand empire noir à avoir émergé dans le soudan occidental. Civilisations, 1984); Augustin F. C. Holl, Économie et société néolithique du Dhar Tichitt gold trade, see Nehemia Levtzion, Ancient Ghana and Mali (London: Methuen, 1973), 27-28. her clan and inherits in his or her clan. One category represents the exchanges as taking place between traders coming from what are assumed to be ‘more developed’ cultures (e.g., Carthage or medieval north Africa) and ‘less developed’ barely known cultures outside the sphere of direct influence of the greater sub-Saharan pre-colonial states. ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication. The oldest known account, that of Herodotus, is almost twenty-five hundred years old–although it probably refers to northwest rather than west Africa. BC is also noted. Ce groupe d'éleveurs nomades disposant de chevaux et d'un armement en fer s'impose aux indigènes les Kabolos, qui pratiquaient une agriculture non-irriguée sur brûlis. Some Soninke families belonging to the Kagoro clan who settled in the Mande area a long time ago, brought along their form of worship and became the earth custodians, dugu kolo tigi. On Nov. 28, 1952, the feces of the same baby were again examined in our laboratory, and numerous free living amebic forms were still present. The stool culture revealed Salmonella enteritidis in both the mother and the newborn. L’ Empire du Ghana né au 8 e siècle ap. The frequence of occurrence depends mainly on geographic localization, sanitary conditions, age of the child and his immunity stage. 1 (1993); See, for example, Bathily, "A Discussion of the Traditions of Wagadu," 19. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1971. The infant's mother was examined on Nov. 20, 1952, and was found to have free living forms of E. by gastroenteritis 24 hours before delivery, who developed bloody and mucous stools in the first hours of life. Observation on the social life of the Asante has demonstrated that an Asante may be someone capable of speaking the Twi language; whose parents, especially the mother, is an Asante and more significantly, owes allegiance to the golden stool. cf. Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) caused 13.1% (2,147/16,348) of hospitalizations among children under five years. The findings of the study are that in spite of governments’ legislative interventions, indigenous principles and socio-cultural practices of the research units continue to a large extent to determine intestate inheritance. How was Ghana formerly known? A prospective study was conducted, To the Editor: The life and deeds of Sundiata Keita are largely derived from oral traditions repeated by the griots, the oral storytellers whose tales, recounted over generations, were eventually put down in writing and then translated by European historians in the 19th century CE. The Mali Empire was founded by Sundiata Keita , known also as the ‘hungering lion’. It delimits itself to studying dispute resolution procedures and proceedings on female’s property inheritance among these two socio-cultural groups. Moreover. In the ‘modern’ society, leadership is assumed to be ‘rational’ and ‘secular’, oriented towards western rather than traditional values. to Ancient Ghana: Including a Review of Oral Accounts, Arabic Sources and Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias, "Intellectual Innovation and Reinvention of the This paper is mainly concerned with the first of these. New archaeological survey of this region, however, shows a history far more complex than had previously been thought, with settlement mounds and multiple phases of migration and eventual abandonment in a landscape of shifting power structures between the first millennium BC and second millennium AD. When did the Portuguese build Elmina Castle? Information about these cults is presented that has been gathered from Wa Kamissoko with the help of Youssouf Tata Cisse. Howe, this alone also may not be enough to make someone an, ‘Peasants in Nineteenth Century Asante’, indicated that ‘be(com)ing Asante’ was associated with. Hunwick, Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire, 13. (35.) Consequent hypotheses reveal the wide play afforded interpretive assumptions in various attempts to integrate the diverse, and often contradictory, data. Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science and Technology, Matriliny and the New Intestate Succession Law of Ghana, Be(com)ing Asante, be(com)ing Akan: thoughts on gender, identity and the colonial encounter, Forests of Gold: Essays on the Akan and the Kingdom of Asante, Diplomacy and Diplomats in Nineteenth Century Asante, Forests of gold : essays on the Akan and the Kingdom of Assante, Principles and practices of dispute resolution in Ghana : Ewe and Akan procedures on females' inheritance and property rights, Malawi population and housing census: report of final census results, "Field of Power: A Religio-Cultural Analysis of Trokosi in Ghana". The issues tentatively explored in this chapter1 — gender, identity and the colonial encounter in Asante — can be framed by two extraordinary, though very different, photographs, taken approximately forty years apart. It probably constituted an important basis for political centralization. Archaeological Evidence," Bulletin IFAN 37 (1975): 15. Telling the Almoravid story asks much of the imagination, as a stark paucity of documentary evidence continues to shadow much of this dynasty's character, parameters, and early development. Diallo, "Le seuil du Wagadu," in Vallées du Niger (Paris: Editions de la Réunion des (50.) This analysis leads to examination of marital continuity and change among urban migrants from a region characterized by matrilineal descent and inheritance. (33.) With over 85 locations, you can study what you want where you want. In the newborn, the infection starts usually after the first week of life. The Malian Lakes Region of West Africa has long been overlooked in favour of better-known basins of the Niger River. 8: Cambridge University Press 1974. At the time of his death, Nehemia Levtzion had initiated a project to revise Ancient Ghana and Mali in the light of new scholarship since its original publication in 1973. ISSN 2056-5771(Print), ISSN 2056-578X(Online), Etymological attempts to explain who the Asante really are could not fully explain, Etymology, Asante, Asanteness, Akan, Twi language, Jural corporateness, The clans or lineal groups are exogamous (i.e., people marry from outside it.). Berthier, Recherches archéologiques sur la capitale de l'empire de Ghana, 30; and For one explanation, see Devisse and Diallo, "Le seuil du Wagadu," 113-114. Within the context of a growing trans-Saharan trade, Arabic sources begin to mention "Ghāna," the name of a ruler as well as of the city or country he ruled, in the 9th century. Bargaining was carried out through gradual adjustment of quantities, arrived at by alternate moves by the two parties. Stools were tested by enzyme immunoassay, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing. Finally, a revised hypothesis for the role of incoming Berber populations in the denouement of the Tichitt Tradition is considered, with cultural syncretism rather than replacement advocated. La capitale est Koumbi Saleh. Kanem-Bornu Empire VINCENT HIRIBARREN King’s College London, UK Renowned as one of the most powerful empires of Western Africa with Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, Kanem-Bornu (Kanem-Borno) is often cited as an archetypal example of an ancient African pre-colonial kingdom. François-Xavier Fauvelle, African Archaeology and the "Chalk Line Effect": A Consideration of Māli City and Siğilmasa. The study is important because it contributed to local and international theories of sustaining NGOs. 3 (1954): 206-207. Of these, 49% (528/1077) were rotavirus positive. However, interpretation of the tomb, the largest structure from the necropolis, is still an issue as its dating itself has never been firmly established. Journal of African Archaeology Monograph Series, vol. View full-text Discover the world's research Arhin, K. (1983) ‘Peasants in the Nineteenth Century Asante’. You can request the full-text of this article directly from the authors on ResearchGate. Musées Nationaux, 1993), 103. It has been regarded as a crucial turning point, as the battle of Hastings was for England, not only for the existence of Ghana, but also for the destiny of the entire area, opening the gates to a triumphant Islam in sub-Saharan Africa. (37.) The other category refers to contacts between those barely known cultures of the hinterland and black Africans (e.g., Wangara, ‘Accanists’) playing the role of middlemen between the gold producers and the Arabs and Moors or Europeans. Therefore, it is important not to, (Plural, Asantefo) may be someone capable of, corporateness in any way, may be tantamount to tearing up the charter of Asante society, group and seeing others outside that group as strangers or outsiders was a legacy of, and, merged intricately, where everyone received his or her due. The intention is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the dispute resolution institutions (including substantive laws), which infringe on women’s inheritance and property rights in spite of legislative interventions to remedy the situation. key informant on the traditions and values of the Asante. Reviled by her eventual captors as ‘influential and unscrupulous’, ‘wicked but astute’, Yaa Kyaa opposed any accommodation to British interests in the years preceding her arrest. The goal is to find out the causes, nature and outcome of the conflict and to contribute to resolution and prevention of similar conflicts in the future. Several such traditions were recorded an… Jean-Louis Triaud (Paris: Ed. I. The Ghana Empire flourished in West Africa from at least the 6th to 13th century CE. The peak ages of six to twelve months for acute gastroenteritis and five to eight months for intussusception overlapped. 7. The work was based on case reviews and case studies of some NGOs, which worked in the, Vaccination is the most effective preventive strategy against rotavirus disease. ² In such a society, the traditional leaders are usually associated with a particular ethnic group and territory; and their authority may be derived from sacred sources, such as tradition itself, ties to land, or genealogical links to ancestors. Asante of Ghana, which was published in 2009 as P, The second theory, which the Curator has come out with and looks somewhat plausible, is that, Okomfo Anokye managed to convince the other chiefs to. Levtzion, Ancient Ghana and Mali. 1. Première série, Sujets divers d'érudition 13, no. Though each of the two in turn would have to leave his goods unguarded in a place accessible to the other, neither would take advantage of this for dishonest purposes. This is a paperback version of Marriage among a Matrilineal Elite: a Family Study of Ghanaian Senior Civil Servants, Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology No. Institute 24, no. Les enjeux de mémoire, ed. Sources et origines 1 Les sources de l’histoire cf. When did Ghana become independent? Individuals receive and use it but cannot dispose of it. It is suggested that the origins of Tichitt agriculture must now be sought in the third millennium BC. The major religions in Ghana include; Religious beliefs Christianity. Grâce à l’introduction du chameau dans le Sahara , à sa disponibilité et à son utilisation croissantes à … PRINTED FROM the OXFORD RESEARCH ENCYCLOPEDIA, AFRICAN HISTORY (oxfordre.com/africanhistory). Not connected geographically to the modern state of Ghana, the Ghana Empire was located in the western Sudan savannah region (modern southern Mauritania and Mali) sandwiched between the Sahara desert to the north and the rainforests to the south. Le Ghana était un royaume d’Afrique qui a existé du 6ème au 13ème siècle de notre ère. Data on confirmed cases of intussusception were collected retrospectively. G1, G2 and mixed G/P genotypes were common in the isolated rotaviruses. Using religious models of sustainability and other approaches, the study suggested a combination of strategies for overcoming those barriers for their future existence. from January 2008 to December 2009 in children younger than five years hospitalized for longer than 24 hours with acute gastroenteritis. Ca da Mosto The Empire of Ghana is one of the earliest known political formations in West Africa. The language spoken by the Asante is Twi. date: 10 April 2019 This article presents the final research results of one of these teams. This, in turn, paved the way for a growing number of initiatives from the 1960s onwards, particularly in manuscript-rich areas in Mali, Mauritania, and northern Nigeria. The study sought to identify barriers to sustainability as experienced by NGOs, including the faith-based ones. AMS radiocarbon dating of the bone and tooth apatite fraction of three skulls demonstrates that the three individuals occupying the main vault of the tomb died between the end of the 11th century and the 12th century, precisely at the time of expansion of the Muslim Almoravid movement south of Sahara. There have been several accounts of the practice known as ‘silent trade’ in west Africa during the last thousand years. ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication. University Press USA, 2019. Generally, bacillary dysentery is believed to have a sudden, acute onset, while amebic dysentery is believed to have a long incubation period of months or years. In other words, succession or inheritance, a chief tries to find out. 30, Issue. Regional differences in prevalent rotavirus genotypes may affect vaccine efficacy. Abdallah O. Babacar, Jean Polet, and Denise Robert-Chaleix, Tegdaoust, Éditions Bibliography: leaves 375-389. (49.) He proposed that the question of origins and early development of Sudanic polities such as Ghana should be thoroughly reconsidered with regard to findings from research in archaeology and related disciplines. Il s’étend entre les fleuves Niger et Sénégal. Selon les chroniques arabes médiévales, l'empire du Ghana aurait été fondé par les Soninkés (ou Sarakholés), un groupe de Mandingues. Recherche sur les The photograph in question, which has been republished numerous times, signifies in very dramatic, gendered ways the British colonial ‘capture’ of Asante.2. (71.) The primary data are obtained from fieldwork in Anloga and Kumasi, both in the Volta and the Ashanti regions of Ghana. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Une Concession Medievale a Tegdaoust: Implantation, Evolution D'une Unite D'habitation, Premier aperçu sur les cultes des Soninké émigrés au Mande, Not Quite Venus from the Waves: The Almoravid Conquest of Ghana in the Modern Historiography of Western Africa, Recherches Archeologiques sur al Capitale de l'Empire de Ghana: Etude d'Un Secteur d'Habitat a Koumbi Saleh, Mauritanie. All Rights Reserved. The picture was taken in Elmina shortly after their arrest in Kumasi by British forces early in 1896. This centralized political power controlled gold trade from the south and salt from the north. Following the fall of the Empire of Ghana, the Soninke moved southwards along the Niger River. (49.) Since then the story of Hanno has been used for various purposes by western Africanists, for instance, to explain the diffusion of iron technology into sub-Saharan Africa. My thesis is that negative social image of women is the cause of women’s social and economic subordination to men in kinship structures in Ghana. Ghana 1 er. Join ResearchGate to find the people and research you need to help your work. Amebic dysentery appeared in this, Salmonella infection is a common worldwide agent of acute gastroenteritis. Burkhalter, "Listening for Silences in Almoravid History. A Discussion of the Traditions of Wagadu with Some Reference to Ancient Ghana: Including a Review of Oral Accounts, Arabic Sources and Archaeological Evidence. Dhar Nema, easternmost of the Tichitt escarpment chain, was neglected by archaeologists throughout the twentieth century. A la suite du Ghana puis du Mali, émerge l’empire Songhaï à l’Est de la boucle du Niger. Sylvie Amblard-Pison, Tichitt-Walata (R.I. Mauritanie): Civilisation et industrie km. Etymological attempts to explain who the Asante really are could not fully explain the concept. Vita. L’EMPIRE DU GHANA. It is in this context that a first trial geophysical exploration that integrated fluxgate gradiometry and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys was undertaken at sites near the town of Mbacké. The Bambuk region has usually been assumed to have fed Ghāna's trans-Saharan This may lead to a more credible and acceptable dispute settlement in chiefs’ courts. c) 1482. Even though chiefs’ courts in Ghana help to some extent in decongesting cases in the formal courts, it is alleged that these indigenous institutions are gender biased, for example in their panel representation of legal decision-makers, and that not only procedures but also their court norms or principles are gender discriminatory. Although the peak age of rotavirus gastroenteritis and intussusceptions overlapped, there was no seasonal correlation between them. Finally, the findings, among other things, contribute to anthropological discourses on indigenous law and dispute resolution generally, and particularly in Ghana. Selon les traditions orales transmises par les griots ouest-africains, le royaume aurait été fondé au IIIe siècle par des migrantsvenus de l'Est, sous l'autorité de Dinga Cissé (ou Igo Khassé Dingka). (34.) Access to free and clean titleship of land which fosters a smooth development process remains a critical factor in making a significant impact on urban housing delivery. All rights reserved. L’or étant la principale ressource du pays, le souverain se faisait appeler par son peuple Kaya Magan, le « seigneur de l’or ». The high prevalence of mixed G/P genotypes in Ghanaian children may affect the effectiveness of vaccination. private individuals on acquired lands for housing delivery at the construction stage. For example, Gestrich and MacDonald, "On the Margins of Ghana and Kawkaw." Only by understanding these evolving trends and realities, and engaging information professionals with the appropriate knowledge and skills, will new initiatives to preserve and document West African manuscripts succeed in providing access to both intellectual content and material culture, rather than simply generating new digital dust.