Bantu Essay
Bantu
Migration of the Bantu people throughout Africa
The Bantu migrations had a vast influence on the development of the African Continent. They inhabited regions embracing the eastern part of modern Nigeria and the southern part of Cameroon. They settled mostly along the bank of the rivers. They specialized in agriculture, animal domestication, iron metallurgy and cultural development throughout South Africa.
The Bantu people mainly cultivated yams and oil palms, but they wore not limited to only those two plants, they also adopted crops that arrived to them from the eastern and central Sudan, those other crops were mainly millet and sorghum. Trading was another way of life for them, they regularly exchanged goods with hunting and gathering peoples from nearby areas, they provided them with pottery and/or stone axes in exchange for meat, honey and many other forest products. The Bantu people migrated slowly south into the west African forest, and taking advantage of the canoe traveling network that allowed them quick travel up and down the rivers. This form of travel allowed them to leapfrog and establish new communities and settlements at inviting spots on riverbanks. The advantage of their agricultural surpluses enabled the Bantu population to grow more rapidly than the populations of hunting and gathering, and fishing peoples whom they encountered as they moved south and east on to new regions.
The pace of the Bantu migration increased after about 1000 B.C.E. at witch time they began to produce iron tools and weapons. Iron tools allowed Bantu cultivation to clear land and expand their agricultural zone and become more efficient than before. At the same time, iron weapons strengthened the hand of Bantu groups against adversaries and competitors for land or other resources. This technology supported rapid population growth.
The Bantu people were influential in the development of the African continent, their
Migration of the Bantu people throughout Africa
The Bantu migrations had a vast influence on the development of the African Continent. They inhabited regions embracing the eastern part of modern Nigeria and the southern part of Cameroon. They settled mostly along the bank of the rivers. They specialized in agriculture, animal domestication, iron metallurgy and cultural development throughout South Africa.
The Bantu people mainly cultivated yams and oil palms, but they wore not limited to only those two plants, they also adopted crops that arrived to them from the eastern and central Sudan, those other crops were mainly millet and sorghum. Trading was another way of life for them, they regularly exchanged goods with hunting and gathering peoples from nearby areas, they provided them with pottery and/or stone axes in exchange for meat, honey and many other forest products. The Bantu people migrated slowly south into the west African forest, and taking advantage of the canoe traveling network that allowed them quick travel up and down the rivers. This form of travel allowed them to leapfrog and establish new communities and settlements at inviting spots on riverbanks. The advantage of their agricultural surpluses enabled the Bantu population to grow more rapidly than the populations of hunting and gathering, and fishing peoples whom they encountered as they moved south and east on to new regions.
The pace of the Bantu migration increased after about 1000 B.C.E. at witch time they began to produce iron tools and weapons. Iron tools allowed Bantu cultivation to clear land and expand their agricultural zone and become more efficient than before. At the same time, iron weapons strengthened the hand of Bantu groups against adversaries and competitors for land or other resources. This technology supported rapid population growth.
The Bantu people were influential in the development of the African continent, their