Pre-Colonial Africa Research Paper

HIST280: Pre-Colonial Africa
September 23, 2013

The cultivation of crops became significant to Ancient African societies as they developed. In the late Stone Age, changes in old life were made possible by farming. Without agriculture, civilization would not exist. Societies are not able to collect enough resources to sustain a large population. Resources run out quickly. Therefore that society will not stay in one place. They will be forced to find new resources. Communities will not be able to grow or expand. With the development of farming, life in the community was changed. The gathering of wild grains suggests the first movement towards crop cultivation. The process with domesticating animals began at this time. Farming developed.
With this development, people began to live in larger settlements. A new way of living began. Communities no longer needed to live a nomadic lifestyle. In time, the settlements became more permanent. Having crops grow near the settlements allowed the diets of villagers in ancient Africa to become more regular and abundant. The result of living in a settled community also allowed women to bare children frequently. An increased population meant larger families; larger families meant more agricultural labor. More agricultural labor meant a larger surplus of food. The longer people settled, the more permanent their houses became. Now the people were not just hunters and gatherers but, famers, hunters, and gatherers. Settling and development of agriculture required farmers to create more advanced tools. Knowledge deepens. Further development brought social and technical changes.
People had to plan for the future in order for production to continue into the next week, month, or year. As a group they had to decide which crops to grow, how much, where to grow them, and when to harvest them. This required a social network, and cooperation between people within the community. People went from surviving day to day, to having a stable diet, to having a surplus of food for storage. With a surplus of food the community could support people not directly involved in its consumption. The people that they could support were craftsmen, ministers of religion, and the first rulers of society. This started the early teachings of trades, and the first form of government. The development of farming was advantageous and had clear potential for further
change. Crop cultivation is now one of many economic options. Many societies continually grow. Around 9000 BC the Nilo-Saharans began collecting grains. Which was an adopted technique learned from their northern neighbors. They expand to tropical grasses and pearl millet located around their region. A century later the Nilo-Saharans invented pottery.
The pottery was used to make porridge from the grains. The technique then spread towards Egypt in the north, across the Sahara in the west. Over the course of 3000 years the Nilo-Saharans cultivated gourds, watermelons, cotton, and domesticated wild cattle. The cultivation of crops enabled society to thrive. This is significant because people prosper. Surrounding societies learn from their neighbors. The Nilo-Saharans practices spread westward and continued, throughout Africa. By 1350 BC, South of the Ethiopian highlands of lake Turkana, goats, sheep, and cattle were being herded, by the southern Cushites. They met the South-Eastern Nilo-Saharans who were cultivated Sorghem, millet, and beans. Knowledge was shared between one another, and the Cushites adopted their cultivating practices. The Nilo-Saharans and the Cushites are just two societies who were dramatically changed by their adoption of cultivating crops. Communities grew into local regional states. Everyone is cultivating now and societies are growing rapidly. Two regional states grew into Kingdoms. There was the Upper King of Egypt and the Lower Kingdom of Egypt. The lower kingdom of Egypt became the first ‘Dynasty’ of Ancient Egypt. Civilization of Ancient Egypt would last for 3000
years.
Successions of these events were made possible by the cultivation of crops. The ‘Dynasty’ would not have come about without the Kingdom. The Kingdom would not exist without the Regional States. The Regional States would not develop without the prosperity of local communities. Communities would not prosper without the knowledge and adoption of practice, shared from neighbors. Knowledge would not be shared if social change were never developed. Surplus of food, a stable diet, harvest, and the ever-larger growing family are all the result of crop cultivation. Ancient African societies depended on crop cultivation for the foundation of their civilization.
Shillington, Kevin. "Later Prehistory: Farming and Pastoralism in Tropical Africa and Ancient Egypt." History of Africa. New York: St. Martin's, 1989. 13-26. Print