The Archaeology of West Africa, ca. 800 BCE to 1500 CE

Recent archaeological research has transformed our understandings of events and processes in West Africa between the beginning of iron‐use ca. 800 BCE and the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century CE, forcing reinterpretations of older narratives that were derived from unbalanced archaeological coverage and over‐privileging of the limited textual record. During this period, economic experimentation and transformation were common in West Africa, as farming economies ultimately expanded over the entire region, while specialization and artistic traditions developed within societies for the production of iron, pottery, textiles, terracotta figurines, glass and copper‐based objects. Some societies actively participated in interregional economies and cultivated the growth of trans‐Saharan trade routes, resulting in the development of large‐scale medieval states and empires (e.g. Ghana and Mali) and initial conversions to Islam in northern locations, while elsewhere societies were more focused on local sources of power and authority. Sociopolitical systems varied significantly throughout the region and included mobile foraging groups, diverse village communities, cities with large palaces, cities without hierarchical leadership and territorial states with no urban centres. This article provides an overview of this exciting era in the African past, calling attention to both regional and local historical trajectories.