Essouk - Tadmekka

An Early Islamic Trans-Saharan Market Town

Sam Nixon (Herausgeber)

Buch | Hardcover

448 Seiten

2017
Brill (Verlag)
978-90-04-34614-7 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

In Essouk-Tadmekka Sam Nixon and a team of scholars present the first archaeological exploration of the southern Saharan town of Essouk-Tadmekka, in early Islamic times an important market centre on the trans-Saharan camel-caravan routes linking the Mediterranean and West Africa.

Essouk-Tadmekka presents the first archaeological exploration of one of the most important market towns on the trans-Saharan camel-caravan routes in the early Islamic period, supplying West African gold, slaves, and ivory to the Mediterranean world. Excavation of Essouk-Tadmekka’s ruins – in Saharan West Africa – has enabled Sam Nixon and a team of scholars to better understand this town described by early Arabic geographers, therein providing insights into such wider questions as the origins of trans-Saharan trade, the commerce in gold, and the arrival of Islamic culture in West Africa. This window into the earliest period of trans-Saharan exchange includes illustration of some of the best-preserved ruins along the camel-caravan routes, the earliest-known Arabic writing in West Africa, and rare gold-working remains.

Contributors are: Stephanie Black, Sophie Desrosiers, Laure Dussubieux, Thomas Fenn, Dorian Fuller, James Lankton, Kevin MacDonald, Paulo de Moraes Farias, Mary-Anne Murray, Sam Nixon, Thilo Rehren, Peter Robertshaw, Jane Sidell, and Benoit Suzanne.

Sam Nixon (Ph.D. 2008, UCL) is a Senior Research Associate at the University of East Anglia. He has produced various publications on African archaeology and history and is currently writing a monograph on early trans-Saharan trade with Thames & Hudson, entitled The Gold Route.

Preface
Acknowledgements

Part 1: Introduction
1 Overview
Sam Nixon

2 An Unexplored Market Town of the Early Trans-Saharan Trade
Sam Nixon

3 The Essouk-Tadmekka Locality: Environment and Human Geography
Sam Nixon

Part 2: Site Overview and Surface Remains
4 The Essouk-Tadmekka Ruins and Their Prospection
Sam Nixon

5 Arabic and Tifinagh Inscriptions
Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias

Part 3: Excavations and Architecture
6 Excavation Programme and Methods
Sam Nixon

7 Excavations in the Mosque Quarter (Unit Ek-A)
Sam Nixon

8 Excavations Near the Eastern Cliffs (Unit Ek-B)
Sam Nixon

9 Excavations on the Island (Unit Ek-C)
Sam Nixon

10 Chronology
Sam Nixon

11 Architecture
Sam Nixon and Benoit Suzanne

Part 4: Finds
12 Pottery
Sam Nixon and Kevin MacDonald

13 Glass Vessels
Sam Nixon, James Lankton and Laure Dussubieux

14 Beads
James Lankton, Sam Nixon, Peter Robertshaw, and Laure Dussubieux

15 Gold Processing Remains
Sam Nixon and Thilo Rehren

16 Crucible-Steel Making and Other Metalworking Remains
Thilo Rehren and Sam Nixon

17 Coins and Other Metal Artefacts
Sam Nixon

18 Miscellaneous Material Culture
Sam Nixon

19 Eggshell
Jane Sidell

20 Faunal Remains
Kevin MacDonald

21 Plant Remains
Dorian Fuller, Mary-Anne Murray and Sam Nixon

Part 5: Synthesis and Discussion
22 Excavated Sequence
Sam Nixon

23 A New Cultural History of Essouk-Tadmekka
Sam Nixon

24 Debating trans-Saharan Commerce and Culture
Sam Nixon

Conclusion

Appendices
A Early Arabic Documentary Records of Tadmekka
Sam Nixon

B Plans of Essouk-Tadmekka Town Ruins and Cemeteries
Benoit Suzanne

C Essouk Arabic Non-Funerary Inscriptions, New (Previously Unpublished) Series
Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias

D Context Descriptions for Excavation Units
Sam Nixon

E Pottery Analysis Tables And Additional Illustrative Materials
Sam Nixon and Kevin MacDonald

F Glass Vessels Tables
Sam Nixon and James Lankton

G Glass Bead Tables
Sam Nixon and James Lankton

H Vessel and Bead Glass Chemical Compositional Analysis
James Lankton, Peter Robertshaw, Laure Dussubieux, and Sam Nixon

I Archaeometallurgical Waste
Thilo Rehren

J Digital X-ray Imaging and Conservation Treatment of Silver Coins and Related Finds
Stephanie Black

K Preliminary Chemical and Technical Analyses of Essouk Metal Artefacts
Tom Fenn, Thilo Rehren and Laure Dussubieux

L Note sur le damas et sur le «voile» de soie d’Essouk-Tadmekka
Sophie Desrosiers

M Faunal Remains Tables
Kevin MacDonald

N Species Counts of Plant Remains
Dorian Fuller, Mary-Anne Murray and Sam Nixon
Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	14.02.2018
Reihe/Serie	Journal of African Archaeology Monograph Series ; 12
Verlagsort	Leiden
Sprache	englisch
Gewicht	1815 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Archäologie
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte
ISBN-10	90-04-34614-7 / 9004346147
ISBN-13	978-90-04-34614-7 / 9789004346147
Zustand	Neuware