2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Anthropological Research on the Formation Process of Historical Civilization of West Africa
| Project/Area Number |
18401041
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 海外学術 |
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| Research Field |
Cultural anthropology/Folklore
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| Research Institution | Nanzan University |
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Principal Investigator |
SAKAI Shinzo Nanzan University, Faculty of Humanities, Professor (00140012)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TAKEZAWA Shoichiro National Museum of Ethnology, Department of Regional Studies, Professor (10183063)
NAKAYA Hideo Kagoshima University, Faculty of Science, Professor (20180424)
OTOSHI Tetsuya Tokyo Unversity, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Associate Professor (10261687)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2006 – 2007
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| Keywords | West Africa / Civilization / City / Commerce / Islam |
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| Research Abstract |
This Project was organized for clarification of the formation process of historical civilization in West Africa, especially in eastern part of the Boucle du Historical researches on formation of civilization and states in West Africa were until now largely centered on western part of the region, as Timbuktu or as Kumbi Saleh. On the other hand research in the eastern part of the region was very limited. The aim of our project is to complement of this lack of study. We focused our research on the ancient city of Gao and its surrounding region.
We made a multi-disciplinary team of Japanese anthropologists, historian and paleontologist, and Malian archeologists. TAKEZAWA and NAKAYA executed archeological excavation of the site called Mosque of Kanku Musa in Gao city in collaboration with Malian archeologists. They found a large stone construction with many glass beads and fragments of-imported glass or ceramic pots. It suggests that the site was a part of Royal Palace, which must be much older than the time of King Kanku Musa (14th century). SAKAI and OTOSHI executed historical research on the tomb stones with arabic inscriptions in Gao-Sane, which formed very possibly a twin city with ancient Gao, and also in its surrounding region.
Archeological excavation of Royal Palace of Gao is not yet completed. We must wait the termination of the excavation to make conclusion of our project concerning the formation process of historical civilization in West Africa.
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Research Products
(2 results)
