Letter: Ancient Africa is still a missing continent
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: David Keys (Book Review; 'The first green shoot in a cultural drought', 5 July) is indeed correct in painting a sorry picture of the study and publication of Black African archaeology in this country.
While the university presses have often been eager to publish syntheses that cover the entire continent, there is an extraordinary lack of detailed publication of specific areas or cultures. Where can I find a modern study, in print, in English, devoted to ancient Ghana or Great Zimbabwe, to cite two examples of around 24 unpublished African societies?
Where the academic presses lead, the coffee-table market follows. There are rows of splendidly illustrated books on ancient Etruscans, or Greeks or Egyptians - civilisations that occupied a few hundred square miles, and the odd millennia. But for Africa, millions of years and an entire continent are all too often crammed into a meagre volume at the end of the series.
There is much admirable work undertaken in African universities and institutes, by a new generation of local scholars. As the study of the ancient Africa has virtually ceased in British universities, let us hope that the academic presses will accept this African research for publication, even though it may challenge the conclusions of European specialists.
Yours faithfully,
MARK HORTON
Department of Classics
and Archaeology
University of Bristol
Bristol
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments