| | List of Figures | 9 |
| | List of Tables | 11 |
| | About the Editor | 13 |
| | List of Contributors | 15 |
| | Preface | 17 |
| | Acknowledgments | 21 |
| | Introduction | 23 |
| | African Environments | |
| | | Geography and Geology / Celia Nyamweru | 29 |
| | | Pleistocene and Holocene Climates and Vegetation Zones / A. T. Grove | 35 |
| | | Modern Climates and Vegetation Zones / A. T. Grove | 39 |
| | | Quaternary Environment / Louis Scott | 42 |
| | | Disease as a Factor in African History / Renee L. Pennington | 46 |
| | Histories of Research | |
| | | Archaeology in Africa: Its Influence / Brian Fagan | 51 |
| | | Historiography in Africa / John Thornton | 54 |
| | | Pan Africanism, Diffusionism, and the Afrocentric Idea / Augustin F. C. Holl | 58 |
| | | Western Africa: History of Archaeology / Kevin MacDonald | 65 |
| | | Horn of Africa: History of Archaeology / Steven A. Brandt | 69 |
| | | Southern and Eastern Africa: History of Archaeology / R. R. Inskeep | 75 |
| | | Search for Human Origins in Africa: A Historical Note / Joseph O. Vogel | 84 |
| | | Language Studies in Africa / Roger Blench | 90 |
| | Technology | |
| | | Stoneworking Technology / Boyce Driskell, Jeffrey C. Motz | 103 |
| | | Stoneworking Technology: Its Evolution / Lawrence S. Barham | 109 |
| | | Pottery Manufacture / Richard A. Krause | 115 |
| | | Copper Metallurgy / Michael S. Bisson | 125 |
| | | Ironworking Technology / Duncan Miller | 132 |
| | | Ironworking in its Cultural Context / Philip de Barros | 135 |
| | | Architecture and Settlement Patterns / Thomas N. Huffman | 149 |
| | People and Culture | |
| | | African Languages: A Historical Survey / Christopher Ehret | 159 |
| | | Languages of Eastern and Southern Africa in Historical Perspective / Derek Nurse | 166 |
| | | Western African Languages in Historical Perspective / Kay Williamson | 171 |
| | | African Foragers / Mathias G. Guenther | 179 |
| | | Eastern African Foragers / I. Karega-Munene | 184 |
| | | Southern African Foragers / Laurence Bartram, Jr. | 188 |
| | | Forager Hunting Tools and Methods / C. Britt Bousman | 194 |
| | | Northeastern African Pastoralists / Barbara J. Michael | 199 |
| | | Eastern African Pastoralists / John R. F. Bower | 205 |
| | | Southern African Pastoralists / Andrew B. Smith | 210 |
| | | Farming Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa / N. Thomas Hakansson | 215 |
| | | Farming Methods / Jack R. Harlan | 222 |
| | | Food Crops / Jack R. Harlan | 225 |
| | | Eastern African Terraced-Irrigation Systems / Robert Soper | 227 |
| | | Stone-Walled Agricultural Communities of South Africa and Botswana / T. M. O'C. Maggs | 231 |
| | | Northern African Ethnoarchaeology / Thomas E. Levy | 237 |
| | | Western African Ethnoarchaeology / Scott MacEachern | 240 |
| | Prehistory of Africa | |
| | | Hominid Origins / Fred Smith | 247 |
| | | Modern Human Origins / Fred Smith | 257 |
| | | Human Populations: Their Archaeometry / Andrew Sillen | 266 |
| | | Early African Hominids: Behavior and Environments / Sally McBrearty | 269 |
| | | Primate Behavior as a Precursor of Human Behavior / James D. Paterson | 275 |
| | | Human Behavior: Its Evolution / Sue Taylor Parker | 281 |
| | | Early Human Diets / Henry T. Bunn | 289 |
| | | Early Hominid Foraging Strategies / Robert J. Blumenschine | 293 |
| | | Earliest African Cultures / Joseph O. Vogel | 297 |
| | | Western Africa: The Prehistoric Sequence / Augustin F. C. Holl | 305 |
| | | Central African Transitional Cultures / Els Cornelissen | 312 |
| | | African Cultures in Transition and Adaptation / Hilary John Deacon | 320 |
| | | Northern African Advanced Foragers / David Lubell, Peter J. Sheppard | 325 |
| | | Western African and Southern Saharan Advanced Foragers / Kevin MacDonald | 330 |
| | | Eastern African Advanced Foragers / Lawrence H. Robbins | 335 |
| | | Southern African Advanced Foragers / Peter J. Mitchell | 341 |
| | | Saharan Rock Art / Alfred Muzzolini | 347 |
| | | Western African Rock Art / Eric Huysecom, Severine Marchi | 352 |
| | | Ethiopia and the Horn: Rock Art / Agazi Negash | 357 |
| | | Eastern African Rock Art / Imogene L. Lim | 362 |
| | | Central African Rock Art / Thomas A. Dowson | 368 |
| | | Southern African Rock Art / Thomas A. Dowson | 373 |
| | | African Neolithic / Stanley H. Ambrose | 381 |
| | | Nile Valley: Pre-Agricultural Cultures / Wilma Wetterstrom | 386 |
| | | Saharan Neolithic / Barbara Barich | 389 |
| | | Late Stone Age and Neolithic Cultures of West Africa and the Sahara / Kevin MacDonald | 394 |
| | | Foragers and Farmers: Their Interaction / Francis Musonda | 398 |
| | | Egypt: Beginnings of Agriculture / Fekri A. Hassan | 405 |
| | | Agricultural Beginnings in Sub-Saharan Africa / Roderick J. McIntosh | 409 |
| | | Animal Domestication in Africa / Juliet Clutton-Brock | 418 |
| | | Western African Iron Age / Scott MacEachern | 425 |
| | | Equatorial African Iron Age / Manfred K. H. Eggert | 429 |
| | | Bantu Expansion / Joseph O. Vogel | 435 |
| | | Eastern and South-Central African Iron Age / Joseph O. Vogel | 439 |
| | | Southern African Iron Age / Gavin Whitelaw | 444 |
| | | Development of States in Sub-Saharan Africa / Graham Connah | 457 |
| | | Urbanism in Sub-Saharan Africa / Susan Keech McIntosh | 461 |
| | | Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa: Their Interaction / Bruce Williams | 465 |
| | | Egypt: Emergence of State Society / Fekri A. Hassan | 472 |
| | | Near East and Eastern Africa: Their Interaction / Rodolfo Fattovich | 479 |
| | | Northeastern African States / Rodolfo Fattovich | 484 |
| | | Western African States / Patricia A. Vaum | 489 |
| | | Savanna States / Pierre de Maret | 496 |
| | | Lacustrine States / Andrew Reid | 501 |
| | | Swahili and the Coastal City-States / Chapurukha M. Kusimba | 507 |
| | | Zambezian States / Thomas N. Huffman | 513 |
| | | Precolonial Towns of Zambezia / Innocent Pikirayi | 520 |
| | | Western African and Western Saharan Trade / Kenneth G. Kelly | 529 |
| | | Slave Trade in Africa / Kenneth G. Kelly | 532 |
| | | Salt Production and the Salt Trade / John Alexander | 535 |
| | | Southeastern African Gold Mining and Trade / Lorraine Swan | 539 |
| | | Indian Ocean Trade / Gilbert Pwiti | 540 |
| | | Western African Historical Archaeology / Christopher DeCorse | 545 |
| | | Eastern African Historical Archaeology / Mark Horton | 549 |
| | | Central and Southern African Historical Archaeology / Martin Hall | 554 |
| | | Maritime Archaeology / Bruno E. J. S. Werz | 558 |
