The archaeological site of Jenne-jeno (or Djenné-djenno) is a mound located in the Niger Inland Delta, a region of West Africa just south of the Sahara and part of modern-day Mali, characterized by lakes and floodplains. It was continuously inhabited between 250 BCE and 1400 CE. ’Jenne-jeno II’ refers to the period from 50 to 400 CE. During this time, the site’s inhabitants fished, gathered wild plants, hunted, and cultivated rice (as well as millet and sorghum). They also made and used pottery, and smelted, smithed and used iron, though they probably imported the raw material for the latter from far afield.
[1]
Population and political organization
It appears that the heterarchical organization that characterized Jenne-jeno in later times developed during this period.
[2]
As for population, it is unclear how many people were living at Jenne-jeno or at the surrounding sites at this time, but a relatively rapid demographic increase is also likely.
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 174-75) Roderick McIntosh. 2006. Ancient Middle Niger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2]: (McIntosh 2006, xv) Roderick McIntosh. 2006. Ancient Middle Niger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
| unknown [---] |
| Sahel Tell Culture |
| Jenne-jeno III |
| [1,500,000 to 2,500,000] km2 |
| continuation |
| Preceding: Jenne-jeno I (ml_jenne_jeno_1) [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Jenne-jeno III (ml_jenne_jeno_3) [continuity] |
| quasi-polity |
| Year Range | Jenne-jeno II (ml_jenne_jeno_2) was in: |
|---|---|
| (50 CE 399 CE) | Niger Inland Delta |
Djoboro [1] , Do-Dojobor and Zoboro. [2] Jenne-jeno ("Old Jenne"; Djenne-jeno) [3]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 1)
[2]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 9)
Djoboro [1] , Do-Dojobor and Zoboro. [2] Jenne-jeno ("Old Jenne"; Djenne-jeno) [3]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 1)
[2]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 9)
Djoboro [1] , Do-Dojobor and Zoboro. [2] Jenne-jeno ("Old Jenne"; Djenne-jeno) [3]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 1)
[2]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 9)
Djoboro [1] , Do-Dojobor and Zoboro. [2] Jenne-jeno ("Old Jenne"; Djenne-jeno) [3]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 1)
[2]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 9)
Djoboro [1] , Do-Dojobor and Zoboro. [2] Jenne-jeno ("Old Jenne"; Djenne-jeno) [3]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 1)
[2]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 9)
"Jenne-jeno’s floruit: 450-1100 C.E." [1]
[1]: (Susan Keech McIntosh and Roderick J. McIntosh "Jenne-jeno, an ancient African city" http://anthropology.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=500)
km squared. "Permanent settlement in the delta, resulting in the formation of tells (large mounds consisting of the accumulated remains of ancient settlements), was initiated by people who entered the region during the last 500 years BC. They made pottery similar to that found at earlier sites along the southern fringe of the Sahara, suggesting that the immigrants were part of a southward movement of herders, fishermen, and cultivators that began with the accelerating desiccation of the Sahara and Sahel regions around 2000 BC." [1]
[1]: (Reader 1998, 226)
There is no evidence of a hierarchical social system and centralized control
[1]
Jenne-jeno was "a large, complex, but non-coercive urban settlement."
[2]
"the demands of specialization pushed groups apart while the requirements of a generalized economy pulled them together ... created a dynamism that ensured growth and the establishment of urban settlements. And they were non-coercive settlements. Groups congregated by choice. This is an instance of transformation from a rural to an urban society that did not establish a hierarchical society and coercive centralized control... The process in the delta and at Jenne-jeno in particular, was one of ’complexification’ rather than centralization."
[3]
[1]: (Reader 1998, 219)
[2]: (Reader 1998, 225)
[3]: (Reader 1998, 228)
Inhabitants. An estimated 2000 inhabitants at 200 per ha for 10 hectares.
Estimate hectare size phase II:
settlement size "possibly exceeding 10 hectares"
[1]
1977 archaeological investigation established the 3rd century BCE date and showed that by the eighth-ninth century it had become "an urban center of considerable proportions"
[2]
Estimated hectare size early phase III:
"by 450 C.E., the settlement had expanded to at least 25 hectares (over 60 acres)."
[3]
Estimate size at height phase III/phase IV:
"The total surface area of Jenne-jeno and its satellites was 69 hectares; the total population when most densely occupied approached 27,000."
[4]
"At its most densely populated (around AD 800) Jenne-jeno housed up to 27,000 people.
[5]
33 hectares. 9 hectare Hambarketolo connects to Jenne-jeno via an earthern dike.
[1]
this maximum area extent by 900-1000 CE
[6]
"During this time, the settlement continued to grow, reaching its maximum area of 33 hectares by 850 C.E. We know that this is so because sherds of the distinctive painted pottery that was produced at Jenne-jeno only between 450-850 C.E. are present in all our excavation units, even those near the edge of the mound. And we find them at the neighboring mound of Hambarketolo, too, suggesting that these two connected sites totaling 41 hectares (100 acres) functioned as part of a single town complex (Pl. 4).
[3]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 16)
[2]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 1)
[3]: (Susan Keech McIntosh and Roderick J. McIntosh "Jenne-jeno, an ancient African city" http://anthropology.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=500)
[4]: (Reader 1998, 230)
[5]: (Reader 1998, 219)
[6]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 19)
in squared kilometers
Al Sa’di’s describes the territory of Jenne as "from Lake Debo in the north to the Volta Bend in the south, and borders on the Bandiagara highlands to the east. It is not clear whether Jenne’s territory was defined by political suzerainty, economic domination, or some other means entirely."
[1]
1,100 square kilometer hinterland
[2]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 6)
[2]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 22)
People. No evidence for hierarchical levels so the average quasi-polity unlikely to be more than one or two settlements. If largest settlement had a population about 1500 (150 per ha for 10 hectares) and we allow for some coordination with this settlement and some smaller outlying settlements then the largest quasi-polity may have been 2000-3000 people.
Sahel states = Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad. "Before the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry the population of the area of the present-day Sahel states is unlikely to have exceeded 50,000: once pastoralism and agriculture had become well-established the population can hardly have been less than half a million. The chronology of the transition is as yet totally obscure, but there is no reason to postulate anything above the 50,000 line before 3000 BC or place the achievement of the half million later than 1000 BC. From this latter point a low rate of increase is all that is needed to bring the total to 1m by AD 1 and 2m by AD 1000."
[1]
[1]: (McEverdy and Jones 1978, 238)
levels.
1. Larger village (perhaps exceeding 10 ha, or up to 2000 people)
2. Smaller village
"people were kept apart by virtue of their occupations and their ethnic identities. Sedentary communities, though clustered were dispersed."
[1]
"Sudanic societies were built on small agricultural villages or herding communities, sometimes but not always integrated into larger tribal and linguistic groups."
[2]
[1]: (Reader 1998, 242)
[2]: (Lapidus 2012, 590)
levels.
There is no evidence of a hierarchical social system
[1]
Jenne-jeno was "a large, complex, but non-coercive urban settlement."
[2]
"the demands of specialization pushed groups apart while the requirements of a generalized economy pulled them together ... created a dynamism that ensured growth and the establishment of urban settlements. And they were non-coercive settlements. Groups congregated by choice. This is an instance of transformation from a rural to an urban society that did not establish a hierarchical society and coercive centralized control... The process in the delta and at Jenne-jeno in particular, was one of ’complexification’ rather than centralization."
[3]
Clan
(General reference for West African states) "the basic social and political unit appears in the past to have been the small local group, bound together by ties of kinship. When a number of groups came together they formed a clan. The heads of local clans were usually responsible for certain religious rites connected with the land."
[4]
Kinship group
(General reference for West African states) "the basic social and political unit appears in the past to have been the small local group, bound together by ties of kinship. When a number of groups came together they formed a clan. The heads of local clans were usually responsible for certain religious rites connected with the land."
[4]
In West Africa "Early states were simple in their government ... Some were ruled by a single chief or king and his counsellors. Others were governed by a council of chiefs or elders. Others again were formed by several neighbouring peoples whose chiefs were bound in loyalty to one another. Elsewhere, at the same time, there were people who found it better to get along without any chiefs."
[5]
"Traditional groups such as clans ... or age-sets of people born at about the same time, had influence in these early states, as in later times, because they could underpin a system of law and order."
[5]
[1]: (Reader 1998, 219)
[2]: (Reader 1998, 225)
[3]: (Reader 1998, 228)
[4]: (Bovill 1958, 53)
[5]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
Full-time specialists
"the original inhabitants of Jenne-jeno worked iron from the earliest days of the site’s occupation. This iron industry is among the earliest known in sub-Saharan Africa, antedated only by that of the Nok culture."
[1]
"Jenne-jeno was the region’s first known significant trading crossroads"
[1]
"Specialized craft skills from the very earliest times are evident at Jenne-jeno." "highly skilled potters", iron mining and smithing.
[2]
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron."
[3]
[1]: (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ind_1/hd_ind_1.htm)
[2]: (Reader 1998, 22)
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
50-400 CE West African rice (Oryza glaberrima) domesticated. [1] While, "Archaeological evidence affirms that the building of terraces and irrigation canals in sub-Saharan Africa pre-dates external influence..." [2] in this time period they are unlikely, and in the Inland Delta region unnecessary due to the annual inundation of the Niger river. Domesticated rice planted before the flood grows high enough to sprout above the flood waters.
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 16)
[2]: (Reader 1998, 248 cite: Adams 1989)
iron mining [1] stone quarries, copper mines [2] Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron." [3]
[1]: (Reader 1998, 22)
[2]: (Posnansky 1981, 723, 719)
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
unknown "In the deposits dated from the fifth century, there are definite indications that the organization of society is changing. We find organized cemeteries, with interments in large burial urns (Pl. 3) as well as inhumations outside of urns in simple pits, on the edge of the settlement." [McIntosh 1990]
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D."
[1]
"The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events."
[2]
Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao.
[3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
"There are no written records of any description to throw light on the history of West Africa before 900 A.D." [1] "The West Africans who laid the foundations of their medieval empires during the centuries before 900 C.E. did not develop a written language they could use to record historical events." [2] Oldest example of writing in West Africa c1100 CE tomb inscription at Gao. [3]
[1]: (Bovill 1958, 51) Bovill, E W. 1958/1995. The Golden Trade of the Moors. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Conrad 2010, 13) Conrad, D. C. 2010. Empires of Medieval West Africa. Revised Edition. Chelsea House Publishers. New York.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 44) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
barter economy and no professional merchants. "The non-essential items and foreign durables found at sites remote from their point of origin were traded from village to village, in relays, as part of what was certainly a vigorous trade in essential goods between local centres." [1]
[1]: (Reader 1998, 261)
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron." [1] "Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears." [2] "Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power." [3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
Iron Age from 600 BCE in West Africa (e.g. Benue valley in Nigeria and upper Niger River) "the development and spread of the basic technologies of metal production and the forging and smithing of metal tools, notably in iron." [1] "Iron-headed hoes, probably invented some time after iron-pointed spears." [2] "Iron also brought, from about 600 BC onwards, a new source of military power." [3]
[1]: (Davidson 1998, 8) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Davidson 1998, 12) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
[3]: (Davidson 1998, 13) Davidson, Basil. 1998. West Africa Before the Colonial Era. Routledge. London.
weapons: "clubs, bows and arrows, and spears" however they were most often used to acquire food [1]
[1]: (Reader 1998, 260)
weapons: "clubs, bows and arrows, and spears" however they were most often used to acquire food [1]
[1]: (Reader 1998, 260)