Home Region:  West Africa (Africa)

West Burkina Faso Yellow II

501 CE 700 CE

G SC New WA  bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_6



Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
Succeeding Entity: Add one more here.
701 CE 1100 CE West Burkina Faso Red I (bf_west_burkina_faso_red_1)    [continuity]

No General Descriptions provided.

General Variables
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Professions
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Law
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Information / Money
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Handheld weapons
Animals used in warfare
Armor
Naval technology
Religion Tolerance Coding in Progress.
Human Sacrifice Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range West Burkina Faso Yellow II (bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_6) was in:
Home NGA: None

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
30 N

Original Name:
West Burkina Faso Yellow II

Capital:
None (Absent Capital)

Quasipolity. As the following quotes suggests, houses where still highly independent, and differientiation was emerging within settlements rather than between them. "While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Temporal Bounds
Duration:
[501 CE ➜ 700 CE]
 

"Yellow II (ca. 500-700)" [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Political and Cultural Relations
Succeeding Entity:
West Burkina Faso Red I

Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity

"A true village emerged with the establishment of a second house (Mound 1) c. ad 450, and by the end of the first millennium ad the community had expanded to six houses. At first, these were economically generalized houses (potting, iron metallurgy, farming and herding) settled distantly apart with direct access to farming land that appear to have exercised some autonomy.Over the course ofYellow II and Red I, the founding house began to centralize control over ancestry (materialized in a cemetery monument), iron production, livestock wealth and even spatial syntax, with a shift in the location of new houses towards Mound 4." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2015: 22)


Preceding Entity:  

"A true village emerged with the establishment of a second house (Mound 1) c. ad 450, and by the end of the first millennium ad the community had expanded to six houses. At first, these were economically generalized houses (potting, iron metallurgy, farming and herding) settled distantly apart with direct access to farming land that appear to have exercised some autonomy.Over the course ofYellow II and Red I, the founding house began to centralize control over ancestry (materialized in a cemetery monument), iron production, livestock wealth and even spatial syntax, with a shift in the location of new houses towards Mound 4." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2015: 22)

Succeeding Entity:
701 CE 1100 CE West Burkina Faso Red I (bf_west_burkina_faso_red_1)    [continuity]  
 

"Over the course ofYellow II and Red I, the founding house began to centralize control over ancestry (materialized in a cemetery monument), iron production, livestock wealth and even spatial syntax, with a shift in the location of new houses towards Mound 4. They may have restricted access to spatio-cosmic origins in their role as village founders (from a spatially distant locale) and exercised a privileged social role derived from initial pacts with the local divinities. By Red I the founding house controlled iron production, itself an extension of spatio-cosmic origins as the divinities of the deep earth are conceptually distant and primordial (and dangerous), and need to be maintained properly." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2015: 22)


Degree of Centralization:
quasi-polity

As the following quotes suggests, houses where still highly independent, and differientiation was emerging within settlements rather than between them. "While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Language
Linguistic Family:
Niger-Congo

Religion
Religious Tradition:
Voltaic Religions

"The false huts that were set atop the burials may have served as altars for petitioning the village ancestors, as documented amongst Gourounsi villages in the early twentieth century (Tauxier 1912). The burials of individuals from other mounds may have been restricted to their respective residential areas, and lacked false huts. The mortuary program was likely a materialization of Mound 4’s authority over a village community, and consequently over the village earth and ancestral shrines./"Widespread among modern Voltaic societies is the belief that the well-being of a community is assured by the special relationship between a village founder and the local spirits. The demographic growth of a village represents success in this pact, as maintained by a series of sacrificial petitions, although the political role of the descendents of a village’s founder varies according to society." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)



Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
1

levels. As the following quotes suggests, houses where still highly independent, and differientiation was emerging within settlements rather than between them. "While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Religious Level:
-

levels. The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Military Level:
-

levels. The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Administrative Level:
1

levels. The following suggests some hierarchy of rule. "With the founding of the third household (Mound 11) at the start of Yellow II (Figure 8), the village was now arranged in a north/south line, with adjacent farming land to each house. However, during Yellow II, it appears that Mound 4’s inhabitants extended corporate control over the territory as head of a village community, a sociopolitical model based in common descent. [...] While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Professions
Professional Soldier:
unknown

The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Professional Priesthood:
unknown

The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Professional Military Officer:
unknown

The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Bureaucracy Characteristics
Full Time Bureaucrat:
unknown

The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Law
Professional Lawyer:
unknown

The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Judge:
unknown

The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Court:
unknown

The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. "During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Burial Site:
present

"For example, concurrent with the founding of Mound 11, a cemetery was established to the west of Mound 4, between their iron furnace and habitations. This cemetery was a mounded burial monument that was likely for the dead of Mound 4. The false huts that were set atop the burials may have served as altars for petitioning the village ancestors, as documented amongst Gourounsi villages in the early twentieth century (Tauxier 1912). The burials of individuals from other mounds may have been restricted to their respective residential areas, and lacked false huts. The mortuary program was likely a materialization of Mound 4’s authority over a village community, and consequently over the village earth and ancestral shrines." [1]

[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 28)


Information / Writing System
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Information / Money
Information / Postal System
Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Military use of Metals
Projectiles
Handheld weapons
Animals used in warfare
Armor
Naval technology

Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
Coding in Progress.
Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions
Coding in Progress.