Egalitarian Revolution in the Savanna

Stephen A. Dueppen is ACLS New Faculty Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon.

Archaeological research at Kirikongo in Burkina Faso has uncovered a sequence critical to understanding the emergence of corporate political systems world-wide. Benefiting from this rich ethnographic and intellectual discourse, this volume addresses current debates from the archaeological record.

CHAPTER 1: DECENTRALIZATION AND THE EVOLUTION OF EGALITARIAN BEHAVIORS IN SEDENTARY SOCIETIES CHAPTER 2: ANCIENT VILLAGES IN THE NIGER BEND: CONTEXT AND METHODS FOR EXPLORING THE VOLTAIC REGION CHAPTER 3: ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES ON WESTERN BURKINA FASO- A SURVEY CHAPTER 4: KIRIKONGO- AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SITE, THE SETTING, AND RESEARCH DESIGN CHAPTER 5: THE WEST AFRICAN ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING- KIRIKONGO IN ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT CHAPTER 6: STRATIGRAPHIC AND DEPOSITIONAL EPISODES- THE EXCAVATIONS CHAPTER 7: RELATIVE CHRONOLOGY- CERAMICS CHAPTER 8: COMMUNITY GROWTH AT KIRIKONGO- THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SETTING CHAPTER 9: EARLY SEDENTARY LIFE IN THE VOLTAIC REGION- DEFINING A VOLTAIC TRADITIONA" CHAPTER 10: CRAFT PRODUCTION AT KIRIKONGO: THE ORIGINS, DEVELOPMENT, AND REINTERPRETATION OF SPECIALIZATION CHAPTER 11: HERDING, FARMING, AND RITUAL SACRIFICE- THE ECONOMY FROM KIRIKONGO CHAPTER 12: DEATH AND RITUAL OBJECTS AT KIRIKONGO- HOUSE-BASED SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION CHAPTER 13: ARCHAEOLOGICAL PATTERNS AND SOCIAL PROCESS: RECONSTRUCTING CHANGING LIFE AT KIRIKONGO CHAPTER 14: LAND, SPIRITUAL POWER, AND GERONTOCRACY: AN EXPLORATION OF THE ROOTS OF EGALITARIAN REVOLUTION IN THE WESTERN VOLTAIC REGION CHAPTER 15:HIERARCHY AND EGALITARIANISM WITHIN THE NIGER BEND- REVOLUTION AND THE TRIUMPH OF COMMUNALISM