African Heritage
Posted on May 8, 2008
Filed Under Musings |
African Heritage The Continents True History
May 1st 2008 | NAIROBI
From The Economist print edition
Link: http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11294462
Protecting cave paintings can restore Africa’s pride in its history
SO LATE to be ?discovered? by the rest of the world?
Henry Stanley made the continent’s first crossing only in 1877?Africa, it can be forgotten, is probably the cradle of humanity. Palaeoanthropologists, archaeologists and, more recently, geneticists have all bolstered the ?out of Africa? theory, which holds that early man wandered out of the Rift Valley. Yet little is known of pre-colonial African cultures. Some vanished out of history, along with their languages and beliefs, before they ever came to be named. That is one reason why Africa’s rock art is so precious. The faintest ochre scratches of prehistoric antelope in a cave open a rare window into Africa’s?and humanity’s?distant past.
Africa may have 200,000 rock-art sites, more than any other continent. The oldest known site, in Namibia, is between 18,000 and 28,000 years old. Several African universities now have programmes to decipher the paintings and carvings. They are being helped by the Kenya-based Trust for African Rock Art (TARA), which seeks to discover and digitally archive as much of the art as it can for future scholars. …
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As an American of African heritage, I am grateful when articles like this are published. I saw paintings in the caves located in Great Zimbabwe. What is Great Zimbabwe? This is a national shame here in the United States. When World History is taught there should be a concerted effort to have textbooks with more than a fleeting reference to African history. The last time I checked there were tens of millions of people living in this country who share the same heritage as I.
Till next time, Jim
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