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 I’ refers to the period of earliest occupation, from 250 BCE to 50 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
There does not seem to be enough data to reconstruct Jenne-jeno’s political or social organization at this time, but even for later periods, there is a lack of archaeological evidence for ’coercive’ centralized control or the development of hierarchical social structures.
[2]
It is also unclear how many people were living at Jenne-jeno or at the surrounding sites. However, one of the site’s excavators, Roderick McIntosh, does say that the founding population was probably not inconsiderable, and expanded rapidly.
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2006, 174-75) Roderick McIntosh. 2006. Ancient Middle Niger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2]: (Reader 1998, 225, 228) John Reader. 1998. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. London: Penguin Books.
| unknown [---] |
| Sahel Tell Culture |
| Jenne-jeno II |
| [1,500,000 to 2,500,000] km2 |
| suspected unknown |
| UNCLEAR: [unknown] | |
| Succeeding: Jenne-jeno II (ml_jenne_jeno_2) [continuity] |
| quasi-polity |
| inferred absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| absent |
| inferred 0 km |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| present | |
| absent |
| present | |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| Year Range | Jenne-jeno I (ml_jenne_jeno_1) was in: |
|---|---|
| (250 BCE 49 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)
50 CE based on linear development progression at this low level of complexity.
"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)
1977 excavation habitation 250 BCE to at least 12th century CE "Gradual abandonment of the site was probably in progress soon thereafter" 1400 CE reasonable estimate for abandonment, but could be as early as 1200 CE.
[1]
Earliest phase 250 BCE - 50 CE.
[1]
"It appears that permanent settlement first became possible in the upper Inland Niger Delta in about the third century B.C.E. Prior to that time, the flood regime of the Niger was apparently much more active, meaning that the annual floodwaters rose higher and perhaps stayed longer than they do today, such that there was no high land that regularly escaped inundation. Under these wetter circumstances, diseases carried by insects, especially tsetse fly, would have discouraged occupation. Between 200 B.C.E. and 100 C.E., the Sahel experienced significant dry episodes, that were part of the general drying trend seriously underway since 1000 B.C.E. Prior to that time, significant numbers of herders and farmers lived in what is today the southern Sahara desert, where they raised cattle, sheep and goat, grew millet, hunted, and fished in an environment of shallow lakes and grassy plains."
[2]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 15)
[2]: (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)
"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." [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. During phase two settlement size possibly exceeded 10 hectares
[1]
which would be a maximum 2000 people at a conversion of 200 per hectare. However, this polity sheet is phase one.
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."
[2]
Estimate hectare size phase I:
unknown
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"
[3]
Estimated hectare size early phase III:
"by 450 C.E., the settlement had expanded to at least 25 hectares (over 60 acres)."
[4]
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."
[5]
"At its most densely populated (around AD 800) Jenne-jeno housed up to 27,000 people.
[6]
33 hectares. 9 hectare Hambarketolo connects to Jenne-jeno via an earthern dike.
[1]
this maximum area extent by 900-1000 CE
[7]
"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).
[4]
[1]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 16)
[2]: (McEverdy and Jones 1978, 238)
[3]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 1)
[4]: (Susan Keech McIntosh and Roderick J. McIntosh "Jenne-jeno, an ancient African city" http://anthropology.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=500)
[5]: (Reader 1998, 230)
[6]: (Reader 1998, 219)
[7]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 19)
in squared kilometers
[5-10] km is my estimate for a small agricultural village and its hinderland.
At this early stage there may have been small agricultural villages. "The original settlement appears to have occurred on a small patch of relatively high ground, and was probably restricted to a few circular huts of straw coated with mud daub."
[1]
Later, the quasi-polity would acquire a 1,100 square kilometer hinterland
[2]
while "over 60 archaeological sites rise from the floodplain within a 4 kilometer radius of the modern town".
[1]
This gives us an upper limit and estimate of area magnitude.
[1]: (Susan Keech McIntosh and Roderick J. McIntosh "Jenne-jeno, an ancient African city" http://anthropology.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=500)
[2]: (McIntosh and McIntosh 1981, 22) McIntosh, R J, McIntosh, S K. 1981. The inland Niger delta before the empire of Mali: evidence from Jenne-jeno. Journal of African History. Cambridge University Press. 22 (1): 1-22 Reader, J. 1998. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. Penguin Books. London.
People.
At this time 500,000-1,000,000 across the Sahel states (Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad) but at a very low level of organization with many pastoralists. If a Sahel population of 750,000 all lived in villages and there were 150 per village there would be 5000 villages. This seems too much. Urbanism at this time was unlikely the main form of living. If, say, 10% of the Sahel population lived in villages 75,000 population at 150 per village would give us 500 nascent settlements. This seems a more reasonable figure. However, the actual size of villages would have ranged.
We could perhaps code [200-300] as an upper maximum for a quasi-polity that consisted of more than one village settlement.
"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. Small village.
"The original settlement appears to have occurred on a small patch of relatively high ground, and was probably restricted to a few circular huts of straw coated with mud daub."
[1]
"people were kept apart by virtue of their occupations and their ethnic identities. Sedentary communities, though clustered were dispersed."
[2]
"Sudanic societies were built on small agricultural villages or herding communities, sometimes but not always integrated into larger tribal and linguistic groups."
[3]
[1]: (Susan Keech McIntosh and Roderick J. McIntosh "Jenne-jeno, an ancient African city" http://anthropology.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=500)
[2]: (Reader 1998, 242)
[3]: (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.
No extensive agriculture at this time.
"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.
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.