West Africa

What is the main reason why people in different vegetation zones traded with each other?

Different resources were found in each zone.

Why did people of West Africa trade with people from different areas?

Each vegetation zone had different resources

How did villages form in early West Africa?

Family-based communities joined together for help.

From the discovery of Jenne-jeno, what did historians learn about the history of West Africa?

It had cities two thousand years ago

Which of these clues about the African past describes an artifact?

a farming tool

The most respected people in Jenne-jeno were ______, who also acted as political leaders, judges and doctors.

blacksmiths

Few large settlements developed in the Sahara because it was too

dry

Suppose a West African community produces these goods: • yams • palm oil • kola nuts That community is most likely in which vegetation zone?

fores

Which of these was an advantage of becoming part of an empire?

getting protection from raiders

Which product of West Africa was most important in the trade across the Sahara?

gold

Archeologists have found remains of high walls around one ancient West African community. What does this suggest about it?

inhabitants faced threat of attacks

Which technology did the Nok people adopt as early as 500 B.C.E.?

iron smelting

What did extended-family groups do for defense against dangerous floods or enemies?

joined other communities to form villages

Compared to the West African savanna, the Sahel has

less rainfall

What are the Nok, a people from West Africa during 500 B.C.E., known for?

master ironworking

Why are historians unable to study written sources from early West African societies?

most of the period has no written records

Archeologists found copper at Jenne-jeno. The nearest copper mines are 600 miles away. What does this indicate about the people of Jenne-jeno?

they carried on long-distance trade

Why did extended-family groups first settle south of the Sahara?

to farm

How did the Niger River encourage trade?

transportation route