Journal of Field Archaeology

Since the first scientific excavations were conducted at Jenne-jeno in 1977, this huge Iron Age occupation mound located in the floodplain of the Inland Niger Delta has produced a classic archaeological sequence spanning 1500 years. Jenne-jeno is widely recognized as one of the most carefully documented cases demonstrating the rise of indigenous urbanism in Africa, and its archaeology has contributed significantly to a major paradigm shift in explanations for the rise of complex societies in sub-Saharan Africa. This monograph presents the results of the excavations conducted in 1980-81 at this site and at two others within the extensive mound complex of which Jenne-jeno is a part.

Excavations at Jenne-Jeno, Hambarketolo, and Kaniana (Inland Niger Delta, Mali), the 1981 Season