Sub-Saharan Africa has long been seen as lacking the potential for autochthonous urban development, and Near Eastern and European contact provided ready explanations for the emergence of precolonial cities across the continent. In the past few decades, the pace of archaeological work on African cities has accelerated, and archaeologists have increasingly deployed a functional model of the city, in which cities are defined in relation to broader hinterlands rather than particular traits. As a result, deeply rooted urban traditions have been identified in all corners of the continent. Despite the antiquity of urban traditions across Africa, however, long-distance forces clearly had wide-reaching impacts on urban developmental trajectories, and proponents of the functional model have yet to explain the specific role of long-distance forces in the process of urbanization. This review examines how multiscalar forces shaped urban trajectories in West Africa, specifically. I examine how local political entrepreneurs took advantage of the opportunities provided by local, interregional, and global forces, resulting in a heterogeneous set of urban traditions across West Africa, ranging from trading entrepôts to regional capitals. Throughout I emphasize how local agency articulated with multiscalar social and economic forces, transforming the nature of regional integration, economic specialization, and the materialization of social difference, defining qualities of urban life.

中文翻译：

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“缺少城镇的大象”：西非城市及其腹地的考古学视角

长期以来，人们一直将撒哈拉以南非洲视为城市发展的潜力，近东和欧洲的联系为非洲大陆前殖民城市的出现提供了现成的解释。在过去的几十年中，非洲城市的考古工作步伐加快了，考古学家越来越多地部署了该城市的功能模型，在该模型中，城市是相对于更广阔的腹地而不是特定特征来定义的。结果，在非洲大陆的各个角落都发现了根深蒂固的城市传统。尽管整个非洲都有悠久的城市传统，但长途部队显然对城市发展轨迹产生了深远的影响，功能模型的支持者尚未解释长途部队在城市化过程中的具体作用。这篇评论专门研究了多标量力量如何塑造西非的城市轨迹。我研究了地方政治企业家如何利用当地，地区间和全球力量提供的机会，从而在整个西非形成了一系列不同的城市传统，从贸易企业到地区首都。在整个过程中，我强调地方机构如何与多层面的社会和经济力量相衔接，如何改变区域一体化，经济专业化和社会差异化的本质，从而定义城市生活的质量。特别。我研究了地方政治企业家如何利用当地，地区间和全球力量提供的机会，从而在整个西非形成了一系列不同的城市传统，从贸易企业到地区首都。在整个过程中，我强调地方机构如何与多层面的社会和经济力量相衔接，如何改变区域一体化，经济专业化和社会差异化的本质，从而定义城市生活的质量。特别。我研究了地方政治企业家如何利用当地，地区间和全球力量提供的机会，从而在整个西非形成了一系列不同的城市传统，从贸易企业到地区首都。在整个过程中，我强调地方机构如何与多层面的社会和经济力量相衔接，如何改变区域一体化，经济专业化和社会差异化的本质，从而定义城市生活的质量。