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Kings.

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Pharaohs.

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Powerful priests.

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Massive monuments and written languages.

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These are the kinds of things that Western historians are looking for, because they look

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a lot like European history and…sorta make sense to us.

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Like, does it even count as a civilization if there aren't ginormous buildings and stuff

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written in stone?

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Are those people even worth studying?

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Well…yeah, actually.

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Throughout ancient Africa’s history there were other types of societies that did things…

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a little differently.

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They were …

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Ready for some vocab…?

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“decentralized or stateless political societies.”

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Rather than having rigid societal structures where the powerful ruled the weak, things

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were a lot more loosey-goosey…and actually equal for all.

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The closest thing to a government in some of these societies was a council of elders,

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made up of the old people in town.

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Some have called these societies democracies of age.

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…which would probably go over well in most nursing homes.

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Sometimes, if there was a chief, he was nominated by the elders because he seemed like the best

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dude for the job.

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In these kinds of societies, chiefs didn’t pass down the title to their kids, so you

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don’t hear stories about some dynasty ruthlessly holding onto its power.

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A famous example of decentralized society is the ancient city of Jenne-Jeno [JEN-ay

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juh-NO].

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Located in modern day Mali, Jenne-Jeno was a thriving center of trade.

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In particular, the folks there knew their way around some iron ore.

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They were great blacksmiths, and the city exported iron and iron products, along with

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smoked meat, fish, and fish oils.

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Mm…fish oil.

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Stop making us hungry.

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Jenne-Jenno was also located on the Niger River floodplain, making the land around it

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mega-fertile.

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So there’s a good chance they would’ve also been able to grow rice and millet, adding

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that to their trading power.

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There’s evidence they imported all kinds of stuff: copper, salt, beads, stone grinders,

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and even iron ore for blacksmithing.

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Covering 83 acres, this walled city was at one time one of the largest trading centers

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in all of West Africa.

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Talk about a success story, right?

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And the thing that blows the minds of modern scholars is that the folks of Jenne-Jenno

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did it all without a king, ruling priesthood, or governing body.

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To date, all the evidence points to the idea that they lived a completely communal lifestyle,

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with no person having more power than another.

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Hm, maybe Karl Marx was an African at heart…

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