This edition of African Civilizations, first published in 2001, re-examines the physical evidence for developing social complexity in tropical Africa over the last four thousand years. Graham Connah focuses upon the archaeological research of two key aspects of complexity, urbanism and state formation, in seven main areas of Africa: Nubia, Ethiopia, the West African savanna, the West African forest, the East African coast and islands, the Zimbabwe Plateau, and parts of Central Africa. The book's main concern is to review the available evidence in its varied environmental setting, and to consider possible explanations of the developments that gave rise to it. Extensively illustrated, including new maps and plans, and offering an extended bibliography, this book provides essential reading for students of archaeology, anthropology, African history, black studies, and social geography.