Gold Caravans, Ivory Networks: Stories from Medieval Africa

Meet the societies of medieval Africa who established powerful empires and forged long-distance networks throughout the Global medieval world. Drawing on historical sources and archaeological materials, we will examine the history of the trans-Saharan trade network through the perspective two important materials: gold and ivory. We will explore stories involving African gold and ivory to understand how these material networks connected people across West Africa, North Africa, the Mediterranean and beyond, to medieval Europe. By following the stories of gold and ivory and meet, learn how African gold and ivory created religious, cultural, and economic connections and hear from people in the past who made these connections possible