Subsaharan archaeology (9):
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/categories/category28.html

Aksum
Asante (not really archaeological)
Bandiagara (is it archaeological?)
Great Zimbabwe
Khami
Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara
Loropeni
Stone circles of Senegambia
Tomb of Askia (not really archaeological)

My selection:

Aksum - representative of Ethiopia (I would take it together with Lalibela) Yes
Asante - I would rather have Koutammakou which is visually more interesting, but still maybe they should both get in. Maybe.
Bandiagara - yes, for their cliff dwellings.
Great Zimbabwe - yes, for its historical significance.
Kilwa - Yes, same.
Loropeni - less significant, no.
Stone circles of Senegambia - less significant, no.
Tomb of Askia - less important than the similar Timbuktu and Djenne, no.

My selection:

Aksum
Asante (maybe)

My selection

Aksum
Great Zimbabwe
Kilwa
Bandigara

Aksum - Yes, no real doubt on this one
Asante - Maybe culturally very important, even if what is there today isn't fully representative
Bandiagara - Yes I'm not really sure if this is the best category for it, more of a cultural landscape I would have thought? But this one has been high on my wish list since I first saw it. A truly incredible looking site and very unique.
Great Zimbabwe - Yes iconic, massive and great cultural impact
Khami - No qualities of the site are better expressed by Great Zimbabwe
Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara - Help it looks impressive and represents an important peice of history, but is it a derelict version of Zanzibar's Stone Town? My knowledge of East Africa is pretty slim
Loropeni - No? Doesn't seem that spectacular, but is this essentially a subsaharan version of the mercantile warehouses of Liverpool, Hamburg or Lubeck? which we thought should be represented?
Stone circles of Senegambia - -/- I can't bring myself to give a maybe or yes, because they aren't really that spectacular. However these are the densest concentration of megaliths in the world, perhaps that should count for something?
Tomb of Askia - No Djenne would be a better example for this.

Aksum - Y - not only representative of Ethiopia, but of most advanced ancient civilization in Africa outside the Egyptian sphere
Asante - Y - not sure whether it fits the archaeological category, but representative of Western African vernacular art
Bandiagara - Y - iconic African cultural site
Great Zimbabwe - Y - THE major and most iconic archaeological site in Africa south of the Equator
Khami - N - similar to Great Zimbabwe, looks less impressive
Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara - Y - major Swahili trading site; predates Zanzibar (which dates mostly from 19th century - i.e. after the halcyon days of Indian Ocean trade)
Loropeni - N - less impressive than other African sites
Stone circles of Senegambia - N - other megalithic sites world-wide seem more impressive
Tomb of Askia - N - less impressive than Timbuktu or Djenné

Re: Loropeni
That would be a good argument in favour and I still believe we should activelly seek to promote sites from underrepresented regions such as Subsahran Africa. An argument against would be that Luebeck, Hamburg and Liverpool are all sites with high visibility. There isn't too much left of Loropeni. I am undecided, but would at least give it a maybe.


We already have Stonehenge. We gave the Korean dolmens a No despite being the largest concentration of dolmens in the world. Should we do it differently with the Subsaharan site? I would say again it is a good opportunity to promote unknown sites from an underrepresented region so I would like to change my judgment to a Yes.

Agree with most of Khuft's conclusions and reasons
Aksum - YES
Asante - MAYBE - Have visited. Certainly not "archaeology" - better "indigenous religions". a Not a lot left but they do represent a living culture/religion. I am not sure it comes out well in comparison with Oshogbo, Bandiagara and Koutoumakou
Bandigagara - YES - really a CL and Indigenous religion as only a part i.e the Tellem remains might count as archaeology. repres
Gt Zimb - YES -
Khami - NO
Kilwa - YES . Have visited it and Zanzibar but not Lamu or Mozambique. Am convinced by argument that Zanzibar really reperesents a much later period
Loropeni - MAYBE -am prepared as per Assif to hear more.
Senegam Circles - NO - a bit like Tiya in Ethiopia - it is interesting that "they" are "there" but are they really significant
Askia - NO

Summarizing:

Aksum - representative of Ethiopia, but also one of most advanced ancient civilizations in Africa outside the Egyptian sphere
Asante - representative of Western African vernacular art
Bandiagara - for its cliff dwellings and cultural landscape / indigenous religion
Great Zimbabwe - THE major and most iconic archaeological site in Africa south of the Equator
Khami
Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara - major Swahili trading site; predates Zanzibar
Loropeni
Stone circles of Senegambia
Tomb of Askia