The Malian Lakes Region redefined : archaeological survey of the Gorbi Valley

The Malian Lakes Region of West Africa has long been overlooked in favour of better-known basins of the Niger River. New archaeological survey of this region, however, shows a history far more complex than had previously been thought, with settlement mounds and multiple phases of migration and eventual abandonment in a landscape of shifting power structures between the first millennium BC and second millennium AD. With the establishment of a relative chronology, the archaeology of this region now holds great potential for a better understanding of the broader cultural history of the Ghana Empire.The Malian Lakes Region of West Africa has long been overlooked in favour of better-known basins of the Niger River. New archaeological survey of this region, however, shows a history far more complex than had previously been thought, with settlement mounds and multiple phases of migration and eventual abandonment in a landscape of shifting power structures between the first millennium BC and second millennium AD. With the establishment of a relative chronology, the archaeology of this region now holds great potential for a better understanding of the broader cultural history of the Ghana Empire.A