Our return to the continent of Africa takes us beyond the Nile valley and the northern rim in exploration of the cultures and history of sub-Saharan Africa. Your main objective for this chapter is to become familiar with the geography of greater Africa and the associated cultural traditions. In particular, you will explore important pockets of sculptural history in West Africa and in the Great Zimbabwe region. The chapter deals not only with the art of the continent but also with the barriers that explorers and scholars of the past have erected between people and the great monuments of Africa.

Your goals for this chapter include:

• Gain an overview of the major geographical divisions of Africa.

• Appreciate the geographical predisposition for European contacts in one region and for Arabic contacts in another.

• Place the portrait achievements of West Africa in the chronological context of the collapse of classical antiquity and the flowering of the Renaissance in order to recognize the unique place held by the West African achievement.

• Investigate the importance of portraiture--representation in the widest interpretation--to the social fabric of African societies.

• Compare the architectural achievements of sub-Saharan Islamic culture to the achievements of the Middle East.