Redrawing historical maps of the Bight of Benin Hinterland, c. 1780

Given advances in digital cartography, mapmaking is straightforward, affordable, accurate and easy to scale. In the absence of reliable contemporary maps of pre-colonial sub-Saharan West Africa, scholars have been compiling paper-based illustrations of the continent for different regions, periods an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCanadian journal of African studies Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 443 - 463
Main Author Lovejoy, Henry B.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Toronto Routledge 01.12.2013
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
African history
Bight of Benin Hinterland
Cartography
Diaspora
Geography
Hausa
Historical analysis
maps and cartography
Oyo Empire
Yoruba
Africa
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Given advances in digital cartography, mapmaking is straightforward, affordable, accurate and easy to scale. In the absence of reliable contemporary maps of pre-colonial sub-Saharan West Africa, scholars have been compiling paper-based illustrations of the continent for different regions, periods and purposes. In consequence, there is a large collection of maps thematically, spatially and temporally fragmented throughout the historiography of Africa and the African Diaspora. As a means of addressing this crucial problem, this article surveys hundreds of primary and secondary source maps related to the Bight of Benin hinterland in order to examine the inconsistencies of historical maps of pre-colonial Africa. This theoretical and methodological discussion about historical mapmaking is the first step to defragmenting key secondary source maps and improving upon our historical understanding about Africa's internal geography. Part of the solution is a remake of the political map of the Bight of Benin hinterland in c. 1780.
ISSN:0008-3968
1923-3051
DOI:10.1080/00083968.2013.876920