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Essouk-Tadmekka
Journal of African Archaeology
Monograph Series
volume 12

Series Editors

Peter Breunig
Sonja Magnavita
Katharina Neumann

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/jaam

 Essouk-Tadmekka
An Early Islamic Trans-Saharan Market Town

Edited by

Sam Nixon

LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Looking down the Essouk valley, where the ruins of Essouk-Tadmekka are located.

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2017037632

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.

issn 2468-8266
isbn 978-90-04-34614-7 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-34899-8 (e-book)

Copyright 2017 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill
Sense and Hotei Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
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that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite
910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.

This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

From Bughrat you go to Tiraqqa and from there across the desert plain to Tadmekka,
which of all the towns in the world is the one that resembles Mecca the most. Its
name means “the Mecca like”. It is a large town amidst mountains and ravines and
is better built than Ghana or Kawkaw. The inhabitants of Tadmekka are Muslim
Berbers who veil themselves as the Berbers of the desert do … Their dinars [coins]
are called “bald” because they are of pure gold without any stamp.
The Book of Highways and of Kingdoms (Kitab al-masalik wa-’l-mamalik).
Written ca AD 1068, in Cordoba (Spain) by Abu Ubayd bin Abd al-Aziz Al-Bakri
(Levtzion & Hopkins 2000: 85)

∵
Figure 0.1 Sign near Essouk-Tadmekka ruins produced by the Malian Ministry of Culture, reading (translated) ‘Essouk
Tademekka. Berber Medieval City. Rock Art’ (both French and Tifinagh are seen on the sign).
Contents

Preface xi
Acknowledgements xii
List of Figures and Tables xv
Notes on Contributors xxii

Part 1
Introduction

1 Overview 3
Sam Nixon

2 An Unexplored Market Town of the Early Trans-Saharan Trade 7

Sam Nixon

3 The Essouk-Tadmekka Locality: Environment and Human Geography 21

Sam Nixon

Part 2
Site Overview and Surface Remains

4 The Essouk-Tadmekka Ruins and Their Prospection 27

Sam Nixon

5 Arabic and Tifinagh Inscriptions 41

Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias

Part 3
Excavations and Architecture

6 Excavation Programme and Methods 55

Sam Nixon

7 Excavations in the Mosque Quarter (Unit Ek-A) 58

Sam Nixon

8 Excavations near the Eastern Cliffs (Unit Ek-B) 83

Sam Nixon

9 Excavations on the Island (Unit Ek-C) 90

Sam Nixon

10 Chronology 94
Sam Nixon

11 Architecture 102
Sam Nixon and Benoit Suzanne
viii Contents

Part 4
Finds

12 Pottery 119
Sam Nixon and Kevin MacDonald

13 Glass Vessels 152

Sam Nixon, James Lankton and Laure Dussubieux

14 Beads 160
James Lankton, Sam Nixon, Peter Robertshaw and Laure Dussubieux

15 Gold Processing Remains 174

Sam Nixon and Thilo Rehren

16 Crucible-steel Making and Other Metalworking Remains 188

Thilo Rehren and Sam Nixon

17 Coins and Other Metal Artefacts 203

Sam Nixon

18 Miscellaneous Material Culture 216

Sam Nixon

19 Eggshell 227
Jane Sidell

20 Faunal Remains 234

Kevin MacDonald

21 Plant Remains 241

Dorian Fuller, Mary-Anne Murray and Sam Nixon

Part 5
Synthesis and Discussion

22 Excavated Sequence 255

Sam Nixon

23 A New Cultural History of Essouk-Tadmekka 262

Sam Nixon

24 Debating Trans-Saharan Commerce and Culture 268

Sam Nixon

Conclusion 279
Contents ix

Appendices

A Early Arabic Documentary Records of Tadmekka 283

Sam Nixon

B Plans of Essouk-Tadmekka Town Ruins and Cemeteries 287

Benoit Suzanne

C Essouk Arabic Non-Funerary Inscriptions, New (Previously Unpublished)

Series 299
Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias

D Context Descriptions for Excavation Units 304

Sam Nixon

E Pottery Analysis Tables and Additional Illustrative Materials 308

Sam Nixon and Kevin MacDonald

F Glass Vessels Tables 355

Sam Nixon and James Lankton

G Glass Bead Tables 358

Sam Nixon and James Lankton

H Vessel and Bead Glass Chemical Compositional Analysis 364

James Lankton, Peter Robertshaw, Laure Dussubieux and Sam Nixon

I Archaeometallurgical Waste 370

Thilo Rehren

J Digital X-ray Imaging and Conservation Treatment of Silver Coins and

Related Finds 379
Stephanie Black

K Preliminary Chemical and Technical Analyses of Essouk Metal

Artefacts 385
Thomas Fenn, Thilo Rehren and Laure Dussubieux

L Note sur le damas et sur le « voile » de soie d’Essouk-Tadmekka 393

Sophie Desrosiers

M Faunal Remains Tables 400

Kevin MacDonald

N Species Counts of Plant Remains 404

Dorian Fuller, Mary-Anne Murray and Sam Nixon

Bibliography 411
Index 420
Preface

The archaeological fieldwork project around which this the early 11th century – as well as documenting some of
book is focused first developed in March 2004 in the its inscriptions in the indigenous Berber Tifinagh script.
Malian capital, Bamako, during a visit to discuss possible This huge contribution of new knowledge regarding the
field projects for my PhD research. It was during discus- town is represented in his consummate 2003 work Early
sions with Téréba Togola, head of the Direction Nationale Arabic Medieval Inscriptions from the Republic of Mali. Of
de Patrimoine Culturel, that a concrete programme was es- great importance to note also is an abandoned survey and
tablished to work at the ruins of Tadmekka, the important excavation project at Essouk-Tadmekka that was planned
early Islamic southern Saharan market town documented from 1987 onwards, as part of a wider regional investiga-
within early Arabic manuscripts. A brief reconnaissance tion. This was suspended in 1990 due to the tragic death
visit to the Malian Sahara to visit Tadmekka’s ruins, now in Mali of one of the project team, Suzanne Bernus, and
called ‘Essouk’, laid the foundations for a more sustained then abandoned due to the Malian civil war. In the 1990s
investigation of the site, carried out between December work was however carried out by Christian Dupuy on the
2004 and March 2005. The Essouk-Tadmekka research extensive rock-art found in the cliffs around the ruins. Our
initially formed the basis of my broader PhD investiga- research is therefore part of an extended archaeological
tion into the nature of early Islamic West African towns story of Essouk-Tadmekka, and part of the aim of this
associated with trans-Saharan commerce. While 10 years volume is to try to also represent the findings of previous
have now elapsed since the fieldwork, this period has seen investigators.
extensive ongoing research involving a wide-ranging in- I feel hugely fortunate to have been given the oppor-
ternational team of specialists. This book brings together tunity to bring together a group of researchers to investi-
the results of this work with the aim of improving under- gate the remains of this once famous and important town.
standing of the history and position of this important The northern Malian region where the ruins of Essouk-
town within the early trans-Saharan and Tuareg world. Tadmekka are located is today difficult of access for re-
Although never previously excavated, Essouk- searchers, as it has been since 2006 following renewed
Tadmekka had various archaeological lives before our insecurity in northern Mali. The ruins still sit on the ‘ten-
2004–2005 fieldwork. At the beginning of the twentieth tative’ UNESCO World Heritage list where they have been
century Georges de Gironcourt’s work on the numerous since 1999. Whether or not full UNESCO recognition is
Arabic inscriptions found within the cemeteries and cliffs forthcoming, there can be no doubting the importance
around the site provided the first significant contribution of the site and the great potential for future research. In
to its archaeological recording. Raymond Mauny’s 1948 or- addition to seeking to represent our knowledge of Essouk-
ganisation of invaluable aerial photographs of the ruins Tadmekka as it stands today, hopefully this book will also
represented another hugely significant contribution. The serve as an inspiration and a guide for others to conduct
most sustained work that has taken place though is that this future work.
of Paulo de Moraes Farias. Since the 1980s, Moraes Farias
systematically investigated the Arabic inscriptions at the Sam Nixon
site – including recovering what are the oldest known, July 2017
internally-dated inscriptions in West Africa, dating to
Acknowledgements

This work is indebted to the Direction Nationale du for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology,
Patrimoine Culturel, and particularly the late Téréba Vienna; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago;
Togola for his encouragement to undertake this research. Department of Geosciences and Planetary Sciences
Likewise, great thanks are due to the Malian Institut des Laboratories, University of Arizona. Other research in-
Sciences Humaines for authorising the fieldwork, and par- stitutions important to the research were: School of
ticularly to Kléna Sanogo who has been very supportive Oriental and African Studies, London; Centre d’études
of the research. I would also like to highlight the role of des mondes africains, Paris; IGN Photothèque Nationale,
Kevin MacDonald who has provided consistent and ex- Paris; Cellule Imagerie Aérienne, Service Historique de la
cellent guidance as a mentor since the beginning of the Défense, France; Sainsbury Research Unit, University of
Essouk-Tadmekka project, and to whom I owe a great East Anglia.
debt of gratitude. A consistent guide in this work also has Regarding the fieldwork itself, the first thanks should
been Paulo de Moraes Farias, a fountain of knowledge go to the people of the Kidal region, and particularly those
on Essouk-Tadmekka and Islam in the Sahara and West in the Essouk locality who were consistently welcoming to
Africa, and an excellent scholarly example. the project. Great thanks are due to the Amenokal of the
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Ifoghas who authorised the work and to the Chef d’Essouk
provided funding for the PhD research within which the who, in addition to welcoming us, allowed us to use re-
Tadmekka project was launched. The fieldwork itself was cently-built but unoccupied government buildings near
funded by the AHRC, UCL Graduate School, UCL Institute Essouk-Tadmekka’s ruins for the project. Huge thanks are
of Archaeology, and the University of London Central obviously also due in particular to the fieldwork team who
Research Fund. Specific analytical funding grants were produced excellent work and with whom many entertain-
provided for the following: AMS radiocarbon dating was ing times were had at the site. In addition to residents
supported by the joint Natural Environment Research of Essouk, the fieldwork team also included the archae-
Council (NERC)/AHRC Oxford Radiocarbon Dating ologists Mamadou Cissé, Fané Yamoussa and Soumaila
Service (ORADS) initiative (ORADS project 2005/2/5); Coulibally, all of the Direction Nationale de Patrimoine
chemical and isotopic analysis of the copper alloys was Culturel, and their excellent work was much appreciated.
funded by U.S. National Science Foundation grants DGE- Special thanks are due to Jean-Pierre Tita, the then Head
0221494 and BCS-0852270 (David Killick/Thomas Fenn); of the Mission Culturelle Essouk. Jean-Pierre Tita was cru-
chemical analysis of glass beads was funded by the U.S. cial to the functioning of the field season and without him
National Science Foundation grant BCS-0209681 (Peter things would certain have flowed less smoothly than they
Robertshaw/Michael Glascock). UCL Qatar also generous- did. In Kidal, Jean-Pierre Tita’s family also invited me to
ly contributed towards the publication costs. Institutions stay in their home on various occasions and made me feel
whose facilities were used for analysis are the follow- very welcome. In Bamako, I was greatly aided by the staff
ing: Wolfson Archaeological Science Laboratories and of the Direction Nationale de Patrimoine Culturel and the
Archaeological Conservation labs, UCL; UCL Institute of Institut des Sciences Humaines, as well as by the Musée
Archaeology Bone Room and archaeobotanical reference Nationale de Mali. During a subsequent three-month
collections; Archaeological Materials Science Laboratories, stay in Bamako conducting post-excavation analysis I
UCL Qatar, Doha; Natural History Museum faunal col- was made to feel very welcome by the people of Kalaban
lections, London; Department of the Middle East, The Coura where I stayed. In particularly Mamadou Dembele
British Museum; Department of Coins and Medals, British and Rokia Sakara made this stay a hugely enjoyable one.
Museum; Sotheby’s Bond Street, London; English Heritage Following the fieldwork a range of people dedicated
Centre for Archaeology, Fort Cumberland; Archaeological their research efforts and scientific and technical skills to
Science Laboratories, University of Bradford; Sainsbury the task of Essouk-Tadmekka, and much of the detailed
Centre for Visual Arts Conservation lab, Norwich; Centre findings of the project are due to their efforts. The follow-
for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France, ing people in particular need to be acknowledged: Eleni
Paris; EHESS-CRH (Centre de Recherches Historiques), Asderaki-Tzoumerkioti (conservation); Stefka Bargazova
Paris; Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux, (conservation); Bruno Berteau (aerial photos); Stephanie
CNRS, Orleans; Faculté d’Architecture La Cambre, Black (digital X-ray and conservation); Elizabeth Bloxom
Université libre de Bruxelles; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute (stone aftefacts); Sandra Bond (textiles); Andy Boyce
Acknowledgements xiii

(illustration); Philip Connolly (archaeometallurgy sam- should also be made of the work of the researchers who
ple prep.); Nafogo Coulibally (illustration); Ashley Coutu excavated at the site of Tegdaoust in Mauritania in the
(ZooMS); Vesta Curtis (coins); Sophie Desrosiers (tex- 1960s, the publications of whom have provided a constant
tiles); Christian Dupuy (petroglyphs); Laure Dussubieux reference and inspiration for this project.
(chemical analysis of vessel/bead glass and archaeomet- Certain figures and tables featured in this book have
allurgy); Rachel Farmer (X-ray and conservation); Thomas previously been published elsewhere and due acknowl-
Fenn (archaeometallurgy); Maria Filomena-Guerra (ar- edgement is required of this. The publications these have
chaeometallurgy); Dorian Fuller (archaeobotany); Mike featured in are as follows, with the specific figures listed
Glascock (glass bead chemistry); Voula Golfomitsou in brackets: Cressier 1992 (Fig. 11.5); Lhote 1951 (Fig. 1.2);
(conservation); Fiona Griffin (illustration); Simon Groom Moraes Farias 1990 (Fig. 5.3); Moraes Farias 2003 (Fig. 5.5);
(petrography); Tom Higham (radiocarbon dating); Louise Nixon 2009 (Figs. 7.5, 7.15, 7.16, 7.21, 9.4); Nixon et al. 2011a
Iles (archaeometallurgy sample prep.); Derek Kennet (ce- (Fig. 21.5); Nixon et al. 2011b (Figs. 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5,
ramics); Nadia Khalaf (satellite imagery); Regina Krahl 15.6, 15.7; Tab. 15.1); Nixon 2013a (Figs. 7.3, 8.7); Pagnoni
(ceramics); Stuart Laidlaw (photography); James Lankton 2000 (Fig. 5.4); Porter 2012 (Fig. 3.4); Rehren & Nixon 2014
(vessel and bead glass chemistry); Kevin MacDonald (fau- (Figs. 15.5, 15.6); Scott 2004 (Figs. 2.1, 2.2).
nal analysis, ceramics, and petrography); Fabrice Melka Great thanks are due to the team at Brill who I have
(archival photography); Mary-Anne Murray (archaeobot- worked with to bring this book to publication – in particu-
any); Sonia O’Connor (bioarch.); Venetia Porter (ceram- lar Franca de Kort, Pieter te Velde, and Joed Elich. Their
ics); Thilo Rehren (archaeometallurgy); Peter Robertshaw careful and patient work on developing the finalised pub-
(bead glass chemistry); Andi Sapey (photographic edit- lication has been hugely appreciated.
ing); Chris Sevara (aerial photographs and satellite im- It remains for me to thank the people who have sup-
agery); Jane Sidell (shell); St John Simpson (vessel glass); ported me personally throughout this project. All the staff
Chris Stevens (archaeobotany); Benoit Suzanne (aerial at UCL Institute of Archaeology where I began this re-
photographs/illustration); Ken Thomas (shell); Julia search, who consistently support researchers, making it a
Tubman (thin sections and conservation); Charlotte friendly and supportive place to conduct research, as well
Veysey (illustration). Other people whose input was also as a vibrant and stimulating research institution. I am very
greatly appreciated at various points of the research in- grateful to my PhD comrades from that time who I worked
clude Victor Brunfaut, Gregg Butensky, Elizabeth Fentress, together with in Research Room 322B, particularly Jago
Anne Haour, Jim Kelly, Marcos Martinón-Torres, Jean Cooper and Akira Matsuda. Crucially, huge thanks need
Polet, and Chris Scott. Thanks are also due to the helpful to be given to the wonderful Africa Magna Verlag team
comments of the anonymous reviewer whose remarks and Sonja Magnavita in particular who has been hugely
greatly helped in rethinking certain sections of the book. supportive in this publication project. My parents, Elaine
Naturally it is also necessary to acknowledge the work and Michael, and my sister Hannah have been wonderful-
of researchers who have gone before us. In particular, ly supportive throughout and I would like to thank them
it is important to acknowledge the work of Georges de very much. Also, I would like to acknowledge my grand-
Gironcourt, Raymond Mauny, the team of Patrice Cressier, father Bob for his inspiration. Lastly, I want to thank my
Suzanne Bernus and Samuel Sidibe, and the work of wife, Jennifer, always so enthusiastic and supportive and
Paulo de Moraes Farias. In particular it is necessary to ac- the greatest inspiration of all.
knowledge Raymond Mauny’s work in undertaking aerial
photography of Essouk-Tadmekka’s ruins, and Paulo de Sam Nixon
Moraes Farias for providing me with copies of the aerial July 2017
photos which he received from Mauny. Acknowledgement
xiv Acknowledgements

Figure 0.2 Some of the members of the fieldwork team at Essouk in 2005.
List of Figures and Tables

Figures

0.1 Sign near Essouk-Tadmekka ruins produced by the 4.5 View across the town ruins, looking from the western
Malian Ministry of Culture vi cliffs 31
0.2 Some of the members of the fieldwork team at Essouk- 4.6 View across the central area of the town ruins looking
Tadmekka in 2005 xiv from the eastern cliffs 31
1.1 Map of north-west Africa, showing the location of 4.7 Comparison between the experience of walking amongst
Essouk-Tadmekka at the southwest extension of the the stone structural remains on the site surface, and
Saharan highlands 4 tracing the layout of the ruins in detail using aerial
1.2 Aerial photograph looking across the Essouk-Tadmekka photography 32
town ruins, taken in 1948 5 4.8 Examples of stone structural remains across the site
2.1 Small nomad camel caravan near the Erg Tifernine, surface: a) remains of a building; b) example of the
southern Algeria 8 remains of a wall standing to a height of ca 1.5 metres;
2.2 A camel caravan ascends the Amogjar Pass in c) the ‘monument of Koceila’; d) the northern
Mauritania 8 mosque 33
2.3 Map showing early Islamic era Saharan and West African 4.9 Image taken by Raymond Mauny in 1952 showing digging
commercial networks and Tadmekka’s position within in the corner of one of the ruined buildings, by people in
these 10 search of glass beads 35
2.4 Poster from the ‘Festival Tuareg d’Essouk’ 14 4.10 3D-aerial image of the southwest cemeteries seen
2.5 Tuareg camel riders during a performance at the Essouk amongst the cliffs 36
festival 15 4.11 a) one of the northeast cemeteries; b) an example
2.6 Page from Raymond Mauny diary recording 1952 visit to of an Arabic inscribed tombstone found within the
Essouk 17 cemeteries 36
2.7 Raymond Mauny at Essouk-Tadmekka in 1952, shown 4.12 Musalla located ca 500 metres to the north of the main
inspecting rock-art depictions of ‘chariots’ 18 area of ruins 37
3.1 Illustration showing the location of Essouk-Tadmekka 4.13 Investigating inscriptions in the cliffs above the
in the Adrar des Iforas highlands, in the north of ruins 38
the Republic of Mali, and its setting within the local 4.14 Examples of rock art found in the cliffs of the Essouk
geography 21 locality: a) various animals, including a giraffe; b) long-
3.2 View of the desert environment close to horned cattle; c) two women; d) Abstract petroglyph,
Essouk-Tadmekka 22 possibly representing ‘sandals’ 39
3.3 3D-view of the Essouk valley and surroundings 22 5.1 Arabic inscribed tombstone in the north-eastern
3.4 Looking down the Essouk valley 23 cemetery 42
3.5 Within the Essouk valley; ca 1km to the south of the 5.2 Arabic inscribed tombstone from the north-western
archaeological site 23 cemetery 42
3.6 Young boys filling water sacks at one of the wells located 5.3 Arabic inscription dated to AD 1013/14, the second oldest
at the centre of the Essouk-Tadmekka ruins 24 internally-dated text from West Africa known 43
4.1 3D-image showing the distribution of the Essouk- 5.4 Arabic cliff inscriptions, one describing Essouk-
Tadmekka ruins in relationship to the lines of cliffs Tadmekka in relation to Mecca, the other indicating how
which define the Essouk valley 27 the Muslim profession of faith should be recited 45
4.2 Composite aerial photograph and satellite image of the 5.5 Drawing of Arabic inscription in the cliffs describing
Essouk-Tadmekka ruins, with stone structural remains Essouk-Tadmekka in relation to Mecca 46
highlighted 28 5.6 Tifinagh inscription amongst the cliffs 49
4.3 Schematic map of the Essouk-Tadmekka ruins in relation 5.7 Arabic and Tifinagh inscriptions side by side in the
to the surrounding cliffs and the wadi, identifying the south-eastern cliffs 50
principal zones of the ruins and specific features 29 6.1 Aerial photograph of central area of site showing
4.4 Aerial photograph of central area of the town ruins 30 excavation unit locations 55
xvi List Of Figures And Tables

6.2 Key for all plans and stratigraphic drawings 57 8.5 Plan of Ek-B Horizon 2 87
7.1 Illustration of the location of unit Ek-A 58 8.6 View of north area of Ek-B excavation showing the
7.2 Surface of unit Ek-A following the removal of loose northern face of Wall 1 revealed to its base 88
sand 59 8.7 South face of Ek-B Wall 1, showing the large stones used
7.3 Looking down into excavation unit Ek-A from the in its construction and the skillful way in which they
surface 59 have been laid 88
7.4 Plan (a) and photograph (b) of unit Ek-A Horizon 2 8.8 Section drawing of the unit Ek-B deposits 89
Context 117, showing post-hole distribution 60 9.1 Illustration of the location of unit Ek-C 90
7.5 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 3 62 9.2 Surface of Ek-C excavation area 90
7.6 View standing within room excavated as Horizon 3, 9.3 Plan of Ek-C Horizon 1 91
looking towards the south wall and the infilled south 9.4 Ek-C Feature 1, assumed to be the surrounding wall of a
exit 63 grave 91
7.7 The base of the west wall constructed from Ek-A 9.5 Ek-C Wall 2 seen within the north face of the excavation
Horizon 3 63 unit 92
7.8 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 4 65 9.6 Illustration of the filling of the well with rocks which
7.9 Step (Feat. 8) created in front of eastern doorway in Ek-A occurred in Ek-C Horizon 2 92
Horizon 4 66 9.7 Ek-C Wall 1 shown within the Horizon 3 deposits 93
7.10 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 5 67 9.8 Section drawing of the Ek-C occupation sequence 93
7.11 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 6 68 10.1 Calibration curve of radiocarbon dates from unit Ek-A 95
7.12 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 7 69 11.1 Illustration of the methodology implemented in drawing
7.13 Detail of the east wall section at the Ek-A Horizon 7 level the Essouk ruins from aerial photographs 103
illustrating the clay floor continuing through an open, 11.2 Map of the central town ruins developed from aerial
ground-level passageway 70 photographs 104
7.14 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 8 71 11.3 Illustration of examples of building units of a broad type
7.15 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 9 72 commonly encountered amongst the ruins on the site’s
7.16 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 10 73 surface 106
7.17 Course of mud bricks forming the base of 11.4 Interpretative illustration of the remains of a building
Ek-A Wall 16 73 unit present on the surface of the ruins 107
7.18 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 11 74 11.5 Drawing of the remains of the northern mosque (‘Friday
7.19 Elevated view showing red-ochre coated, banco ‘seating- mosque’) 109
platform’ within Ek-A Horizon 11 75 11.6 Drawing of the remains of the southern mosque 109
7.20 Wall 7 created in Ek-A Horizon 11 76 11.7 Banco coating in the process of being removed from the
7.21 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 12 77 lower levels of the walls in the north-west corner of Ek-A,
7.22 Crushed pot covered by the wall collapse marking the revealing the stone wall behind 110
termination of Ek-A 11.8 Well-dressed stone used to fill a doorway in
Horizon 12 77 Ek-A Horizon 6 111
7.23 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 13 78 11.9 Remains of pisé structure built in Ek-A Horizon 3;
7.24 Ek-A Horizon 13 room shown with intact pots revealed by potentially representing the remains of some form of
the removal of a thick-layer of wall collapse 79 staircase 112
7.25 Plan of Ek-A Horizon 14 80 11.10 a) Ochre-coated seating-platform excavated in Ek-A
7.26 Unidentified Feature 1 seen within the central room Horizon 11, being put to use for afternoon tea; b) detail
space of Ek-A Horizon 14 81 of the red/orange-ochre seen on the vertical face of the
7.27 Southern area of unit Ek-A shown during the removal of seating platform 113
Horizon 14 collapse deposits 81 11.11 North (a) and south (b) walls of room in
7.28 Section drawing illustrating the individual deposits, Ek-A Horizon 14 114
horizons and Periods excavated within unit Ek-A 82 11.12 Drawing of the superimposed walls which defined the
8.1 Illustration of the location of unit Ek-B 83 west side of the series of rooms excavated in Ek-A over 14
8.2 Unit Ek-B seen on the surface 84 building horizons 115
8.3 Plan of unit Ek-B Horizon 1 85 12.1 Examples of glazed and wheel-turned pottery
8.4 Ek-B Feature 1, assumed to be a latrine 86 fragments 120
List Of Figures And Tables xvii

12.2 Rim-sherd of Chinese Qingbai porcelain 121 15.1 The Essouk-Tadmekka coin mould fragments seen in
12.3 Photograph (left) and drawing (right) of glazed oil plan and section 175
lamp 121 15.2 Upper surface and profile view of coin mould
12.4 Reconstruction drawings of selected glazed and Ek-A 95 176
wheel-thrown pottery based upon recovered 15.3 Optical and X-ray views of coin mould Ek-A 93 showing
fragments 122 affixed/embedded gold prills 177
12.5 Pottery decoration codes used in the analysis 15.4 Technical analysis of coin moulds 178
of the unglazed, hand-formed pottery and their 15.5 Upper surface and profile of gold-processing crucible
explanation 127 fragment Ek-A 87E, prior to sectioning for analysis 180
12.6 Illustration of décor motifs recorded on the unglazed, 15.6 Mounted and polished gold-processing crucible fragment
hand-formed pottery (sheet 1) 128 Ek-A 86A 181
12.7 Illustration of décor motifs recorded on the unglazed, 15.7 SEM and optical images of gold prills and heavy minerals
hand-formed pottery (sheet 2) 129 within gold-processing crucible Ek-A-86A 182
12.8 Some common coarse-ware, cord-decorated pot 15.8 BSE images of the gold-processing crucible
types 137 fragments 182
12.9 Intact and near intact vessels from Ek-A Period 4 138 16.1 Examples of iron bloomery remains 191
12.10 Illustration of the CWSGI décor motif 139 16.2 Microphoto illustrating tap slag 191
12.11 Demonstration of the presence of Sorghum temper 16.3 Microphotos of bloomery slag 192
within the fabric of a CWSGI decorated pot-sherd 141 16.4 Crucible steel slag and crucible fragments 193
12.12 Illustration of the presence of sponge (Potamolepis) 16.5 Illustration of technical analysis of crucible-steel
spicules within the fabric of CWSGI decorated crucible fragments 195
pot-sherds 143 16.6 Optical micrographs of a mostly corroded high-carbon
12.13 Pot-rim featuring décor motif Cr-4 147 prill 196
12.14 Photograph of painted Essouk-Tadmekka pottery 16.7 Optical micrograph of a partly corroded high-carbon
showing close affinities with wares excavated at sites on prill 197
the Niger River 148 16.8 Optical micrographs showing a flake of graphite 198
12.15 Illustration of the ‘impersonation’ of Cr-1 pottery design 16.9 Copper slag 199
forms using a dragged comb 151 16.10 Polished block of copper slag sample 199
13.1 Examples of glass fragments recorded 153 16.11 Optical micrograph of copper slag sample showing a
13.2 Reconstruction drawings of selected glass bowl/dish combined copper metal – copper sulphide prill with an
fragments 154 associated gas bubble, embedded in glassy slag 199
13.3 Reconstruction drawings of selected glass bottle 16.12 Various unidentified crucible fragments 200
fragments 154 16.13 Highly vitrified furnace wall material/hearth lining
13.4 Drawings of other distinctive glass vessel forms within fragments 200
the Essouk-Tadmekka assemblage 155 17.1 Silver coins following conservation 206
14.1 Glass bead forms recorded 160 17.2 Uncleaned coins 207
14.2 Images illustrating various aspects of the glass bead 17.3 Iron arrow/spearheads 209
assemblage 161 17.4 Iron sword/dagger tip 209
14.3 Dichroic bead excavated at Essouk-Tadmekka 165 17.5 Selection of excavated iron artefacts 210
14.4 A collection of the heavily weathered greenish blue 17.6 Photograph and drawing of iron key on ring 211
bead-glass found in significant quantities 166 17.7 Perforated sheet metal artefacts 212
14.5 Corroded blue glass bead, sectioned and embedded in 17.8 Illustration of copper alloy fixture type, termed ‘domed
resin block, illustrating the production of this bead type boss pin fixture’ 213
using the drawing technique 169 17.9 Pierced copper alloy discs 213
14.6 Photographs of stone and shell beads excavated 170 17.10 Selected copper-alloy artefacts 214
14.7 Drawings of various beads excavated made from 17.11 Copper-alloy kohl applicator 214
materials other than glass 171 18.1 Example of Cypraea moneta cowrie shell found at
14.8 Artefacts identified as made of coral, likely functioning Essouk-Tadmekka 216
as beads 171 18.2 Silicified remains of coiled reed mat 218
xviii List Of Figures And Tables

18.3 Excavated textile specimens: left, silk fragment; right, B.7 Plan F. Plan of selected area of town ruins: east of the
textile fragment (unidentified basal material) with silk wadi (central zone) 293
stitch 218 B.8 Plan G. Plan of selected area of town ruins: east of the
18.4 Images showing microscopic structures of fibres from wadi (zone surrounding ‘southern mosque’) 294
textile fragments shown in B.9 Plan H. Plan of selected area of town ruins: east of the
Fig. 18.3 219 wadi (far southern section) 295
18.5 Examples of ochre and agate artefacts 221 B.10 Plan I. Plan of south-eastern cemeteries (northern
18.6 Garnet 223 zone) 296
18.7 Left, stone bracelet/arm-ring; right, base of stone B.11 Plan J. Plan of south-eastern cemeteries (southern
bowl 224 zone) 296
18.8 Stone statuette found during surface survey 224 B.12 Plan K. Plan of south-western cemeteries 297
18.9 Spindle whorl fragments 225 B.13 Plan L. Plan of western cemeteries 297
18.10 Other ceramic object types from Essouk-Tadmekka 225 B.14 Plan M. Plan of north- western cemeteries 297
19.1 A selection of the excavated ostrich eggshell B.15 Plan N. Plan of north-eastern cemeteries 298
fragments 227 C.1 Cluster of inscriptions photographed at an unspecified
19.2 Illustrations of selected ostrich eggshell fragments 228 cliff location 302
19.3 a) SEM image of interior of a hatched ostrich eggshell C.2 Closer view of the lower-left engraved rock face seen in
fragment; b) SEM image of interior of an unhatched Fig. C.1, including inscription Essouk, n.s., no 1 (dated
ostrich eggshell fragment 231 AD 1011) 303
20.1 a&b) Two views of a Camelus dromedarius C.3 Inscriptions Essouk, n.s., no 5, no 6, and no 7, located in
navicular 237 the eastern cliffs overlooking the town ruins 303
20.2 Canis cf. familiaris astragalus, anterior view 237 C.4 Closer view of inscriptions Essouk, n.s., no 5, no 6, and
20.3 Charred and broken Canis cf. familiaris metacarpal 238 no 7 shown in Fig. C.3 303
20.4 Proximal articular end of Lates niloticus anal C.5 Undated inscription Essouk, n.s., n. 8 303
pterygophore 240 E.1 Pottery firing core types 308
21.1 Plain light views of carbonised cotton and wheat E.2 Pottery temper types 309
remains 242 E.3 Excavated simple rim forms 309
21.2 Views of silicified grass husk-rich sample 243 E.4 Excavated thickened rim forms 310
21.3 SEM and ESEM images of selected Essouk-Tadmekka E.5 Excavated everted rim forms (1) 311
cereal remains 246 E.6 Excavated everted rim forms (2) 312
21.4 SEM and ESEM images of selected Essouk-Tadmekka E.7 Excavated everted rim forms (3) 313
legumes, fruits, oil/fibre, wild and other plant E.8 Illustration of pot angle codes 314
remains 247 E.9 Excavated pot handle forms 314
21.5 Illustration comparing relative frequency and ubiquity of E.10 Excavated pottery modelled base forms 315
plant taxa of Essouk-Tadmekka 250 E.11 Excavated spouts and trilobate pot rest forms 315
B.1 Guide illustration showing location of individual plan E.12 Excavated perforated forms 316
sheets providing detailed illustration of the mapping E.13 Illustration of décor location zones used in the pottery
of different sectors of the Essouk-Tadmekka town analysis 316
ruins 287 E.14 Map showing the distribution of surface collection units
B.2 Plan A. Plan of selected area of town ruins: west of the and zones 317
wadi (northern section) 288 E.15 Illustration of pot rim forms recorded during
B.3 Plan B. Plan of selected area of town ruins: west of the surface collection but not present in the excavated
wadi (central section) 289 assemblage 318
B.4 Plan C. Plan of selected area of town ruins, showing the H.1 Graphs illustrating the chemistry of Essouk-Tadmekka
island, as well as a portion of the ruins on the west of the glass vessels 364
wadi (southern section), and a small portion of the ruins H.2 Graphs illustrating the chemistry of Essouk-Tadmekka
on the east of the wadi 290 glass beads 365
B.5 Plan D. Plan of selected area of town ruins: east of the I.1 Archaeometallurgy sample 004 Ek-A 103 370
wadi (far northern section) 291 I.2 Archaeometallurgy sample 005 Ek-A 96 370
B.6 Plan E. Plan of selected area of town ruins: east of the I.3 Archaeometallurgy sample 006 Ek-A 96 371
wadi (zone to north of the ‘Friday mosque’) 292 I.4 Archaeometallurgy sample 007 Ek-A 96 371
List Of Figures And Tables xix

I.5 Archaeometallurgy sample 010 Ek-A 96 371 12.2 Broad overview of the unglazed, hand-formed pottery
I.6 Archaeometallurgy sample 011 Ek-A 96 372 assemblage from units Ek-B and Ek-C 131
I.7 Archaeometallurgy sample 012 Ek-A 95 372 15.1 PIXE analysis of Ek-A 93 gold prills 179
I.8 Archaeometallurgy sample 018 Ek-A 93 372 15.2 SEM-EDS analyses of individual gold particles within the
I.9 Archaeometallurgy sample 027 Ek-A 43 372 two crucible fragments 181
I.10 Archaeometallurgy sample 028 Ek-A 20 373 15.3 SEM-EDS data on the glassy slag coating the inside
I.11 Archaeometallurgy sample 035 Ek-B 11 373 of the two gold-processing crucible fragments
I.12 Archaeometallurgy sample 065 Ek-C 20 374 and comparison of this with a glass group from
I.13 Archaeometallurgy sample 020 Ek-A 87 375 Thailand 183
I.14 Archaeometallurgy sample 022 Ek-A 87 375 16.1 Summary account of stratigraphic distribution of
I.15 Archaeometallurgy sample 069 Ek-C 18 375 archaeometallurgy samples 189
I.16 Archaeometallurgy sample 038 Ek-B 11 376 17.1 Metal artefacts shown by unit horizon 204
I.17 Archaeometallurgy sample 031 Ek-A 1 377 18.1 Distribution, taxonomy and measurements of cowrie
I.18 Archaeometallurgy sample 032 Ek-B 12 377 shells 217
I.19 Archaeometallurgy sample 044 Ek-B 9 377 18.2 Frequency distribution of ceramic objects from unit
I.20 Archaeometallurgy sample 066 Ek-C 19 377 Ek-A and Ek-B Horizons 2 & 3 224
I.21 Archaeometallurgy sample 067 Ek-C 18 378 19.1 Excavated ostrich eggshell specimens 229
I.22 Archaeometallurgy sample 025 Ek-A 71 378 20.1 Comparative livestock proportions between
I.23 Archaeometallurgy sample 026 Ek-A 55 378 Essouk-Tadmekka and other West African urban
J.1 Initial image produced by Digital X-ray of the silver coins sites 235
and copper alloys 382 20.2 Comparative Sheep/Goat measurements between
J.2 Silver coin Ek-A 72 shown during various stages of Digital Essouk-Tadmekka and other contemporary West
X-ray image processing (without copper filter) 382 African sites 236
J.3 Digital X-ray images of silver coins using the copper 21.1 Archaeological contexts of archaeobotanical flotation
filter 382 samples processed 242
J.4 Conservation of silver coin Ek-A 79, showing before, 21.2 Taxa counts, relative frequency and ubiquity, and
during, and final conservation stages 383 presence/absence by period of important plant taxa of
K.1 Elemental composition comparison of Essouk-Tadmekka Essouk-Tadmekka 244
copper-based objects through time 386 21.3 Presence/absence of selected plant taxa at Essouk and
K.2 Technical analysis of copper-alloy artefact Ek-A other relevant sites 245
40–216 387 22.1 Summary of Essouk-Tadmekka stratigraphy, chronology
K.3 Technical analysis of brass artefact Ek-A 87–208 388 and phasing 256
K.4 Technical analysis of brass artefact Ek-B 06-209 389 22.2 Summary of excavated Essouk-Tadmekka material
K.5 Section of dagger/sword blade fragment 389 culture and subsistence evidence 257
K.6 Lead isotopic ratio comparisons of analyzed E.1 Frequency distribution of temper types for unit Ek-A
objects 390 pots 319
L.1 Silk fragment (exterior) and detail 395 E.2 Frequency distribution of temper types for unit Ek-B
L.2 Silk fragment (interior) and detail 395 and Ek-C pots 319
L.3 SEM image of silk fragment 396 E.3 Frequency distribution of rim diameters for unit Ek-A
L.4 Detail of textile fragment of unidentified basal pots 319
material 396 E.4 Frequency distribution of rim diameters for unit Ek-B
and Ek-C pots 320
E.5 Frequency distribution of modelled base types for unit
Tables Ek-A pots 320
E.6 Frequency distribution of modelled base types for unit
10.1 Essouk-Tadmekka radiocarbon dates 96 Ek-B/Ek-C pots 320
10.2 Proposed chronology for period and horizon dates from E.7 Division of Ek-A pottery rim forms into simple, everted
Essouk-Tadmekka excavation units 97 and thickened rim form categories 321
12.1 Broad overview of the unglazed, hand-formed pottery E.8 Division of Ek-B and Ek-C pottery rim forms into
assemblage from unit Ek-A 131 simple, everted and thickened rim form categories 321
xx List Of Figures And Tables

E.9 Frequency distribution of simple rims for unit Ek-A E.34 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and simple
pots 321 rim correspondences on Ek-B and Ek-C pots 337
E.10 Frequency distribution of simple rims for unit Ek-B and E.35 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and everted
Ek-C pots 321 rim correspondences on Ek-A pots (1) 338
E.11 Frequency distribution of thickened rims for unit Ek-A E.36 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and everted
pots 322 rim correspondences on Ek-A pots (2) 340
E.12 Frequency distribution of thickened rims for unit Ek-B E.37 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and everted
and Ek-C pots 322 rim correspondences on Ek-B and Ek-C pots (1) 341
E.13 Frequency distribution of everted rims for unit Ek-A E.38 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and everted
pots 323 rim correspondences on Ek-B and Ek-C pots (2) 343
E.14 Frequency distribution of everted rims for unit Ek-B E.39 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and handle
and Ek-C pots 324 form correspondences on Ek-A pots 345
E.15 Frequency distribution of rim thickness for unit Ek-A E.40 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and handle
pots 325 form correspondences on Ek-B and Ek-C pots 346
E.16 Frequency distribution of rim thickness for unit Ek-B E.41 Descriptive table of all T6 pot rims excavated at
and Ek-C pots 326 Essouk 348
E.17 Frequency distribution of handle types for unit Ek-A E.42 Descriptive table of all E35 pot rims excavated at
pots 326 Essouk 348
E.18 Frequency distribution of handle types for unit Ek-B E.43 Descriptive table of all excavated pot forms associated
and Ek-C pots 327 with décor motif Cr-1 349
E.19 Frequency distribution of other modelled forms for E.44 Descriptive table of all CR-4 decorated sherds
unit Ek-A pots 327 excavated 350
E.20 Frequency distribution of other modelled forms for E.45 Frequency distribution table for simple pot rims
unit Ek-B and Ek-C pots 328 recorded during the surface collection according to
E.21 Frequency distribution of décor types for unit Ek-A surface collection zones 350
pots 328 E.46 Frequency distribution table of thickened pot rims
E.22 Frequency distribution of décor types for unit Ek-B and recorded during the surface collection according to
Ek-C pots 329 surface collection zones 351
E.23 Frequency distribution of décor locations for unit Ek-A E.47 Frequency distribution table of everted pot rims
pots 330 recorded during the surface collection according to
E.24 Frequency distribution of décor locations for unit Ek-B surface collection zones (1) 351
and Ek-C pots 331 E.48 Frequency distribution table of everted pot rims
E.25 Frequency distribution of slip and burnish for unit Ek-A recorded during the surface collection according to
pots 331 surface collection zones (2) 352
E.26 Frequency distribution of slip and burnish for unit Ek-B E.49 Frequency distribution table of everted pot rims
and Ek-C pots 331 recorded during the surface collection according to
E.27 Frequency distribution table of broad firing core surface collection zones (3) 353
categories recorded in unit Ek-A 332 E.50 Frequency distribution table of décor motifs recorded
E.28 Frequency distribution of Rye firing core types for unit (on pot rims) during the surface collection according to
Ek-A pots 332 surface collection zones 353
E.29 Frequency distribution of Rye firing core types for unit E.51 Results of thin section analysis of CWSGI pot-sherds and
Ek-B and Ek-C pots 332 other control sherds 354
E.30 Décor motif associations with temper code ‘44’ sherds F.1 Frequency distribution table showing forms of all vessel
in Ek-A Period 3b 333 glass specimens excavated 355
E.31 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and simple F.2 Frequency distribution table showing thickness of all
rim correspondences on unit Ek-A pots 333 (measureable) vessel glass excavated 356
E.32 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and simple F.3 Frequency distribution table showing colours of all
rim correspondences on Ek-B and Ek-C pots 334 vessel glass excavated 357
E.33 Frequency distribution table of décor motif and F.4 Frequency distribution table showing weathering of all
thickened rim correspondences on Ek-A pots 336 vessel glass excavated 357
List Of Figures And Tables xxi

G.1 Frequency distribution table showing quantities and varying shades of blue beads of the most common form
forms of glass beads throughout the three excavated categories recorded 362
units 358 G.13 Frequency distribution table showing correspondences
G.2 Frequency distribution table showing regularity of glass between weathering and ‘property under light’ for
bead forms per unit Ek-A horizon 358 varying shades of green beads of the most common
G.3 Frequency distribution table showing regularity of glass form categories recorded 363
bead forms per horizon in units Ek-B & Ek-C 359 G.14 Frequency distribution table showing correspondences
G.4 Frequency distribution table showing sizes of excavated between weathering and ‘property under light’ for
glass beads 359 varying shades of yellow beads of the most common
G.5 Frequency distribution table showing perforation sizes form categories recorded 363
of excavated glass beads 359 H.1 Summary results of chemical analysis of Essouk-
G.6 Frequency distribution table showing manufacturing Tadmekka glass finds 366
techniques used to make the excavated glass J.1 Summary of conservation finds condition
beads 359 assessment 383
G.7 Frequency distribution table showing colours of J.2 Summary of XRF analysis on selected silver coins and
excavated glass beads 360 copper alloys 384
G.8 Frequency distribution table showing ‘property under M.1 Ek-A faunal remains NISP [Number of Individual
light’ of excavated glass beads 361 Specimens Present] 400
G. 9 Frequency distribution table showing degrees of M.2 Ek-B and Ek-C faunal remains NISP 401
weathering of excavated glass beads 361 M.3 Charring on elements of the Principal Taxa evidenced
G.10 Frequency distribution table showing correspondences within the faunal remains 402
between original bead colours and degrees of M.4 Numbers of Deciduous Dentition and Unfused
weathering 361 elements versus Adult Dentition and Fused Elements in
G.11 Frequency distribution table showing correspondences Cattle, Sheep and Goats 402
between bead colours not thought to be original and M.5 Measurable Bone Specimens 402
degrees of weathering 362 N.1 Complete listing of archaeobotanical specimens
G.12 Frequency distribution table showing correspondences excavated 404
between weathering and ‘property under light’ for
Notes on Contributors

Stephanie Black Dorian Q Fuller

(MSc 2012 & MA 2010, UCL) is an objects conservator with (Ph.D. 2000, Cambridge) is Professor of Archaeobotany at
specializations in archaeological, ethnographic, and natu- the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
ral history collections. She was previously based at UCL He has worked on the archaeobotany of early agriculture
Qatar in Doha, Qatar, where she conducted the digital and plant domestication in India, China, the Near East,
X-ray imaging and treatment on small finds excavated Sudan, and parts of West and East Africa. He also works on
from Essouk-Tadmekka. Stephanie is currently working historical periods in Sudan, Ethiopia, India, Sri Lanka and
as an assistant conservator for the Gallery Enhancement Morocco. He is co-author of Trees and Woodlands of South
Project at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, India: Archaeological Perspectives (2008, Left Coast Press)
USA. and co-editor of Climates, Landscapes and Civilizations
(2012, American Geophysical Union) and Archaeology of
Sophie Desrosiers African Plant Use (2014, Left Coast Press).
(Ph.D. 1987, EHESS) is Associate Professor at the École des
Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. A textile histo- James Lankton
rian with an anthropological background, she has devel- is currently an Honorary Senior Research Associate at
oped two main fields of research: silks between China and UCL Qatar in Doha, having completed an MSc course on
the Mediterranean, and textiles in the Andes, both from the scientific analysis of archaeological materials at the
the 2nd century B.C. until the 16th century AD. She is par- UCL Institute of Archaeology in 2003. His interests range
ticularly interested by the circulation of textile artefacts, from the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean to West Africa
designs, knowledge and specialized makers as indicators and South, Southeast and East Asia, and he has recently
of contacts, exchanges or migrations. been working with Robert Brill and Stephen Koob at the
Corning Museum of Glass to help catalog the extensive
Laure Dussubieux collection of research samples put together by Dr Brill dur-
(Ph.D. 2001, Université d’Orléans, France) is a Research ing his 50-year career at the Museum. He has published on
Scientist and the manager of the Elemental Analysis a range of topics, including early primary glass production
Facility at the Field Museum, a laboratory used to deter- in southern Nigeria and early glass in southeast Asia.
mine the elemental composition of ancient materials.
Her research interests include ancient glass in general and Kevin C. MacDonald
the circulation of glass (as beads or vessels) around the (Ph.D. 1994, Cambridge) is Professor of African Archaeo­
Indian Ocean. She recently co-edited the volume Recent logy at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and Chair of the
Advances in Laser Ablation ICP-MS for Archaeology with UCL African Studies Research Centre. He has worked on
Springer Verlag. the archaeology of Mali for over 30 years, directing field-
work around Segou, Sibi, Douentza and in the Middle
Thomas Fenn Niger. MacDonald’s research has ranged from archaeo-
(Ph.D. Anthropology-Archaeology) is an archaeologist zoological and ceramic studies, to work on the archaeol-
and Adjunct Teaching Faculty and Research Faculty at ogy and historical anthropology of political organisation.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly He is currently working on the historical archaeology of
Pomona), California, USA. He works extensively studying the Diaspora in Louisiana and beginning a new research
the ancient production and trade of copper metals and al- project in Mauritania.
loys in West and North Africa, as well as the production
and trade in ancient glass beads in all regions of Africa. Paulo Fernando de Moraes Farias
Currently, he has active research projects examining cop- is a Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Pro­
per production and trade in Mongolia, East Asia, explor- fessor of African History at the University of Birmingham,
ing the production and trade of glass in ancient India, and UK. He has published on West African oral traditions, the
technological and cultural developments of a Neo-Punic/ 17th-century Timbuktu Chronicles, and West African me-
early Roman site in Tunisia, North Africa. dieval Arabic inscriptions. He is particularly interested in
Notes On Contributors xxiii

the interaction between the Islamic cultural heritage and in Archaeology Research Centre at the Cyprus Institute in
other cultural heritages in West Africa. Nicosia, Cyprus.

Mary-Anne Murray Peter Robertshaw

is an archaeobotanist/environmental archaeologist (Ph.D. 1980, Cambridge) is Emeritus Professor of Anthro­
working in Qatar for the University of Copenhagen pology at California State University, San Bernardino and
and University College London (UCL Qatar). She is co-editor of the journal, Azania: Archaeological Research
also an Honorary Research Associate at the Institute of in Africa. In addition to employing chemical analysis
Archaeology, University College London, where she re- of glass beads from African archaeological sites to re-
ceived her Ph.D. In Africa, she has worked extensively on construct trade patterns, he has done considerable ar-
ancient Egyptian plant remains from several sites, as well chaeological fieldwork in East Africa. He is particularly
as those from Mali and Senegal. For many years she has interested in the intersection of politics, ritual, and cul-
also worked as an archaeologist and/or archaeobotanist ture, with particular reference to the development of the
in the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, and precolonial state in Bunyoro (Uganda).
the Caribbean.
Jane Sidell
Sam Nixon (Ph.D. 2004, University of Durham) is an archaeologist and
(Ph.D. 2008, UCL) is an archaeologist and Senior Research currently Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Historic
Associate at the University of East Anglia, UK. In addition England. She became interested in the scientific analy-
to excavating at Essouk-Tadmekka, he has also worked on sis of archaeological eggshell following her training as an
medieval-era sites in the Republic of Benin and Morocco, environmental archaeologist, and has worked on primar-
with his principal research interest being long-distance ily European material from the Lower Palaeolithic to the
trade networks across the Sahara. He has produced early modern period. Her main focus is the archaeology
various other publications on African archaeology and of London and she has recently contributed to ‘Thirty-
history and is currently writing a monograph on early trans- Second London’ published by Quarto Books.
Saharan trade with Thames & Hudson.
Benoit Suzanne
Thilo Rehren (Masters, 2014, ULB, Architecture Faculty, La Cambre
is Professor for Archaeological Materials and Technologies Horta, Brussels) is currently working as an independent
at the UCL Institute for Archaeology. His main inter- architect, based in Belgium. He pursued his Masters the-
est is the study of the primary production of metals, al- sis on Essouk-Tadmekka, conducting a transdisciplinary
loys and glass, spanning from the Late Neolithic through analysis of the architectural remains. Focused principal-
to the 19th century AD. From 2011 to 2016 he served as ly around a mapping of the town’s surface archaeology,
founding Director of UCL Qatar, a centre of excellence in the aim of this study was to develop a critical approach
Archaeology, Conservation and Museum Studies. From 1st to methodologies dedicated to urban and architectural
September 2017 he will lead the Science and Technology analyses.
 Part 1
Introduction

∵
 CHAPTER 1

Overview
Sam Nixon

Introducing the Essouk-Tadmekka Project mountains and ravines and is better built than Ghana
or Kawkaw [West African states]. The inhabitants of
In the centuries following the Islamic conquest of North Tadmakka are Muslim Berbers who veil themselves as
Africa in the 7th century AD trading connections across the Berbers of the desert do. They live on meat and milk
the Sahara escalated dramatically, leading to the develop- as well as on a grain which the earth produces without
ment of a flourishing commercial system focused around being tilled. Sorghum and other grains are imported for
commerce in West African gold, slaves, and ivory. This them from the land of the Sudan. They wear clothes of
Saharan system, supported by large camel caravans and cotton, nuli, and other robes dyed red. Their king wears
desert trading posts, was part of the wider developing a red turban, yellow shirt, and blue trousers. Their dinars
commercial network of the early Islamic world, traders [Islamic coinage unit] are called ‘bald’ because they are of
in West Africa being connected via a loose network of pure gold without any stamp. Their women are of perfect
trade routes and commercial centres stretching as far as beauty, unequalled among people of any other country,
the Silk Road towns of eastern Asia. It was the wealth gen- but adultery is allowed among them. They fall upon any
erated by this Islamic network of Saharan trade that led merchant [disputing as to] which of them shall take him
European powers to establish sea routes to West Africa, to her house”. (see App. A)
in order to gain direct access specifically to West African
gold. In the 15th century Portuguese sailors mastered the Al-Bakri describes Tadmekka as one of the most im-
shipping and navigational technology necessary to suc- portant towns associated with the early Saharan trade,
cessfully sail along the treacherous Atlantic African coast, located at a crucial point on one of the principal camel-
opening up the first sustained maritime links with West caravan routes to West Africa, positioned at the southern
Africa. While the painful subsequent history of European extremity of the harshest stretch of the Saharan cross-
connections with West Africa is well-known and inten- ing (see Chapter 2). Tadmekka appears as an impressive
sively researched – Europeans finding not only gold but and wealthy market town, and while having a strong
also slaves, going on to export millions of Africans to Muslim identity and a diverse community of traders it
the Americas – the history of the Islamic trans-Saharan also clearly had a culture closely connected with that of
commerce which preceded European connections is a the Berber peoples from the surrounding desert. It was
far less well-known story (for references see Chapter 2). also clearly positioned at the heart of a flourishing com-
Ultimately, this book is concerned with improving under- mercial network, channeling the various trade goods
standing of this earlier ‘trans-Saharan’ connection with coming into West Africa and those being sent across the
West Africa, but approaching this through looking at the desert to other parts of the Islamic world and beyond.
history of one town: Essouk-Tadmekka. Importantly, Al-Bakri’s description also identifies the
In ca AD 1068 the Andalusian Muslim geographer Al- meaning of Tadmekka’s name, “the Mecca like”, providing
Bakri wrote what is widely seen to be the most accurate some form of comparison with the principal holy city of
and detailed early description of West Africa and the Islam, Mecca.
trans-Saharan trade, within the (Arabic) geographical text While Al-Bakri’s description of Tadmekka is the best
The Book of Highways and Kingdoms. Amongst the most known, a range of other early Arabic geographical texts
striking descriptions featuring in Al-Bakri’s text is that of describe this place both before and afterwards, from the
Tadmekka: 10th to the 15th century AD (see Chapter 2 and App. A).
These texts suggest Tadmekka was a key point within the
“From Bughrat you go to Tiraqqa and from there across early trans-Saharan world for at least 500 years, from the
the desert plain to Tadmakka, which of all the towns in earliest Arabic descriptions of West Africa right up to
the world is the one that resembles Mecca the most. Its the time when European ships first docked off the West
name means ‘the Mecca like’. It is a large town amidst African coast.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/9789004348998_002

4 CHAPTER 1

Figure 1.1 Map of north-west Africa, showing the location of Essouk-Tadmekka at the southwest extension of the Saharan highlands – map shows
both elevation data and the broad environmental zones of the Sahara and West Africa.
graphics N. Khalaf – elevation data courtesy NASA/USGS

Although the name “Essouk” (‘the market’ in Arabic) goes place. In recent years this relationship was indeed finally
unmentioned in Arabic historical records, ruins bearing confirmed by research on inscriptions at Essouk providing
this name located in the Adrar des Iforas desert region a direct connection with the name “Tadmekka” (Chp. 5).
in the north of the Republic of Mali have long been seen The central area of the town ruins of Essouk-Tadmekka
as the location of Tadmekka (see Figs. 1.1, 1.2). The Adrar comprise approximately 50 hectares covered with remains
des Iforas is a sandstone massif more elevated than the of stone structures, including commercial and residential
rest of Mali, and environmentally more similar to the cen- buildings, mosques, and livestock enclosures (Fig. 1.2).
tral Saharan highlands, it being mostly vast swathes of Surrounding this are extensive cemeteries that have yield-
sandy terrain dotted with rocky outcrops, and with only ed inscriptions in Arabic. Further Arabic inscriptions are
occasional scrub or oases-like environments (Camps & found amongst the Essouk cliffs, including the earliest-
Claudot-Hawad 1985; see Chapters 3 & 21 for further known internally-dated writing in West Africa, dated to
environmental details). Importantly the Adrar des Iforas the early 11th century AD. Other inscriptions in Tifinagh
region corresponds well with the geographical location of (indigenous Berber script) are also found in these cliffs,
Tadmekka provided by the Early Arabic geographers, and as well as rock-art which includes depictions of animals
the ruins of Essouk are the most prominent in the region. and people.
While not explicitly mentioning the name “Tadmekka”, Widely considered for many years as amongst the most
oral traditions of the region’s Tuareg (Berber) inhabit- important locations for researching trans-Saharan trade,
ants identify Essouk as of central importance within the as well as Tuareg history, a series of researchers have en-
region’s history (see Chapter 2 for details on Tuareg his- gaged in the study of these ruins (see Chapter 2 for fur-
tory and peoples). Despite not providing a definitive con- ther discussion), including most importantly the Arabic
nection between the ruins of Essouk and the Tadmekka inscriptions found there. Prior to the work detailed here,
of the Arabic sources, these traditions were nevertheless however, Essouk-Tadmekka had never been excavated,
taken as further evidence these were one and the same largely due to reasons of political instability. In 2004,
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 Fig. 7—Part 1.

The two parts of Figure 7 show X’s improvement in silent reading,

from April 15, 1921, to Dec. 2, 1921, as measured by Thorndike-
McCall “Reading Scale,” Form 1.
(On the latter date, X answered 23 questions correctly, scoring 52
points, which is the norm for the end of grade 6B.)
Fig. 7—Part 2.
Fig. 8.—Showing X’s ability to get meaning from printed words, in May, 1922, as
tested by Haggerty’s “Sigma 1,” for grades 1 to 3. This does not represent X’s
maximum ability, but is presented as a sample of his work on this scale.

Two Young Patriots. E. T. Tomlinson.

Ralph on the Overland Express. Allen Chapman.
Scouts of Stonewall. J. A. Altsheler.
Army Boys on the Firing Line. Homer Randall.
Among the Malays. G. A. Henty.
Ralph in the Rocky Mountains. Allen Chapman.
The Outdoor Chums at Cabin Point. Quincey Allen.
Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain.
Andy at Yale. Roy E. Stokes.
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle.

Repeated mental tests of X resulted as follows:

Feb. 14, 1918. M. A. 9–9. IQ 85.[11]
Stanford-Binet Dec. 5, 1919. M. A. 11–3. IQ 85.
Jan. 6, 1922. M. A. 12–7. IQ 82.
Pintner’s “Scale of Performance Tests.” Dec. 26, 1919. Median M.
A. 11–0.
Healy’s “Pictorial Completion No. I.” 446 points. (11-year
performance). Dec. 26, 1919.
Healy’s “Pictorial Completion No. II.” 55 points. Dec. 26, 1919.
 Stenquist “Mechanical Tests,” Series I. Feb. 3, 1922. Raw Score, 54
points. T score, 61.
It is of interest to note that a scale like Stanford-Binet, against
which has been repeatedly brought the a priori objection that it
depends on verbal acquirement, is capable of differentiating a non-
reader from the feeble-minded. It is also interesting that the Pintner
“Scale of Performance Tests,” which does not include ability to read
at all, gives almost exactly the same result as the Stanford-Binet, in
this case.

Fig. 9.—Showing an account written by X of his week’s reading.

X is a boy of superior character. He never missed an appointment

with his instructor, and was never tardy except once, unavoidably.
He gave up pleasures, such as trying out for baseball, in order to
learn reading. When asked why he did so, he replied that “You most
probably can’t get a living playing baseball, but you can get a better
living if you can read.” These qualities of perseverance and fidelity to
duty were undoubtedly very important factors in such success as was
achieved.
 Why did X not learn to read as children of his general character
and endowment usually do, in the ordinary course of schooling?
After four years of studying and teaching him, the present writer
cannot give a definite answer to this question. He was finally taught
to read by a method in which the letter is the unit of perception, and
in which words are read in the first place by spelling them aloud.
This is not the method used in the schools where X attended, nor in
any modern school.
Still, the possibility of teaching him by some method other than
that which succeeded, has not been excluded. It is even possible that
he might have learned to read by the very method used in the
schools, under individual instruction, where each habit can be
scrutinized as it is being formed. In a class of forty or fifty children,
each demanding attention, a teacher cannot succeed with an
individual pupil, by any method, as well as with that pupil alone, by
that same method.
It was observed throughout the teaching of X that he constantly
made appeal to his ear. He could always grasp a difficult word more
easily by hearing it spelled aloud, than he could by seeing it. In order
to obtain some quantitative statement of the extent to which auditory
perception showed an advantage over visual perception in his case,
the following experiment was tried.
In the spring of 1922, on four successive weekly appointments, 27
paragraphs, comprising 4131 words, were read by X, both (1) through
the ear, the teacher spelling the words, and X pronouncing them
without seeing them, and (2) through the eye, X seeing and saying
the words, in the usual way. The order of these procedures was
reversed for alternating paragraphs, so that no advantage to either
method of perception would accrue from practice.
Errors are of two kinds—misreadings and omissions. Omissions in
sight reading were not counted, since, according to the method
whereby the teacher spelled successive words to X, no omissions
were possible. Misreadings only were counted. In reading these
paragraphs, X made 162 errors through the eye, and but 57 errors
through the ear, in perceiving the same words.
This great reduction in error through auditory channels might,
however, be due to the fact that by that method only one word was
presented at a time, whereas in the ordinary visual reading the whole
page of words was presented, acting as a distraction. In order to
check this possible error in interpretation, one hundred isolated
words were presented to the eye and to the ear, reversing the
procedure alternately for every ten words. The ratio of error was
nearly the same as in the first experiment. X can now, in fact,
pronounce almost any puzzling word in ordinary reading matter,
such as is found in newspapers, by spelling it aloud.
It seems reasonable, therefore, to infer that there are certain
specific attributes of the auditory elements in reading, which were
especially important for education, in this boy’s case, and which were
not much utilized by the method of teaching employed. By teaching
him the letter, with its various possible sounds, as the unit of
perception, we supplied him with a tool which enables him to
construct words for himself, through the channels which are easiest
for him. This has not rendered him fluent, but it has rendered him
literate. Altogether, he had from us about a hundred and fifty hours
of special instruction. The present writer believes that with several
times as much practice as X has had, he will become a reasonably
fluent sight reader, dropping out the spelling almost entirely.
This case is very much like those referred to by Hinshelwood, and
it is interesting that the teachers adopted, after trial and error, the
same method adopted by Hinshelwood, without being familiar at
that time with Hinshelwood’s contribution.
Inasmuch as a certain practical interest attaches to the final
outcome of educational adjustment in such cases, it may be stated
that X at the age of sixteen years will leave the elementary school,
having completed grade 6B. He will then seek admission to a trade
school, maintained by one of the great industries.
 VIII. SUMMARY OF STUDIES OF NON-
READERS
We see, therefore, that non-readers, of general intelligence much
above the minimum level required for reading, do learn to read when
special training is given. This training may stress phonics (Schmitt),
it may stress the motor and kinæsthetic avenues of approach
(Fernald and Keller), or it may stress visual perception (Gates). It
may or may not proceed by use of the old “alphabet” method
(Hinshelwood).
What is the interpretation of the facts reported? Does it not seem
certain that general intelligence is, as indicated by the high
coefficients of correlation obtained between reading and intelligence,
the chief consideration, in predicting whether or not a child will
learn to read? Would it not appear that children of adequate general
intelligence, and of normal sensory capacity, learn to read when
given intensive training, whatever avenue of approach may be
particularly stressed?
It is not credible that all the non-readers found by Schmitt in
Chicago, chanced to have a kind of disability approachable by
phonics, and in no other way; that those discovered by Fernald and
Keller in California were so constituted that they could be
approached through motor exercises, and not otherwise; that Gates’
cases in the Scarborough School all happened to be susceptible to
training through visual methods, and through no others. In fact, no
investigator has established his or her method as the only method of
successful approach to particular cases, by excluding other methods
through experimental teaching.
For non-readers such as have been described under the criteria
laid down by the investigators quoted, it seems highly probable that
the best method would be that wherein all the avenues of approach
are fully utilized. Such a method would combine all the special
exercises devised by the various investigators, in a proportion and
sequence, which should be determined upon as optimum by
experimental teaching.
 Such a method, when experimentally established, would be most
suitable for all children—not for the extreme of the distribution
exclusively. Here, as in so many questions of pedagogy, all children
might profit from our study of the extreme cases, who differ from the
typical in degree only.
Children of normal sensory capacity, and of IQ average or
superior, typically learn to read passably well, without approach
through all the possible avenues, and without special attention on
the part of the teacher to all the elements involved. A few such
children require intensive teaching in order “to pass” in reading,
because of specific idiosyncrasies. If the methods that succeed with
the extreme cases were applied to the typical class, perhaps the
children might learn to read, not “passably,” but very well. There
might be a rise of ten points in norms for reading ability throughout
the grades. Such perfection of method might or might not eliminate
entirely the necessity for individual teaching of special cases.
Probably it would not, in classes as large as those seen in most of our
public schools to-day.
 IX. CASES OF SPECIAL ABILITY IN
READING
It is characteristic throughout of educational psychology, that
much more is known concerning the unable than is known
concerning the able. The welfare of the strong is neglected by science
and by education. It follows that the bibliographies dealing with the
deficient, the sick, and the erring are very long, while those dealing
with the gifted, the extremely healthy, and the unusually upright are
very brief. Modern society gives a very disproportionate amount of
time, money, and sympathy to its least profitable members.
The few cases of extreme special forwardness in reading, which are
available for reference, are of children who were probably of very
high IQ. Most of them were avowedly so. Terman has supplied
numerous instances of children who learned to read in the third or
fourth year of life, all of them of more than 130 IQ. Francis Galton,
who could read fluently when he was 4 years old, was probably of IQ
near 200, as has been gleaned from other biographical evidence.
Ability to read is in such cases not special.
In 1910, the case of Otto Pöhler was reported. He was a child in
Braunschweig, who could read German and Latin at the age of 1 year
and 9 months, and also could read German numerals. The
subsequent history of this infant shows that at the age of 15 years, he
was an Obersekunder in the gymnasium, and that at 17, he was
within one and a half years of the University. It is certain, therefore,
that general intelligence was superior, but the degree of superiority
cannot be guessed, except within wide limits.
It seems probable that the ability to read was somewhat special, in
the sense that it exceeded the expectations from IQ. In order to read
fluently before the second birthday, a child’s IQ would have to
approach 300, to coincide with expectations. From what we know at
present of the limits of IQ, it would be impossible for any child to
stand at 300 IQ. The case of Otto Pöhler is, therefore, probably one
of especially great ability to read, in a child of generally superior
endowment.
 A similar case is that of Martha, communicated anonymously by
her father, through Terman. Martha was seen by Terman at the age
of 2 years, when she read fluently from an ordinary primer. The
method and amount of instruction which led to this astonishing
result, are set forth in the account. Expectation from reading ability
alone would place Martha’s IQ at something near 300, for she read
what a typical child of 6 years can read. Later Terman tested the
general intelligence of this child, and obtained a rating of 150 IQ.
Thus Martha’s phenomenal ability to read must be considered
special, in the sense that IQ fell far short of expectation therefrom.
A year ago a child was brought to the present writer for mental
examination, because he could read newspapers fluently at the age of
4 years. Upon being measured for speed and accuracy in oral
reading, he fell at the 10-year norms (fifth grade). An IQ of over 200
would be inferred from this, assuming the ability in mechanics of
reading to be in no way special. As a matter of fact, IQ fell at 142.
Scores for comprehension of reading fell at 7 years (second grade
norms), corresponding with general intelligence.
Upon retests this year, the scores were as follows: mechanics of
reading English (speed and accuracy), fifth grade norm;
comprehension in reading, high third grade norm; mental age, 8
years 6 months; IQ 147. This child’s ability to read is special, though
general ability in mental work is very superior, too.
These are all cases of generally gifted children, where mastery in
the mechanics of reading is, however, in each case much beyond
performance in other respects. Cases where test scores have been
presented to show special discrepancies in reading, in children of
very inferior IQ, have been reported by White, in collaboration with
Poull, from the psychological laboratory of the institution for feeble-
minded children, in New York City. The children in the school who
could read were canvassed, and those who could not read were
similarly canvassed, until two groups of five each were selected, all
members being above six years mental age, where reading can
typically be learned. The two groups compared as follows in age,
general ability, and schooling.
 M. A. IQ Age Years at School
Reading Group 6—8 69 9—8 2.2
Non-reading „ 7—10 68 11—8 4.8

It is thus seen that the non-readers have every advantage, being

one year higher in mental level, having had a double amount of
schooling, and being of the same IQ[12] as the readers. The
investigators then had before them two groups of generally inferior
children, of which the members of one had ability to learn reading,
not possessed by members of the other.
Tests based on investigations of the psychology of reading were
then given. These were for auditory and visual acuity, ability to
perceive and reproduce articulate sounds, ability to cross out A’s and
to check numbers, to attend to several impressions instantly, and to
associate numbers and other symbols through the eye and through
the ear. No significant differences in group scores were found, except
in the last tests mentioned—those of forming associations between
symbols. Here the readers made reliably higher scores than did the
non-readers.
The investigators did not measure the reading ability of their
subjects, but selected the children from the school reports, as to
“reading” and “not reading.” The precise extent of specialized
discrepancy between general intelligence and reading ability among
the children cannot, therefore, be calculated. However, it may be
inferred that two of these children had some degree of special ability.
One of these, IQ 67, mental age, 6 years 7 months, is described as the
best reader in the group, and it is said of her that she “reads well.”
Another, IQ 79, mental age, 6 years 7 months, is said to “read very
well,” being then in the second year of attendance on school.
A few cases of superior ability to read, occurring in combination
with low IQ, have also been reported by Bronner.
 X. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LITERACY
Reflection will show at once the great importance of reading for
school progress, since our schools are virtually reading schools.
Almost no subjects included in the curriculum can be learned
without mastery of reading. Also the importance of literacy for life in
modern times can scarcely be overstated. Those who learn to read
easily at an early age thus have a natural advantage; while those of
good intelligence, who have difficulty, should be assisted in every
way to learn.
There are certainly very few children of IQ over 100, with normal
eyes and ears, who do not learn with ease to read. A census would
doubtless show that most cases of special disability in this respect lie
between 50 and 100 IQ, that is, in the lower half of the distribution
for general intelligence. Fildes, who measured the general
intelligence of twenty-six non-readers, whom she studied, found
them distributed as follows, with respect to IQ (Stanford-Binet):

IQ 111 1 child
IQ 82–88 4 children
IQ 70–79 8 children
IQ 50–69 13 children

It may be argued that children who cannot read necessarily tend to

fall low on Stanford-Binet, because the tests composing the scale are
weighted against non-readers. The validity of this argument is
doubtful, in view of the fact that but four out of seventy-four tests
(not including alternates, of which none require reading) directly
involve ability to read or spell. As a matter of fact, Fildes found no
correlation among her twenty-six subjects, between IQ and ability to
read, as measured by reading tests. “Two of the worst readers were
the least intelligent and most intelligent boys. The three worst cases
examined, i.e., cases with no reading power at all, had intelligence
quotients of 61, 79, and 78 respectively. Many defective boys with
such high intelligence quotients read quite well.”[13]
 Non-readers who fall between 80 and 100 IQ are especially worthy
of attention, since they have sufficient general intelligence to make
considerable use of reading, and to suffer a special handicap from
illiteracy.
It may be confidently stated, as a result of the research of the past
five years, that all children of average or better than average general
intelligence are capable of literacy; and that very early use of and
interest in reading are strongly symptomatic of general superiority in
selective thinking. From these facts we may hark back to the
conclusion of the physiological psychologists, Ladd and Woodworth:
“Indeed, the entire cerebrum would seem to be, of necessity,
involved in man’s linguistic attainments and uses.” Mastery of
language is, as Binet concluded, one of the most reliable indications
of competence in general.
 REFERENCES
Anderson, C. I., and Merton, E.—“Remedial Work in Silent
Reading”; Elementary School Journal, 1920.
Anderson, C. I., and Merton, E.—“Remedial Work in Reading”;
Elementary School Journal, 1920.
Berkau, O.—“Otto Pöhler, das frühlesende Braunschweiger Kind”;
Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung, 1910.
Berkowitz, I. H.—The Eyesight of School Children; U. S. Bureau
of Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 65.
Bronner, A. F.—The Psychology of Special Abilities and
Disabilities; The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Boston, 1917.
Burt, C.—“Unstable Children”; Child Study, 1917.
Buswell, G. T.—“An Experimental Study of the Eye-Voice Span in
Reading”; Supplementary Educational Monographs, University
of Chicago, 1920.
Clemesha, I. C.—“Congenital Word Blindness”; Journal of
Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, 1915.
Fernald, G. M., and Keller, H.—“The Effect of Kinæsthetic
Factors in the Development of Word Recognition in the Case of
Non-Readers”; Journal of Educational Research, 1921.
Fildes, L. G.—“A Psychological Inquiry into the Nature of the
Condition Known as Congenital Word Blindness”; Brain, 1921.
Freeman, F. N.—“Clinical Study as a Method in Experimental
Education”; Journal of Applied Psychology, 1920.
Gates, A. I.—The Psychology of Reading and Spelling, with
Special Reference to Disability; Teachers College, Columbia
University, 1922.
Gray, W. S.—“The Diagnostic Study of an Individual Case in
Reading”; Elementary School Journal, 1921.
Gray, W. S.—“Remedial Cases in Reading: Their Diagnosis and
Treatment”; Supplementary Educational Monographs,
University of Chicago, 1922.
Hinshelwood, J.—Congenital Word Blindness; Lewis and Co.,
London, 1917.
King, I.—“A Comparison of Slow and Rapid Readers”; School and
Society, 1916.
Morgan, W. P.—“Congenital Word Blindness”; British Medical
Journal, 1896.
O’Brien, J. A.—Silent Reading. The Macmillan Company, New
York, 1921.
Ranschburg, P.—Die Leseschwäche (Legasthenie) der
Schulkinder im Lichte des Experiments; Julius Springer, Berlin,
1916.
Schmitt, C.—“Developmental Alexia” and “Congenital Word
Blindness or Inability to Learn to Read”; Elementary School
Journal, 1918.
Schröck, G.—“Über kongenitale Wortblindheit”; Klinische
Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde, 1915.
Terman, L. M.—“An Experiment in Infant Education”; Journal of
Applied Psychology, 1919.
Thorndike, E. L.—“The Understanding of Sentences: A Study of
Errors in Reading”; Elementary School Journal, 1917.
Uhl, W. L.—“The Use of the Results of Reading Tests as Bases for
Planning Remedial Work”; Elementary School Journal, 1916.
White, A., and Poull, L. E.—Reading Ability and Disability of
Subnormal Children; Department of Public Welfare, New York,
1921.
 CHAPTER V
Spelling

I. COHERENCE AMONG LINGUISTIC

FUNCTIONS
According to Meumann, the whole field of language is a unit,
psychologically considered. Reading, spelling, composition, the
learning of foreign languages should thus be intimately
interconnected for a given individual. He who learns one readily,
should also readily learn the others, without notable exception.
This view of the close coherence among linguistic functions is
borne out, also, by the work of Gates, already cited, in which he
found high positive correlations among perceptual tests which use
words as materials.
We must notice, nevertheless, that the correlations fall
considerably short of unity. Illustrative cases show that occasionally
children are found who can read well, but cannot spell legibly,
though the present writer has not seen cases of the opposite
condition, and has not found them reported in the literature.
Special defect in spelling will, therefore, be given separate
consideration, though it must be recognized that abilities in spelling
and reading are usually closely associated.
 II. ANALYSIS OF LEARNING TO SPELL
It is virtually impossible for an educated adult, whose spelling
habits have long ago become automatic, to reconstruct from
introspection the long, difficult, and complex processes through
which he passed in learning to communicate by means of correctly
spelled words. Such an adult may gain some idea of what is involved
in the spelling process by confronting himself with the task of
learning to spell and write words upside down and backwards, but
even so the experience of the child is not duplicated.
Analysis teaches us that this aspect of linguistic attainment
ordinarily involves the formation of a series of connections
approximately as follows:
(1) An object, act, quality, or relation is “bound” to a certain sound,
which has often been repeated while the object is pointed at, the act
performed, and so forth. In order that the connection may become
definitely established, it is necessary (a) that the individual should be
able to identify for himself the object, act, quality, or relation, and (b)
that he should be able to recollect the particular vocal sounds which
have been associated therewith. When this is accomplished, the
sound has become a word.
(2) The sound (word) becomes “bound” with performance of the
very complex muscular act necessary for articulating it.
(3) When school age is reached, certain printed and written
symbols, arbitrarily chosen, visually representing sounds, become
“bound” (a) with the recognized objects, acts, and so forth, and (b)
with their vocal representatives, so that when the symbols are
presented to sight, the word can be uttered by the perceiving
individual. This is what we should call ability “to read” the word.
(4) The separate elements of the symbols (letters) become
associated with each other in the proper sequence, and have the
effect of calling each other up to consciousness in the prescribed
order. When this has taken place we say that the individual can spell
orally.
 (5) The child by a slow, voluntary process “binds” the visual
perception of the separate letters with the muscular movements of
arm, hand, and fingers necessary to copy the word.
(6) The child “binds” the representatives in consciousness of the
visual symbols with the motor responses necessary to produce the
written word spontaneously, at pleasure.
This analysis is probably not exhaustive, but it provides a
foundation on which to construct an understanding of poor spellers.
Obviously, poor spelling may be due to one or another of quite
different defects, or to a combination of several defects. In an ability
so complex there is opportunity for the occurrence of a great variety
of deficiencies. In any particular case the underlying cause can be
discovered only by means of a psychological examination covering
the various processes involved.
 III. PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF
[14]
POOR SPELLERS
Poor spelling, like poor reading, may be due to sensory defects,
either of the ear or of the eye. If sounds are indistinct, or if visual
stimuli are vague or distorted, the prescribed connections involving
these elements will be difficult to form. Thus tests of auditory and
visual acuity must be given. If any sensory defect is revealed, it
should be corrected, if it is corrigible.
The degree of general intelligence must be determined. Failure to
learn to spell is frequently symptomatic of general incompetence,
though not so frequently as in the case of reading. The correlation
coefficients cluster around .50 only, in the case of spelling and
general intelligence. Quite a number of children will be found, whose
achievement in spelling shows marked discrepancy with general
capacity. Spelling is more mechanical than reading, so that the
stupid may more easily master it by tireless drill, while the intelligent
are not likely to derive so much pleasure from it or to practice it so
much.
The connections which are described in our analysis under (2) may
be inadequately or incorrectly developed. This would be faulty
pronunciation. This is undoubtedly a very prolific cause of poor
spelling. Such errors as “a-f-t-e-r-w-o-o-d-s” for “afterwards,” “w-h-
e-n-t” for “went,” “p-r-e-h-a-p-s” for “perhaps,” will serve to
illustrate this point. In observations on poor spellers, such errors are
found by the score, and it is discovered that the words are
pronounced as spelled. Thus the poor speller should be tested for the
pronunciation of the words which he misspells. It may be that drill in
correct pronunciation is what is needed, in order to improve his
spelling.
Faulty pronunciation may itself be due to various causes. In the
majority of cases it doubtless arises from false auditory perception,
as in such misspellings as “hares breath” for “hair’s breadth,” and
“Mail Brothers” for “Mayo Brothers.” In other cases it arises from
inability to articulate properly, as with children who stammer or
lisp, or have nasal obstructions.
It may be that a pupil’s weakness lies in the formation of
connections, which we have noted in our analysis under (3). The
formation of these connections involves visual perception, habits of
interpretation through the eye, which have been found to be of first
rate importance in spelling. We may refer back to the discussion of
the perceptual factors in reading. In spelling, also, it has been
discovered that error is not distributed at random, but follows
certain laws. For instance, there is a constant tendency to shorten,
rather than to lengthen words in misspelling them. The influence of
any letter over error varies greatly with the position of the letter in
the word. The last halves of misspelled words show many more
errors than are found in first halves. From these and other facts it is
apparent that failures in visual perception contribute to the
difficulties of poor spellers. In order to determine whether such is
the case with any particular child, it will be necessary to make an
analysis of his work, to see whether the distribution of his errors
reveals such perceptual weakness. If a child can spell the first halves
of words correctly, but does not spell the last halves, or if he learns to
spell the upper halves of words correctly, but cannot spell the lower
halves of them, the remedy is to bring about readjustments of
attention, whereby he will look at those portions of words, which
formerly he failed, unconsciously, to see.
Poor spelling may be due to sheer failure to remember—failure to
retain impressions which were originally clearly and correctly
perceived. This may mean simply that the child requires unusually
numerous repetitions before he can form the connections described
under (4) in our analysis; or it may be that his memory span is
abnormally brief, and that he cannot easily associate more than three
or four elements together as a unitary sequence. Tests of memory
span for various kinds of materials should be instituted, in order to
gain light on this point. If it appears that his performance is
decidedly below the normal for his age, especially when the material
is letters, it may be concluded that too brief memory span is probably
playing a part in his difficulties. This could be checked up further by
an analysis of his spellings, to see to what extent he spells short
words correctly, but misspells longer words. Emphasis upon
syllabication, prefixes, suffixes, and other short units should be
helpful. The child might be able to remember three syllables of three
letters each, but unable to retain, with the same amount of practice,
one word of nine letters. Psychologically, these two tasks are
different.
Smedley suggested years ago that there might be a “rational
element” in spelling, whereby knowledge of the meaning of words
would contribute to the correct spelling of them, in and of itself.
Connections involving meaning are considered in our analysis under
(1). Children produce an especially great proportion of error in
spelling words which have no meaning for them. Hence it is of
interest to test the child for knowledge of the meaning of words
which he misspells. It is necessary to find out whether the words
which confuse him are in his vocabulary.
Motor awkwardness and incoördination may contribute to poor
spelling. Here are involved the connections discussed by us under (5)
and (6). In written spelling (with which education is chiefly
concerned), it is necessary not only to know what symbols are
required, but to execute them successfully with arm, hand, and
fingers. Here we must have recourse to motor tests, for steadiness,
coördination, and speed of voluntary movement. Occasionally one
finds a child who does much better at oral spelling than he does at
written spelling. In such cases, improvement in handwriting is what
is needed, either in respect to rate or quality. A slow writer may
misspell many words if he attempts to hurry.
Many of the mistakes of poor spellers are merely lapses. These are
errors committed by children who “know better,” who can correct the
mistake spontaneously as soon as attention is called to it. There are
wide individual differences in the liability to lapse. It is difficult to
see what remedial measures may be taken to improve those whose
disability is due largely to lapsing, since lapses are not only
involuntary, but for the most part unconscious; there is no awareness
of them until one perceives them anew. Examples of lapsing may be
seen in “Complicated musich which he heard played,” and “It mak
make an impression,” for “It may make an impression.”
One might suggest that children who show this tendency in
marked degree should be trained to lay aside for a few minutes all
written communications; then to take up their work and look anew at
each word, in order to correct all lapses. It is not known
experimentally how long an interval must elapse in order that
writing may “get cold,” so that lapses may be detected by the author
of them. A few minutes will probably suffice.
Transfer of habits previously acquired is occasionally the cause of
misspelling. Children who have learned to read and spell a phonetic
language, like German, or a language that proceeds from right to left
in spelling, are prone to difficulty with English spelling. The possible
existence of such an influence is to be determined by taking the
school history.
Sometimes it happens that the errors of the child are of one
particular kind. Such idiosyncrasies may be exemplified by the case
of a child who had a strong tendency to add final “e” to all words; and
by the case of another, who was addicted to intrusive consonants,
especially “m” and “n.” These idiosyncrasies may doubtless be traced
to their source in every case by a patient analysis of the child’s
mental contents. The child who added final “e” may, for instance,
have been told by a careless teacher “Don’t leave off your ‘e’s’.” The
cause of error will be different in every case. It is impossible to
generalize about idiosyncrasies.
After all of the foregoing factors have been considered, there still
remains the possibility that the failure to learn is due wholly or
partially to temperamental traits—instability, indifference, lack of
incentive, distaste for intellectual drudgery. English spelling calls
largely for rote learning. It can be acquired only by the formation of
thousands of specific bonds, arbitrarily prescribed. Its pursuit is
almost inevitably tedious. Thus many children will be
temperamentally ill adapted to become good spellers.
Failure in spelling, in an intelligent child, may thus result from
various kinds of interference with prescribed habit formation. It is
apparent that the psychological examination of a poor speller is
neither a brief nor a simple task.
The direct examination of the individual should be supplemented
by a family history, a development history, and a school history. In
some cases special deficiency in spelling seems to be hereditary.
Earle has made a study of the inheritance of capacity for spelling,
from which he concludes that there is distinct fraternal resemblance
in spelling. Stephenson has reported six cases of special inability to
read and spell, which occurred in three generations of one family.
 IV. CAN SPECIAL DEFECT IN SPELLING BE
OVERCOME?
Spelling has received relatively little study as a process, in
comparison with the attention which has been given to reading and
arithmetic. We have no variety of experiments carried out to improve
poor spellers, as we have in the case of poor readers. In 1918 the
present writer reported, with Miss Winford, the results of studying
and teaching a group of poor spellers, from the fifth grade. The
experiment extended over two periods of ten weeks each, but the
time was largely devoted to observations of the errors made,
measurements of intelligence, and inventions of incentives for
arousing interest in spelling as a group project. No child was taken
individually, and given intensive instruction, as with the boy, X, in
reading, reported in Chapter IV.
During the period of class teaching, all the poor spellers improved,
as measured by the Ayres scale, but the three very poorest still
remained at the bottom of the class. By intensive individual
instruction any one of these three might have made much greater
improvement.
We are, therefore, now in need of experiments carried out to
improve poor spellers. Such experiments must include precise
measurements of intelligence, ability to spell, ability to read, and
amount of time expended. They must include a description of the
sensory equipment of the spellers, and information on all points
listed under the suggested outline for the examination of poor
spellers. There must be an adequate account of method used, and
objective measurements of improvement must be presented.
From knowledge of spelling as a process of habit formation, it
would be predicted that any child of average intelligence, and normal
sensory capacity, can learn to spell, if sufficient drill be undergone.
English spelling is, however, relatively resistant to learning, because
of the specific character of the connections to be made. Very few
generalizations are possible, each word being to so great an extent a
special matter. For this reason it is very important to teach first the
words most commonly used. These have been ascertained by
research in the Russell Sage Foundation.
 V. DOES READING TEACH SPELLING?
In the Atlantic Monthly of October, 1921, an enemy of simplified
spelling writes as follows: “Spelling is not a craft by itself: it is a part
of writing and reading, training of eye and hand. When a boy writes
‘starboard martyr’ for ‘Stabat Mater,’ or ‘forehead’ for ‘forward,’ he
writes what he hears; the fault is not with his ear but with his visual
image of the words. It means that he is not a reader, and is not
accustomed to the appearance of the words. To try to teach him the
distinctions by lists of letters alone would be about as useless as to
try to teach him to distinguish people he never saw by means of
verbal descriptions.”[15]
 Fig. 10.—Composition written at school by X in December, 1920.
X was then in grade 5B. The facts are correctly understood, but
the spelling does not show great profit from previous reading of
the text in history.

Have psychologists produced any evidence to show whether the

view is correct, that reading will teach spelling? The positive
correlation between ability to read and ability to spell does not, of
course, give light on this question. Neither does correlation between
amount of reading done and ability to spell, for the positive
correlation, which would undoubtedly appear, might mean only that
general intelligence determines both the amount of reading and
accuracy of spelling, to the extent of positive correlation found.
 Fig. 11.—Letter written by X showing how he could spell by use of
dictionary.

The case of X, described in Chapter IV, is somewhat instructive in

this connection. The necessity to learn reading was so urgent that it
was soon decided to give no time to spelling as such. The special
teaching did not, therefore, include formal instruction in written
spelling. The regular spelling lessons at school were, of course, taken
by X, as well as might be.
After X had learned the letters thoroughly, so that he never erred
in writing one, he made great improvement in his grades on the
regular spelling lessons given at school, in which assigned words
were learned by rote.
Words not thus specifically learned were spelled “by ear,” with the
general result which is exemplified in Figure 10.
X was taught the use of the dictionary, and by its aid he could spell
as shown in Figure 11.
In German or Italian, the mutual helpfulness of reading and
spelling would probably be much greater, for words in these
languages are not nearly so specific in character as English words
are.
 VI. ILLUSTRATIVE CASES
Two cases are herewith given, to illustrate the marked
discrepancies which may rarely be found between general
intelligence and ability to spell. The first is that of a schoolboy of
average intelligence, whose spelling is illegible. The second is that of
a feeble-minded schoolgirl, whose spelling is very much above what
would be predicted from mental age and IQ.
This boy was 14 years 2 months of age,
and had been in school since the age of 6
years. His IQ was 93 (Stanford-Binet). He
was referred for mental examination,
because of failure to learn to read and spell.
Figure 12 shows his attempts to spell the
following words: cannot, September,
burned, houses, center, thousand, fifty,
families, defends, bravely.
The girl, who shows the opposite
discrepancy, was in a school for the feeble-
minded, at the time of examination. Her
age was 12 years 6 months, her mental age 7
years 4 months, with an IQ of 59 (Stanford-
Binet). She had attended school for 6 years.
Figure 13 shows her ability to spell the same
words attempted by the boy referred to
above.
Fig. 12.—Showing On Ayres’ scale, this feeble-minded girl
efforts to spell, of a 14- scored at fifth grade ability, at least three
year-old schoolboy, of years beyond expectation from general
IQ 93, after eight intelligence. The boy, of average
years of school intelligence, scored on the Ayres scale
instruction. below first grade ability—at least seven
Illustrating extreme years below expectation from general
dissociation of intelligence.
spelling ability from
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