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The Dutch Discovery of Australia
17th-century Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) navigators were the first Europeans to set foot on Australian soil. Although there is a strong theory that the Portuguese explorer, Cristóvão de Mendonça (1475-1532...
Article
Slavery in Plantation Agriculture
The first plantations in the Americas of sugar cane, cocoa, tobacco, and cotton were maintained and harvested by African slaves controlled by European masters. When African slavery was largely abolished in the mid-1800s, the center of plantation...
Article
Origins of World Agriculture
Agriculture arose independently at several locations across the world, beginning about 12,000 years ago. The first crops and livestock were domesticated in six rather diffuse areas including the Near East, China, Southeast Asia, and Africa...
Definition
Ife
Ife (aka Ile-Ife) was an ancient African city which flourished between the 11th and 15th century CE in what is today Nigeria in West Africa. Ife was the capital and principal religious centre of the Yoruba kingdom of Ife, which prospered...
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Map of Niger River
The Niger River is the most important river in West Africa, and is the third longest river in Africa after the Nile River and Congo River. Known for its distinctive "boomerang" shape, the Niger River flows from the Guinea Highlands to the...
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Bird Shaped Pestle
A bird-shaped pestle. Stone, 6000-2000 BCE. Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. Most modern vegetables and cereals were first cultivated around 10,000 years ago. This pestle was made for grinding taro, one of the crops farmers in Papua New...
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The Meaning of European Upper Paleolithic Rock Art
Rock art (also known as parietal art) is an umbrella term which refers to several types of creations including finger markings left on soft surfaces, bas-relief sculptures, engraved figures and symbols, and paintings onto a rock surface...
Definition
Estado da India
The Estado da India (1505-1961) was the name the Portuguese gave to that part of their empire which stretched from India to East Asia. However, in its widest sense, the name includes all Portuguese colonies east of the Cape of Good Hope and...
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The Dark History of Zombies - Christopher M. Moreman
Trace the origins of zombies from the Afro-Haitian religion of vodou, and discover how zombification was a reflection of slavery. – Zombies have a distinct lineage— one that traces back to Equatorial and Central Africa. For three centuries...
Article
Letters & Post in the Ancient World
Letters and their delivery via a state communication system was a feature of many ancient cultures. The writing medium may have differed but the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Incas all had the means to send messengers and...