Paleolithic Senegal

Photos top to bottom:  Ferry headed to Goree Island from Dakar;  looking back to Dakar;  the Goree cove where the ferry docks . . . note the swimmer doing laps between cement landing, he was flipping his turns!;  map in the Goree Historical Museum showing Neolithic sites;  an assembled Neolithic pot with decoration consistent with what we found on Ile de Madeleine.

We spent the day on the island of Goree a day ago, went particularly with the aim of visiting the Historical Museum, and its collection of pre-historic (paleolithic and neolithic) artifacts.

Goree has a rich history, variously occupied by the Portuguese, French, Dutch, and the English.  The island is notorious as a point of deportation for the slave trade over several centuries.  Note http://webworld.unesco.org/goree/en/index.shtml for a virtual tour.

The study of ancient civilizations is the domain of grade six in most international and American schools.  Following our current unit on geology (and the geological history of this place, Dakar and the Cap Vert Peninsula), we will turn to pre-history, again emphasizing the pre-history of the peninsula.  The Historical Museum on Goree presents evidence for the occupation of the Dakar area as far back as the paleolithic.  The question is:  Where are all the artifacts housed?  We need to find this out?  Very exciting.

A unique feature of Senegal and Gambia are a complex of over a 1000 megalithic stone complexes, including an estimated 212 pillar-circle sites and 251 stone cairns surrounded by stone walls, all dating to 1000 years ago.  The purpose/function of these complexes remains uncertain.