West Africa

. What is the best title for this list?
• Ghana • Songhai • Mali

• Trading Cities of the Sahara
• Tribes Who Ruled the Desert
• . Early Kingdoms of West Africa
• Animal Gods of the Niger Valley

Compared to the West African savanna, the Sahel has

• better soil
• taller grass
• more cattle.
• less rainfall.

Suppose a West African community produces these goods:
• yams • palm oil • kola nuts
That community is most likely in which vegetation zone?

• forest
• . desert
• savanna
• semidesert

What is the main reason why people in different vegetation zones traded with each other?

• Large empires ruled over different zones
• . Different resources were found in each zone.
• The Niger River passed through different zones.
• . The zones were home to different cultural groups.

How did the Niger River encourage trade?

• It was a source of food.
• It was a transportation route.
• Its annual floods provided rich soil.
• It provided water for baking.

Why did extended-family groups first settle south of the Sahara?

• to farm
• to trade
• to mine gold
• to fight enemies

What did extended-family groups do for defense against dangerous floods or enemies?

• They dug ditches around their communities.
• They lived in isolated areas far from danger.
• They joined other communities to form villages.
• They offered gifts to the leaders of hostile bands

Which technology did the Nok people adopt as early as 500 B.C.E.?

• the wheel
• the aqueduct
• iron smelting
• paper making

From the discovery of Jenne-jeno, what did historians learn about the history of West Africa?

• It was a vast area with four zones.
• It became organized into kingdoms.
• It depended on several kinds of crops
• It had cities two thousand years ago.

Archeologists found copper at Jenne-jeno. The nearest copper mines are 600 miles away. What does this indicate about the people of Jenne-jeno?

• They often engaged in war
• They understood how to mine.
• They built hot fires with charcoal.
• They carried on long-distance trade