Fortifications among the Tikars in Cameroon. Temporal security borders and indicators of an autarchic economic and social life.

Summary

Shortly after settling in the upper Mbam catchment due to migration which took them from the Adamawa highlands to their current habitat, the Tikars faced attacks from neighboring and distant ethnic groups. The fortifications that encircle the chiefdoms created indicate the conflicts that marred relations with other social groups. These fortifications which could be seen as factors of reconfiguration of space in the chiefdoms, were temporal borders put in place to ensure the safety of property and people. The universe of confinement that came about as a result, brought about an autarchic economic and social life style among the Tikars. This new perspective in the analysis of fortifications is different from the causal and phenomenological approaches used this far. It lays the foundation for a profound reflection on this military architecture which isolated groups and at the same time represented an ingeniously built original structure to secure property and persons.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Boundaries and Defenses: Current Archaeological Perspectives on Areas of Conflict

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 144