Sub-Saharan African architecture

Does anybody know where can I find information about Sub-Saharan African architecture ?

The most famous examples of sub-Saharan architecture (at least the ones that I know about) are probably:

Great Zimbabwe, the largest stone city built by the Shona kingdom which the modern nation of Zimbabwe is named after. When Europeans first saw it they tried to explain its existence by saying it was built by a lost nation of white people. They just couldn't accept that the ones who built it were the same people who lived all around it!

The pyramids of Meroe, from Ancient Egypt's neighbour to the south, Nubia. The Nubians copied the Egyptian manner of burying their dead, but put their own spin on it- No one would be able to confuse a Nubian pyramid for an Egyptian one!

Timbuktu has many buildings built in the distinctive mud-brick style of the West African Sahel, but its mosques are surely the best and most famous of this style. It takes constant repair to keep the buildings together- that's why the sides of the buildings have a wooden scaffold built right in- so workers can climb up the sides easily!

Benin City, which was actually in Nigeria not Benin, sadly no longer exists. Apparently it was quite impressive in its day. The bronze plaques from the city gates were *cough*found*cough* by British explorers and brought back to be displayed in the British Museum. I've seen them in person. They're quite nice.

I'm sure there must be other buildings of note as well. Swahili trading ports, for example, or buildings from the centuries upon centuries of civilization in Ethiopia and Somalia, or other relics from West Africa. But those are the ones I know about.

I found a site you might be interested in. Theres not too much availiable in terms of information on these civilizations. Hopefully soon some interest will drive more discoveries before whats rermains of these great civlizations disappear completely .

I remember reading that some of the buildings in Swahili cities were decorated with Chinese ceramics. Would anyone happen to have any information on this?

In the great city of Zimbabwe it was said goods came from India and China, via African trade routes so it goes to show that international goods were a key component of African homes.

It is interesting to note that by  the time of splendor of Zimbabwe, Madagascar was already colonized by Indonesians and theirs influence was felt even in Mozanbique and other places of coastal South East Africa. So, perhaps -Just a wild theory- the Chinese ceramics was carried by Indonesian merchants all the way from Asia. It is also curious that in Indonesia of the time there was a fabulous land of gold that perhaps was located in Africa.

Originally posted by Ikki ...   That's sure too for the "Sudan" region and western África, had an active trade with the the rest of the world since at least VIII century when arabs boomed the relations with the Mediterranean crossing the Sáhara, the empires like Ghana or Mali expanded greatly because this trade (is only one of the reasons)