LEGACY OF AFRICA – African Indigenous Science and Knowledge Systems

Major contributor to the world’s gene pool, acording to monoregional and multi regional theories of human origin ( Wilson; Wells)
Earliest evidence of writing at Abydos at U.J., dated 3250BCE (Gunter Dreyer)
Among the world’s largest ancient stone structures at 750 tons and 13 storeys, in Ethiopia (Connah)
Inspiration for Hippocrates and some Greek intellectuals (Herodotus)
Among the earliest steel & hot air blast furnace (Schmidt)
Widely used calendar is a modification of the Egyptian (amended by Julius Caesar and later Pope Gregory)
Allegedly a contributor to some Christian religious concepts such as: The Ankh (Cross); the concept of a rebel serpent, Sata; the Amen concept in Christian liturgy (Budge)
Earliest brewery 3500 BCE, Egypt
Extensive variety of fermented beverages across the continent

Inspiration for Calypso , Salsa, Jazz and other musical genres
One of the world’s oldest boats(Nigeria) -about 8000 years old (Breunig)
One of the world’s longest earthern fortifications, 10,000 miles: Benin Iya (Darling)
Among the world’s earliest iron producers (Darling)
One of the world’s oldest pots dated 11,400 years from Mali(Huysecom)
A major contributor to the economies of western Europe and the Americas through appropriated natural resources, and centuries of unpaid labor (Inikori)
Religious forms such as Santeria ( Cuba) and Candomble (Brazil) which are West African Yoruba derived religious systems: 150 million followers
Extensive variety of fermented beverages

Inspiration for the Rumba, Samba, Salsa, Jazz and various musical forms
Direct influence on Modern Artists such as Picasso (Picasso)
Source of numerous loan words in American English (Holloway)
Source of numerous body gestures in U.S urban culture eg Hi-Five/ Fist bump (Ferris Thompson)
Extensive variety of fermented beverages

Major contributor to the world’s gene pool (Wells)
World oldest Jewelry at 100,000 years old(Henshilwood)
Earliest geometrical inscriptions & proto writing; Oldest mathematical object, perhaps (Henshilwood/Errico)
Earliest evidence of fire
Earliest evidence of chemistry (Henshilwood)
The world’s first language according to some scholars
Extensive variety of fermented beverages