The other phenomenon we should glance at is the evolution
of urban life
on the margins of the tropical forest in the region of the lower
Niger—at first sight an unpromising environment, particularly in the
absence of a maritime commercial scene comparable to that of the east
coast. Yet the region is famous for some very fine bronze work dating
to the centuries before the arrival of the Portuguese. At this time
there was already a substantial kingdom in the region, that of Benin;
and if we can judge by oral traditions and later political patterns,
there were also smaller dynastic city- states, of which one of the few
known to us archaeologically is Ife. Just why this area should have
supported more complex societies than were found in comparable regions
to the east or west is hard to say; it is tempting to compare these
West African city- states with those of another people who lived on the
margins of a tropical rainforest, the lowland Maya.
