ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 introduces the variety of Africa’s islands and considers how they can best be described and classified. Distinctions are ultimately drawn between four categories: land-bridge (or continental) islands; offshore islands; oceanic islands; and island continents, such as Madagascar. This done, the chapter moves clockwise around the African continent, starting in the Red Sea, proceeding south through the Indian Ocean, and returning north via the South Atlantic, the Gulf of Guinea, the coast of West Africa, and the islands of Macaronesia to end along Africa’s Mediterranean shores. For each body of water the islands discussed in the remainder of the book are first introduced and relevant background information is provided on their geography and natural history. For each island or group of islands the kinds of archaeological research that have been conducted on them or in their waters are also sketched in.
