Even then, the
Sahara did not become a block to communication as has been
thought. There is clear evidence that trade routes continued to be
used even after the Sahara became a desert. Scholars also have
found that, shortly after the Iron Age reached North Africa, iron
tools began to appear throughout the entire continent, and, within
few centuries, iron production was being carried on at a number of
different locations. At about the same time, sailors from the far
East brought the yam and the banana to the shores of Africa.
These fruits spread rapidly from the east coast across most of the
continent, becoming basic staples in the African diet. New tools and
new crops rapidly expanded the food supply and thereby provided
a better way of life.
West African Empires
Although West Africa had been inhabited since the earliest
times, about two thousand years ago several events occurred which
injected new vigor into the area. The first event had been
thedrying of the Sahara, which had driven new immigrants into
West Africa and, from the admixture of these new people with the
previous inhabitants, a new vitality developed.
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