The medieval city of Mbanza Kongo

Record summary

Mbanza Kongo was the capital of the Kingdom of Kongo and became a major political and religious center before and after Portuguese contact in the late fifteenth century. Archaeological work, oral histories, Portuguese records and Christian sources together illuminate settlement organization, royal authority and changing material culture. The lead matters for examining how African state institutions interacted with Atlantic commerce and Christianity without reducing the history to European arrival. Uncertainties include the location and extent of earlier capital phases, demographic scale and the reliability of later retrospective traditions.