Excerpt:
Only recently has the importance of sub-Saharan Africa to the history of mindkind's intellectual and cultural development been properly acknowledged. Much of the intellectual richness of the cultures of sub-Saharan societies has been ignored, and lost over the centuries. The ritual knowledge of initiation in most of the African societies has been the main method of transmission of astronomical and cosmological theory. Some of the best known societies in Africa include the Dogon, the Mande, and Bambara peoples. In addition, extensive studies of the Nuer, and the !Kung people have enabled us to glimpse into the world of myth and cosmology.