Bani in northern Burkina Faso



[img]http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/u/H6yMi6fUB_1JR964xxG8RxsYArlNNn1lR5PWutchIbm87ujyjK2n2uoRlpSetZJSoRKWnflt5ATOZw/[/img]

Does anyone know why these pre-colonial African cities ceased to flourish?

The European's seem to have started invading and slaving in the 1400s so it is likely to have been that, together with "trans-saharan incursions" as argued here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEtDLBGGQeQ

The ancient city of Benin was largely destroyed by the British
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_Empire

But in Zimbabwe
"Causes for the decline and ultimate abandonment of the site around 1450 A.D. have been suggested as due to a decline in trade compared to sites further north, the exhaustion of the gold mines, political instability and famine and water shortages induced by climatic change.[20][36] "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Zimbabwe

I was wondering the extent of the impact of the Black Death, which ravaged Europe in the 1300s, upon African cities and civilisations since they seem to have waned sometime before European arrival, at about that time.

This is old, since I saw some incorrect information here, I'll just say this.
-The Olmecs weren't black, those Olmec heads do not represent blacks.
-Most of the Moors weren't black, but there were thousands of black Moors.
-Most of the ancient Egyptians weren't black, but there were black Egyptians.