Periodization is a necessity but it does not have to be constructed on a 'before' - prehistory - and a standard, genuine 'after' - history - viewed as a civilization threshold. The scheme suggested in this section is made of successive stages, as follows: initial, ancient, modern and contemporary history.  
The update of the initial history of the continent is carried out in seven topical entries, each with two to four contributions. The first, 'general topics', deals with paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatological research, paleogenomics and African language classifications. Paleoanthropological research has completely changed our understanding of human origins and evolution. The speciation events and radiation episodes that resulted in the emergence of (1) the Ardipithecines - Sabelanthropus tchadensis, Orrorin tugenensis, Ardipithecus ramidus and Ardipithecus kadabba - dated to 7-4.5 million years ago, (2) the Australopithecines dated to 4.5-1.7 million years ago, (3) Homo dated to 2.5 million years ago and finally, (4) Homo sapiens sapiens dated to around 300,000 years ago, all took place in Africa. Three contributions under the second topic feature the oldest 7 million-year-old hominid from the Djurab desert in the Republic of Chad, an informed discussion on hominid subsistence and lifeways, and the presentation of the earliest stone tool complexes. Pleistocene hunting and gathering communities are dealt with under the third topic, in two chapters; and the emergence and expansion of food production is covered under the fourth topic, in three chapters. New directions in Egyptology are featured under the fifth topic, in four chapters. The discussions are evidence-based and serene, staying away from entrenched orthodoxies. Technological inventions and innovations are dealt with under the sixth topic, in two chapters, one on pottery and the other on metallurgies. Finally, the seventh topic explores the emergence of social complexity, in four chapters.