Talk:Timeline of Serer history

Prehistory

I've just deleted one section where the main sources didn't even mention the Serer, let alone back the claim. Any claims for Stone Age Serer need to not only be backed by reliable sources per WP:RS, we need more than one source, or at least discussion of that one source. We also need to avoid linking to copyvio sites such as phoenicia.org or findarticles.com/ Dougweller (talk) 09:18, 7 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi Dougweller, thank you for your work and recommendations. Anything to improve the article would be immensely appreciated. Thanks. Best Regards.Tamsier (talk) 19:45, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Timeline of Serer history

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Timeline of Serer history's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "Serer symbols":

• From Saafi people: Gravrand, Henry, "Le Symbolisme sereer : Mythe du Saas et symboles", « Revue de Psycho-Pathologie » vol. 9 N^o 2 Dakar (1971) (Published and reviewed under the title "Le symbolisme serer" [in] Psychopath. Afric. 1973, IX, 2, 237-265 [in] Pyschopathologie africaine) - (Link retrieved : 21 July 2012)
• From Koox: Gravrand, Henry, "Le Symbolisme sereer : Mythe du Saas et symboles", « Revue de Psycho-Pathologie » vol. 9 N^o 2 Dakar (1971) (Published and reviewed under the title "Le symbolisme serer" [in] Psychopath. Afric. 1973, IX, 2, 237-265 [in] Pyschopathologie africaine) - (Link retrieved : 25 July 2012)
• From Serer creation myth: (in French) Gravrand, Henry, "Le Symbolisme sereer : Mythe du Saas et symboles", « Revue de Psycho-Pathologie » vol. 9 N^o 2 Dakar (1971) (Published and reviewed under the title "Le symbolisme serer" [in] Psychopath. Afric. 1973, IX, 2, 237-265 [in] Pyschopathologie africaine) - (Link retrieved : 21 July 2012)
• From Roog: Gravrand, Henry, "Le Symbolisme sereer : Mythe du Saas et symboles", « Revue de Psycho-Pathologie » vol. 9 N^o 2 Dakar (1971) (Published and reviewed under the title "Le symbolisme serer" [in] Psychopath. Afric. 1973, IX, 2, 237-265 [in] Pyschopathologie africaine) - (Link retrieved : 25 July 2012)

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 18:48, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Deleted material on Serer Symbols

I have the article as a pdf and it has no images. I also have it as a Word document and can't find the "the late honourable man devoted his life to farming, hunting and fishing". It's possible I missed it somehow, and if Tamsier, who added it originally and replaced it today, can find it and quote it I'll be happy to replace the text - but the images seem to come from a fringe paper and can't be replaced as their source doesn't seem to be Gravrand. - let's centralise the discussion at Talk:Saafi people#Deleted material on Serer Symbols. Dougweller (talk) 15:11, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

POV, one main source

This article is heavily dependent upon one source, Gravrand, for its claim for a 10,000 year old Serer culture. That would make this the oldest culture on earth (which you'd think other anthropologists would have noticed). There are other sources for Serer history which give a much shorter time depth. I'll be working on these. Dougweller (talk) 20:37, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

Original inhabitants

Saying that they were the original inhabitants of the Senegal Gambia area would be like saying that the Celts were the original inhabitants of Britain (except that when we speak of prehistoric Celts we are not making assumptions about culture but are talking about a group speaking related languages known as Celtic). I note that one of the sources used for the Serer is Charles Becket. Our article on the Senegambian stone circles says at the moment "Sources suggests that, these megaliths were built by the ancestors of the Serer people and form part of Serer ancient and medieval history.<ref>[[Henry Gravrand|Gravrand, Henry]], "La Civilisation Sereer - ''[[Pangool]]''", Les Nouvelles Editions [[Africa]]ines du [[Senegal]], 1990, p 77, ISBN 2-7236-1055-1</ref><ref>Gambian Studies No. 17., "People of The Gambia. I. The Wolof with notes on the Serer and the Lebou", By David P. Gamble & Linda K. Salmon with Alhaji Hassan Njie, [[San Francisco]] (1985)</ref><ref name="Serer-Jola">Espie, Ian, "A thousand years of West African history: a handbook for teachers and students", Editors : J. F. Ade Ajayi, Ian Espie, Humanities Press (1972), p 134,ISBN 0391002171</ref><ref>{{in lang|fr}} Becker, Charles: "Vestiges historiques, trémoins matériels du passé clans les pays sereer". Dakar. 1993. CNRS - ORS TO M [http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_5/b_fdi_01/010014636.pdf] (Excerpt) (Retrieved : 28 June 2012)</ref>".

Which also means that these are not part of Serer pre-history, since when they were built the Serer didn't exist - despite several articles now which state as fact that they did. And contradicts the time depth suggested by Gravrand. Dougweller (talk) 05:57, 25 August 2012 (UTC)

Serer state of Sanghāna

I can find a source for an Almoravid town along the Senegal River of this name[1]. It is true that John Trimingham says "800 States on the Senegal: Sanghana (Serer), Takrur, Silla, and Galam (Soninke} but I can't find any other sources. Dougweller (talk) 10:03, 26 August 2012 (UTC)