Settlement pattern in Bandiagara escarpment : a comparative study with other archaeological sites of the world

Region of the Bandiagara escarpment is the one of the most studied zone in West Africa. Both ethnographers and archaeologists can find there abundant knowledge from numerous cliff-sites, but also from sin-gle persons. Data collected from both branch of science could be useful for reconstruction the history of settlement pattern. Despite those numerous research works, Bandiagara region is still waiting for more de-tailed thesis. Spread of the settlement and influence of external factors for choosing those kind of inaccessible habitats, could be one of the main unsolved questions. There is no doubt that Bandiagara escarpments were being used by the local people, mostly as a defense places, quite often far from fields or hunting zones. It is a common feature at many similar sites from all of the world. We can use results of researches from cliff-sites located in Mesa Verde region (USA) or in Europe and Asia. In this paper we will focus on relations between villages and on similarities between their structures. We will try to put the village into a wider context and to focus on technical solutions. We believe that this compa-rative study will show us new paths to understand the dynamics of set-tlement pattern changes in case of Bandiagara escarpment.