Understanding of Africa's long, complex human history has been enriched by the work of archaeological scientists for over a century. Since 1977 over 500 papers on African topics have been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. This paper briefly reviews the geographical location of the research that they report along with their authorship and thematic content. Significant imbalances highlight continuing disparities in archaeological opportunities within the continent and between Africa and the rest of the world. The twenty-one papers included in this special collection nevertheless showcase the breadth of archaeological science in Africa, focusing on papers that have shaped subsequent research, explored new methodological approaches, or introduced novel areas of study. Discussion of how to capitalise upon this diversity emphasises the importance of increasing funding for archaeological science on a sustainable basis, forging co-operation between archaeologists and other scientists, playing to strengths in less expensive (but potentially highly informative) areas of archaeological science, and developing regional hubs of expertise. Collectively, these efforts can enhance capacity and ensure a future for archaeological science research by African scholars within Africa.

一个多世纪以来，考古科学家的工作丰富了人们对非洲漫长而复杂的人类历史的了解。自 1977 年以来，《考古科学杂志》已发表了 500 多篇有关非洲主题的论文。本文简要回顾了他们报告的研究的地理位置以及作者身份和主题内容。严重的不平衡凸显了非洲大陆内部以及非洲与世界其他地区之间考古机会的持续差异。尽管如此，这个特别收藏中包含的 21 篇论文展示了非洲考古科学的广度，重点关注影响后续研究、探索新方法或引入新研究领域的论文。关于如何利用这种多样性的讨论强调了在可持续的基础上增加对考古科学的资助、在考古学家和其他科学家之间建立合作、在考古科学的较便宜（但可能信息丰富）领域发挥优势的重要性，以及发展区域专业知识中心。总的来说，这些努力可以增强非洲学者在非洲进行考古科学研究的能力并确保未来。