500 to 1250

Rice in the mangroves

Long before written records, peoples such as the Balanta, Papel, Manjaco and Diola farm the coast. They build dikes to turn salty mangrove swamps into rice fields, a technique still used today. The Bijagós settle the archipelago offshore, more than eighty islands. Many of these societies, such as the Balanta, have no kings, and village elders settle disputes.