Martin Elouga
University of Yaoundé 1
Email: [email protected]
Cell phone: 677 63 91 00

Abstract
Shortly after settling in the upper Mbam catchment due to migration which took
them from the Adamawa highlands to their current habitat, the Tikars faced attacks
from neighboring and distant ethnic groups. The fortifications that encircle the
chiefdoms created indicate the conflicts that marred relations with other social
groups. These fortifications which could be seen as factors of reconfiguration of
space in the chiefdoms, were temporal borders put in place to ensure the safety of
property and people. The universe of confinement that came about as a result,
brought about an autarchic economic and social life style among the Tikars. This
new perspective in the analysis of fortifications is different from the causal and
phenomenological approaches used this far. It lays the foundation for a profound
reflection on this military architecture which isolated groups and at the same time
represented an ingeniously built original structure to secure property and persons.