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9 - What Is the Meaning of the Extreme Variability of Ancient Ironworking in West Africa?

A Comparison between Four Case Studies

from Part III - Metallurgy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Caroline Robion-Brunner
Edited by
C. N. Duckworth ,
A. Cuénod  and
D. J. Mattingly
C. N. Duckworth
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
A. Cuénod
Affiliation:
University of Leicester
D. J. Mattingly
Affiliation:
University of Leicester
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Summary

Iron production has played a part in the history of Africa for more than 2,500 years. The study of this specific human activity has demonstrated its exceptional significance, its historical continuity and an astonishing variability of practice. In Sub-Saharan Africa, metallurgists developed different ways to produce the same material: iron. They multiplied the technical choices to a degree unequalled on other continents. But what is the significance of such extreme diversity? In this chapter, four case studies representing different situations are detailed: in Dendi Country/Benin, where the question of the nature of the raw materials is considered; in Dogon Country/Mali, seven contemporaneous smelting traditions in a limited geographical area; at the Korsimoro site/Burkina Faso, five successive smelting traditions in the same place; and in the Bassar region/Togo, the impact of ancient and intensive iron production on the environment and on the technology. Based on these examples the chapter discusses the interpretation of diversity in terms of the history of technology and population dynamics.

Keywords

variabilityironmetallurgyWest AfricaBeninBurkina FasoMaliTogofurnaceslag
Type
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Mobile Technologies in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond , pp. 290 - 314
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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