In 1989, an analysis of the iron plate was made by El Sayed El Gayar and M.P. The concept of a single origin was challenged by Renfrew (1969) who argued for multiple inventions of metallurgy in independent centres throughout Eurasia. Person, A & Quechon, G. (2004). A condensed discussion of African metallurgy is difficult because of the large size of the continent and the 3,000 years over which it developed south of the Sahara desert. The use of cast iron was known in the 1st millennium BC. In many communities, iron is so revered it has been given divine status. A long Tradition of Mineralogy and Metallurgy among African Societies over thousands of Years. Bloomery is a batch process, in which the air blast must be stopped periodically to remove the solid mass or masses of metal, called blooms. They were directly ancestral to the Bantu-speaking peoples who form the majority of South Africa’s population today. Jones, published in their article "Metallurgical investigation of an iron plate found in 1837 in the Great Pyramid at Gizeh, Egypt" (Journal of Historical Metallurgy Society, Vol. Former mines for Iron extraction between the 9th and the 15th Century at Dogbo(Benin). Many advances in metallurgy and tool making were made across the entirety of ancient Africa. By the second century B.C. Because iron ore is the key ingredient of steel, and nearly 95% of the metal used every year around the world is steel – iron is the most frequently used metal in the world. 6 Ehret, Christopher, The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800 (Charlottesville, 2002), 161. Great Zimbabwe is a massive African Iron Age settlement and dry-stone monument located near the town of Masvingo in central Zimbabwe. 119–126). Historians, archaeologists, ethnologists, engineers and other researchers come together to trace the origins of iron and steel metallurgy in Africa, particularly in West Africa — proving that sub-Saharan Africa did not, in fact, receive the knowledge of iron forging from other cultures as previously thought, but invented and developed it independently as far back as the third millennium BC. Iron was used in West Africa for tools and for weapons. The origins of African iron metallurgy have always been an issue that is often a dispute amongst archaeologists. 5 Here, the limited data available suggest that metallurgy might have begun with copper and iron around or before 800 bce. Hamady Bocoum, ‘Iron Metallurgy in Africa: A Heritage and a Resource for Development’, in Hamady Bocoum (ed. This debate has since received new field and analytical data, which helped understanding the geological, technological and/or social factors involved in various cultural manifestations of emerging metallurgical activity (cf. Perceptions of time and space in various parts of Africa… The Egyptian Knowledge of Metallurgy and Metalworking . Ancient Origins articles related to metallurgy in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends. 1. 2, 1989, pp. awards for his contributions to African Iron Age ... that we know considerably more about the origins of metallurgy . The smelting of iron in bloomeries began in the 12th century BC in India, Anatolia or the Caucasus. Undoubtedly iron was already used in Nubia, the Sudan, and Libya in the sixth century B.C. There is an "upcoming publication" in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia dealing with the origins of metallurgy on the African continent, particularly the older dates we have below the Sahara. ), The origins of iron metallurgy in Africa. Iron smelting and forging technologies may have existed in West Africa among the Nok culture of Nigeria as early as the sixth century B.C. Chronometric and chronological data on metallurgy at Termit: Graphs for the study of the ancient iron ages. 23 No. Apparently, iron metallurgy has been known since ancient times to various tribes in Africa. Prendergast, M. D. (1974) ‘Research into the Ferrous Metallurgy of Rhodesian Iron Age Societies’, Journal of South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 74: 254-264. Great Zimbabwe is the largest of about 250 similarly dated mortarless stone structures in Africa, called collectively Zimbabwe Culture sites. The Egyptian Knowledge of Metallurgy and Metalworking. •The role of metallurgy in the mining value chain will be examined in terms of what is practised currently and the potential to expand. The history of ferrous metallurgy began far back in prehistory, most likely with the use of iron from meteors. •The optimum degree of metallurgical beneficiation is highly dependent on economic African Iron Age people used a bloomery process to smelt iron. the Iron Age had reached the central regions of Africa. . Metallurgy and tools. Iron in Africa: Revising the history of metallurgy - There is a true iron culture in Africa. In H. Bocoum (Ed. New Light on its Antiquity: West and Central Africa (Paris, 2004) stands as a manifesto for those who argue for the endogenous character of African … The idea of an independent discovery of metallurgy in Africa even in the face of pretty old evidence has always been pretty contentious. In Nigeria’s Yoruba country, forges became the symbol of royalty at the end of the 9th century and Ogun, th Iron use, in smelting and forging for tools, appeared in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1200 BC. It is iron, with a melting point too high for primitive furnaces to extract it in pure form from its ore. 4 However, West, central, and East Africa present a picture that contrasts with that of Egypt and North Africa. Boaz believed that Africa had either adopted or actually invented the art of iron smelting, at a Food processing techniques and indigenous fermented beverages 19. Iron extraction and Techniques for Iron Smelting in Bandjeli (Togo). Iron-rich rocks are found all over the world but the rocks are only ore-grade and suited for commercial production in … Paris: UNESCO Publishing. 5 •South Africa possesses the world’s largest mineral resources by value. Iron Extraction and Works of Blacksmiths among the Dogon till nowaday (Mali). These include steam engines, metal chisels and saws, copper and iron tools and weapons, nails, glue, carbon steel and bronze weapons and art (2, 7). Furthermore, several metals were produced and used in Africa, and metal production involved many technological steps which were not necessarily used for each metal type (i.e., iron, copper, gold, and tin). They built a cylindrical clay furnace and used charcoal and a hand-operated bellows to reach the level of heating for smelting. (Page of tag metallurgy) The age of iron: from 1500 BC: The next great development in metallurgy involves a metal which is the most abundant in the earth's surface but which is much more difficult to work than copper or tin. Curiously, he suggests African iron metallurgy was developed in two places, northern Nigeria/Cameroon and the Great Lakes region, while ignoring Niger, source of the earliest available dates. Origins of the Iron Age in Southern Africa For millennia, stone-technology cultures of southern Africa relied on nomadic, hunter-gatherer subsistence or semi-nomadic cow, goat, and sheep herding. The origins of iron smelting in Africa: A complex technology in Tanzania (Research paper in anthropology) Google Scholar The Iron Age was a period in human history that started between 1200 B.C. ), The Origins of Iron Metallurgy in Africa. In the period from 1400 to 1600, iron technology appears to have been one of a series of fundamental social assets that facilitated the growth of significant centralized kingdoms in the western Sudan and along the Guinea coast of West Africa. Indigenous metallurgy with respect to iron and steel in East Africa.. 17. It was known that the vast scale of the African continents as well as the barriers in the politics and cultures had aroused difficulties in the findings of … 18. In North Africa, metallurgy was introduced by Phoenicians around 800 bce. 16. The origins of iron smelting in Africa: A complex technology in Tanzania (Research paper in anthropology) [Schmidt, Peter R] on Amazon.com. The history of ferrous metallurgy began far back in prehistory.The earliest surviving iron artifacts, from the 5th millennium BC in Iran and 2nd millennium BC in China, were made from meteoritic iron-nickel. If you are looking to explore the history of pre-colonial Africa, this lesson is a good starting point. One area of intense debate regarding the African Iron Age is the process in which the technology of iron smelting arrived in sub-Saharan Africa. This advance enabled more land to be cleared for agricultural purposes and for hunting skills to be improved and to become far more effective. and 600 B.C., depending on the region, and followed the Stone Age and Bronze Age. 75-83). South Africa - South Africa - The Iron Age: Because the first farmers had knowledge of ironworking, their archaeological sites are characterized as Iron Age (c. 200 ce). This paper is a review of the course of research during the past decade into the history of indigenous metal working in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past half-century, the interpretations and reconstructions of the origins of iron smelting in sub-Saharan Africa have changed considerably. (pp. New groups of people arriving in South Africa at that time had strong connections to East Africa. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. •It is also a significant global producer of many mined commodities. The authors of this joint work, part of the 'Iron Roads in Africa' project, are distinguished archaeologists, historians, metallographic engineers, anthropologists and sociologists. Google Scholar | ISI Pwiti, G. ( 1991 ) ‘Trade and Economies in Southern Africa: The Archaeological Evidence’ , Zambezia 18: 119 - 129 . Role of women in the production of West African textiles such as adire, sanyan, adinkra and kente. Mining Iron Ore in Africa. 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