Metals in Past Societies

Annual Review of Anthropology, 1993

Over the course of the last 50 years, the field of archaeometallurgy has grown dramatically, becoming firmly established within the realm of archaeological science. The archaeology and ethnography of African metallurgy have made a major contribution to this field, providing valuable information on the impressive range of raw materials and techniques that past metal producers and metalworkers used, as well as providing important insights into the socio-cultural settings within which these technologies operated. This paper summarises the role that Azania has played in communicating some of this research, and charts the development of African archaeometallurgy through Azania's pages.

Journal of World Prehistory, 2009

The debate on West African metallurgies cannot be properly understood without reference to the colonial template that featured Africa as the receiving partner in all crucial social, economic, and technological development. The interesting debate that took place in West Africa during the Colonial Period was more meta-theoretical than factual. These conflicting glosses, despite their lack of empirical foundations, have constrained the nature of archaeological research and oversimplified the dynamics of the many facets of technological innovation. The relative boom in archaeological research that took place from the 1960s onwards resulted in an exponential growth of factual information. Challenging evidence has emerged from Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Togo, and Senegal. The picture that emerges from this survey calls for more sophisticated explanations for the origins of West African metallurgies away from the single non-African source hypothesis.

Early Metallurgy in Nigeria, 2020

This is an extract from the book "Early Metallurgy in Nigeria and presents evidence of Early African Iron and Copper/Bronze Cultures, contrary to information in published archaeological literature

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2015

Over the course of the last 50 years, the field of archaeometallurgy has grown dramatically, becoming firmly established within the realm of archaeological science. The archaeology and ethnography of African metallurgy have made a major contribution to this field, providing valuable information on the impressive range of raw materials and techniques that past metal producers and metalworkers used, as well as providing important insights into the socio-cultural settings within which these technologies operated. This paper summarises the role that Azania has played in communicating some of this research, and charts the development of African archaeometallurgy through Azania’s pages.

La historia de la minería y metalurgia en Africa puede ser seguida a través de los sellos emitidos a lo largo del tiempo por los diferentes países africanos. En ellos se muestra que los diamantes, oro, cobre, uranio, fosfatos, bauxita y otros minerales de interés han sido explotados durante muchos siglos por los nativos utilizando métodos primitivos y posteriormente por los colonizadores europeos que introdujeron las máquinas.

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1994

Archaeology and mining have multiple connections if one is to scratch below the surface. This relationship is essential knowledge for mining projects in West Africa today. A miner, for example, can gain important insights into the uses of a landscape and the minerals it contains through examining the history of settlement and activity in any given area. The archaeology of mining can in fact be a vital tool for tracing the evolution of technology, economies and power bases. As a consequence, it can help identify the best areas for further mineral exploration. Evidence of ancient mining and metallurgy for this purpose can be gleaned from either physical remains, such as ancient mines or artefacts, or from cultural remains, including historical texts or place names.