1994/03/01 by Duncan Miller, Nikolaas J. van der Merwe · 112 citations
Social Sciences · Engineering · #Archaeology and Rock Art Studies #Global Maritime and Colonial Histories #African history and culture analysis #Glossary #Indigenous #Smelting #History #Metal working #Metallurgy #Engineering #Linguistics #Mechanical engineering #Materials science
paper · doi:10.1017/s0021853700025949
published in The Journal of African History 35(1), 1-36 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 1994/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
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. It comprises three sections: a summary of the chronology of early metallurgy and the spread of metal working; a description of African metal working in terms of mining, smelting and smithing, with particular emphasis on recent interpretations of the iron-smelting technology; and a conclusion summarizing the main developments and some lines of future enquiry. A glossary of technical terms used in this paper is appended.