The Shell Midden Sites of Senegambia

There are hundreds of shell midden sites along the Senegambian coastline. The shell middens were first formed during an eustatic event known as the Nouakchottien marine transgression (6,800–4,000 bp). During that marine transgression, the sea shoreline was pushed back hundreds of miles in the interior. This engendered the flourishing of malacological fauna and several fish species. As a result of this, several natural shell midden were formed. From the Late Stone Age to the 2nd millennium ce, populations exploited the aquatic fauna, which resulted in the formation of anthropogenic shell middens. The littoral where these shell middens are found is divided into three archaeological culture areas. Archaeological excavations at some of those sites, such as Khant and Dioron Boumak, have shed light on the nature of the material culture, subsistence activities, and the cultural history in these areas. Research at Soukouta has added new data on iron technology to understanding of the shell middens culture. These findings have also called into question the division of Senegambian prehistory into four distinct cultural areas known as aires culturelles.

Forging History: Spade-Shaped Currency Bars, History and Identity in Central Norrland

In central Norrland a large number of spade-shaped currency bars have been recovered. Currency bars have been produced since the introduction of iron technology in the late pre-Roman Iron Age, which roughly coincides with the introduction of agriculture. It is suggested that the shape of the bars is referential to the socketed axe, due to the importance of the latter during this period of change. The currency bars were therefore associated with a mythical history and local identity. The youngest 14C-date shows that the bars became part of narratives that remained relevant throughout much of the Iron Age, up until the Viking Age.

Iron Technology and Its Regional Development during the Eastern Zhou Period

The appearance of the cast iron industry was one of the most technological innovations in ancient China. Nonetheless, how iron technology shaped the historical development during this critical period has not yet been fully investigated. This chapter first reviews evidence dating to the Spring and Autumn period regarding the appearance of bloomery iron and cast iron industry. Archaeological evidence suggests a simultaneous development of cast iron in multiple states during the first half of the first millennium BCE. Regional variations between these two centers were also present. The chapter further explores regional variations in the development of the iron industries during the Warring States period on the basis of frequencies and types of iron objects from burial data in the Jin, Qin, and Chu regions. The regional comparison suggests that the total amount of iron objects in the Qin state was much less than the assemblage in the three Jin states; the latter should belong to the manufacturing core given the frequencies and types of iron objects in tombs. Moreover, the local iron industry of the Chu state distinctively focused on the manufacture of weapons compared to former two states. In sum, the regional variations in iron industry should be the foundation for further addressing the social significance of iron technology in ancient China. In addition, the iron industry in the Qin state during the Warring States period should be more carefully scrutinized in the future because it might have been operated on a relatively smaller scale than presently understood.

The Oxford Handbook of Early China

The Oxford Handbook on Early China celebrates the research of multidisciplines ranging from history and archaeology, paleography and textual analysis to art historical and technological material. The coverage in 35 chapters is treated chronologically, beginning with the Neolithic and ending with the Springs and Autumns Period (ca 5000BCE–500BCE). Each chapter innovates in providing the most up-to-date content whether due to new archaeological discoveries or to new methodological approaches. Material is up-to-date and meticulously documented, in dealing with issues such as the origins of new military technical views of Warring States date, the historiography and political thought of the Springs and Autumns Period, new inscriptional data for Western Zhou ritual, the identity of a Shang woman warrior, Middle Shang periodization, the development of iron technology, the Jade Age issue, and the southern Neolithic revolution. This volume brings together a wealth of interdisciplinary data, which will be useful for both novice and expert in the field of Sinological studies.

The Origins of African Metallurgies

Sustained archaeological research has been conducted in different parts of the continent from the early 1980s on. Evidence of copper and iron metallurgies is documented in the continent, in West, Central, and East Africa. Early copper metallurgies were recorded in the Akjoujt region of Mauritania and the Eghazzer basin in Niger. Surprisingly early iron smelting installations were found in the Eghazzer basin (Niger), the Middle Senegal Valley (Senegal), the Mouhoun Bend (Burkina Faso), the Nsukka region and Taruga (Nigeria), the Great Lakes region in East Africa, the Djohong (Cameroons), and the Ndio (Central African Republic) areas. It is, however, the discoveries from the northern margins of the Equatorial rainforest, North-Central Africa, in the northeastern part of the Adamawa Plateau that radically falsify the “iron technology diffusion” hypothesis. Iron production activities are shown to have taken place as early as 3000–2500bce in habitation sites like Balimbé, Bétumé, and Bouboun, smelting sites like Gbabiri, and forge sites like Ôboui and Gbatoro. The last two sites provide high-resolution data on the spatial patterning of blacksmiths’ workshops dating from 2500 to 2000bce. Challenging data such as these are usually ignored or dismissed without serious consideration, but patient and sustained long-term research is contributing to a new understanding of the development of copper and iron metallurgies in Africa, enriching the long-term history of technologies.

Listening and Waiting, Excavating Later

Careful listening to oral traditions, a significant part of Tanzanian Haya heritage, for nearly a year led to an ancient shrine where Haya elders encouraged excavations. This was early participatory community archaeology, where indigenous knowledge and the initiative of elders paved the way to significant archaeological finds about iron technology and the enduring qualities of knowledge preserved by ritual performance. Patient apprenticeship to knowledge-keepers during ethnoarchaeological observations of iron technology also led to significant insights into inventive techniques in iron technology that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. Listening with epistemic humility, opening ourselves to other ways of constructing history and heritage, unveils heritage under treat. A forgotten massacre by German colonials, the knowledge of which has been erased by disease and globalization, was revealed and is now preserved only by listening closely to Haya elders five decades ago.

Iron and iron technology

Iron production began in many parts of Europe during the late Bronze Age. Although initially comparatively rare, production steadily increased in volume and quality, and major centres developed in southern France, Bavaria, Austria, and southern Poland; the discovery of standardized ingots shows the distribution of smelted iron. Blacksmithing techniques improved rapidly, and the processes of cold working, quenching, and annealing were mastered. The transition from bronze to iron for tools and weapons varied regionally, and the role of iron varied from a utilitarian material for tools to an exotic inlay for decoration. By the late Iron Age a full range of tools had been developed, which changed little for many centuries. These harder, sharper, and more durable tools had a major impact on the productive capacity of other industries, including agriculture, but especially woodworking and carpentry. The use of iron nails transformed domestic architecture, the construction of fortifications, and shipbuilding.