Iron in Ancient Africa
Metal-production technologies (metallurgy) have had a profound influence on the course of human history. Aside from gold, used for jewelry and ornamentation, the first metal to be widely used was copper, with smelting(the process of extracting metal from ore by heating) beginning by 5000 B.C.E. in modern-day Serbia. Production of bronze from copper and tin began by 2800 B.C.E. in Anatolia, in what is modern-day Turkey. Next was iron, with smelting starting around 1500 B.C.E. in Anatolia and spreading to Europe by 1100 B.C.E. Although iron production was difficult and complex, this metal’s greater hardness made tools and weapons far superior to those made from copper and bronze.
For a long time, scholars believed that iron production came to sub-Saharan Africa from Anatolia. One reason for this is that iron smelting requires considerable knowledge and experience, yet there was no evidence for previous metals technology in Africa. In particular, there seemed to have been no copper metallurgy, a likely precursor to iron production. Since Anatolia did possess the necessary knowledge and skill, it seemed to be a plausible source.
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