Smelter and Smith: Iron Age Metal Fabrication Technology in Southern Africa

Miller, Duncan

doi:10.1006/jasc.2001.0758

Cited by 135 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…For instance, at a certain point an object may be recognised for its commodity status and value, which is important because of its exchange value (Kopytoff 1986). However, the object may be de-commodified as it is incorporated by people according to personal meanings, relationships or rituals, thereby attaining another value (Miller 1987;Kopytoff 1986). The restriction of certain objects from commodification is common in many societies.…”

Section: What Is Materials Culture Studies?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mineral was in high demand in Europe and other parts of Asia. Locally, gold was also used in the manufacturing of a range of products, particularly jewellery (Miller 2002). Its importance locally was noted through the fact that a number of high-status burials that have been recovered in the region, in particular at Mapungubwe, contained gold objects such as rings, necklaces and bangles (Gardner 1963;Miller et al 2000;Miller 2002).…”

Section: Overview Of Studies On Craft Production In Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The working of iron was also an important element of precolonial mining and metal working. Various scholars have shown that precolonial iron working took place at various places in the region from the Early Iron Age period (Childs and Dewey 1996;Miller 2002;Chirikure 2007). Iron was used in the manufacture of a range of objects that included jewellery, weaponry, building materials, farming equipment and domestic utilitarian utensils.…”

Section: Overview Of Studies On Craft Production In Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This relates to both the control of the production process as well as the manner in which the production process was conducted. Miller (2002) and Chirikure (2007) have noted that the organisation of metal production in southern Africa varied over time. For instance, in the Early Iron Age, copper and iron were worked to produce mainly jewellery and small implements (Miller 2002(Miller : 1127.…”

Section: Overview Of Studies On Craft Production In Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In their quest for survival, human beings interact with the world around them to produce artefacts that are used for a variety of purposes (Caple 2006;Miller 1987). Some objects are used for everyday purposes, ranging from utilitarian functions to more ceremonial and symbolic functions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An archaeological study of the Zimbabwe Culture capital of Khami, southwestern Zimbabwe

Mukwende¹

2016

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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This study sought to understand the archaeology of the Zimbabwe Culture capital of Khami through synchronic and diachronic analyses of its material culture. The research employed a number of methodological approaches that included a review of historic documents, surveying and mapping, excavations, museum collection analysis, and artefact studies, in order to collect datasets from various sections of the site, including the walled and the nonwalled areas. The main indication is that there is a great deal of similarity in material culture distribution across the whole site. An analysis of objects by stratigraphic sequence exposes continuity and change in local and imported objects. Dry stone-wall architectural data suggests that the site was constructed over a long period, with construction motivated by a number of expansionary factors. The study confirms that Khami began as a fully developed cultural unit, with no developmental trajectory recorded at Mapungubwe or Great Zimbabwe, where earlier ceramic units influenced later ones. Consequently, this study cautiously suggests that Khami represents a continuity with the Woolandale chiefdoms that settled in the south-western parts of the country and in the adjacent areas of Botswana. On the basis of the chronological and material culture evidence, Khami is unlikely to have emerged out of Great Zimbabwe. However, more research is needed to confirm these emergent conclusions, and to better understand the chronological and spatial relationships between not just Woolandale and Khami sites but also Khami and the multiple Khami-type sites scattered across southern Zambezia.ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Section: What Is Materials Culture Studies?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overview Of Studies On Craft Production In Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overview Of Studies On Craft Production In Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overview Of Studies On Craft Production In Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An archaeological study of the Zimbabwe Culture capital of Khami, southwestern Zimbabwe

Mukwende¹

2016

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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Laterite nodules: A credible source of iron ore in iron age northeast Thailand?

Cawte

Boyd

2010

Geoarchaeology

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The advent of iron metallurgy changed the course of prehistoric Thailand. There is, however, little information on the nature of iron production and the extent to which locally abundant and easily quarried lateritic iron may have been the ore source. For northeast Thailand archaeological sites, the presence of both iron slag and laterite iron nodules within and surrounding these sites has widely been assumed to represent localized smelting using locally sourced iron ore. This interpretation is, however, based on untested laterite-equals-ore and slag-equalssmelting equations. This paper tests these assumptions by examining the chemistry of the lateritic iron nodules from two archaeological sites. At one site, the laterite is not a credible ore source and iron working probably comprised only smithing. Local laterite at the other site may be a usable ore. We conclude that, in northeast Thailand, the use of local laterite as an ore source cannot be assumed and that presence of both laterite and slag is not necessarily evidence for prehistoric smelting.

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Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy through Eastern and Southern Africa

Killick¹

2014

Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective

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Smelter and Smith: Iron Age Metal Fabrication Technology in Southern Africa

Cited by 135 publications

References 23 publications

An archaeological study of the Zimbabwe Culture capital of Khami, southwestern Zimbabwe

An archaeological study of the Zimbabwe Culture capital of Khami, southwestern Zimbabwe

Laterite nodules: A credible source of iron ore in iron age northeast Thailand?

Cairo to Cape: The Spread of Metallurgy through Eastern and Southern Africa

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