famous iron smelting societies in tanganyika
Quite how much value is attached to iron can be judged from a famous letter of about 1250 BC, written by a Hittite king to accompany an iron dagger-blade which he is sending to a fellow monarch (see Letter from a Hittite king). ), African Iron Working: Ancient and Traditional, 36-49, Bergen, Norwegian University Press. Filipowiak, W. 1985. 1937. Jack of Two Trades, Master of Both: Smelting and Healing in Ufipa, Southwestern Tanzania Jack of Two Trades, Master of Both: Smelting and Healing in Ufipa, Southwestern Tanzania Mapunda, Bertram 2011-08-26 00:00:00 Pre-colonial African ironworking was much more than just a technology; it encompassed economic, social, political, symbolic, and even healing components. In Tanzania there were iron deposits in Itewe near chunya, liganga, and Uluguru Mountains. Contemporary iron age furnaces in Europe ( La Tène ) were different: the furnaces had a single set of bellows and had internal diameters between 14–26 inches. 1985 Iron Age iron smelting furnaces of the western/central Transvaal-their structure, typology and affinities. There is fragmentary knowledge of iron ore sources exploited in the past for many regions including the Southern Levant. The arrival of iron smelting technology in sub-Saharan Africa played a significant role in shaping the historical record of the area by bringing profound changes to the lives and societies of its inhabitants (Haaland Shinnie 7). 400–200 BCE) were shaft furnaces with multiple bellows and internal diameters between 31-47 inches. Tanganyika Notes and Records 4:77-81. Common among many iron smelting societies throughout Africa is the conception of iron smelting as a procreative act between "female" furnaces and "male" bellows and smelters. The earliest securely dated iron-smelting furnaces in sub-Saharan Africa (ca. The famous blacksmith in Africa was able to produce their own iron. The discovery of steel: 11th century BC: By the 11th century BC it has been discovered that iron can be much improved. Grieg, R. 1937 Iron smelting in Fipa. Western scientists and students of history have long explaind th iron bloomery process by evidence available from European archeology. South African Archaeological Bulletin 40(141):4549. Peter R. Schmidt, “Tropes, Materiality, and Ritual Embodiment of African Iron Smelting Furnaces as Human Figures,” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 16.3 (2009): 262–282; Chirikure, Metals in Past Societies. Greig, R.C.H. Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 77(11):233-242. Iron smelting in the upper north Rukuru Basin of northern Malawi, Azania 23, 57-100. Iron working in old kingdom of Mali. Nubian of … In R. Haaland and P. Shinnie (eds. This missing information has the potential to shed light on political, economic, craft-production, and trading patterns of past societies. Iron use appeared in small trading towns such as Akjoujt and Tichitt, and iron smelting appeared south of the Sahara in Ghat, Gao and the Lake Chad region. By the beginning of the 19 th century, most of the African societies were able to produce their own iron.