Abstract
Metalworking places a very high demand on forest resources to provide fuel supplies, and environmental degradation has been associated with large-scale iron production in sub-Saharan Africa in the historic and prehistoric past. The paper summarizes ethnoarchaeological evidence for fuels used in manufacturing iron, juxtaposed with an archaeological case study from south-west Uganda. At the site of Munsa, large quantities of wood charcoal and plant-impressed slag were recovered from iron age deposits associated with a range of contexts including a furnace. Their preliminary analysis indicates differences between the charcoal assemblages from industrial and other areas of the site, and the combination of charcoal, pollen and phytolith studies will, we hope, aid an understanding of the environmental impact of metalworking and associated industrial processes operating in the area.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Avery, D. H., Merwe, N. J. van der, and Saitowitz, S. (1988). The metallurgy of the iron bloomery in Africa. In ( R. Maddin, ed.) The Beginning of the Use of Metals and Alloys. International Conference on the Beginning of the Use of Metals and Alloys, Zhengzhou, China: MIT Press, pp. 261–282.
Ballouche, A. and Neumann, K. (1995). A new contribution to the Holocene vegetation history of the West African Sahel: pollen from Ousi, Burkina Faso and charcoal from three sites in northeast Nigeria. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 4, 31–39.
Barndon, R. (1996). Fipa ironworking and its technological impact. In ( P. R. Schmidt, ed.) The Culture and Technology of African Iron Production. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, pp. 29–39.
Barros, R. de (1986). Bassar: a quantified, chronologically controlled, regional approach to a traditional iron production centre in west Africa. Africa 56, 148–174.
Boardman, S. (this volume). The agricultural foundation of the Aksumite empire, Ethiopia - an interim report. In (M. van der Veen, ed.) The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. New York: Plenum Press.
Boyer, P. (1983). Le status des forgerons et ses justifications symboliques: une hypothèse cognitive. Africa 53, 44–63.
Brown, J. (1995). Traditional Metalworking in Kenya. Oxford: Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology no. 38.
Buleli, N. (1993). Iron-making techniques in the Kivu region of Zaire: some of the differences between the South Maniema region and north Kivu. In ( T. Shaw, R. Sinclair, B. Andah and A. Okpoko, eds.) The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns. London: Routledge, pp. 468–475.
Cartwright, C. (this volume). Reconstructing the woody resources of the medieval Kingdom of Alwa, Sudan. In (M. van der Veen, ed.) The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. New York: Plenum Press.
Childs, S. T. (1991a). Style, technology and iron-smelting furnaces in Bantu-speaking Africa. Journal ofAnthropological Archaeology 10, 332–359.
Childs, S. T. (1991b). Transformations: iron and copper production in central Africa. In ( P. Glumac, ed.) Recent Trends in Archaeometallurgical Research. Philadelphia: MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology 8, 33–46.
Childs, S. T. (1991c). Iron as utility or expression: reforging function in Africa. In ( R. Ehrenreich, ed.) Metals in Society: Theory beyond Analysis. Philadelphia: MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology 8, 57–67.
Childs, S. T. (1996). Technological history and culture in Western Tanzania. In ( P. Schmidt, ed.) The Culture and Technology of African Iron Production. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, pp. 277–320.
Childs, S. T. and Killick, D. (1993). Indigenous African metallurgy: nature and culture. Annual Review of Anthropology 22, 317–337.
Craddock, P. T. (1989). The scientific investigation of early mining and smelting. In ( J. Henderson, ed.) Scientific Analysis in Archaeology and its Interpretation. Oxford: Oxford University Committee for Archaeology, Monograph No. 19, and London: UCLA Institute of Archaeology, Archaeological Research Tools, 5. pp. 178–212.
Craddock, R. (1995). Early Metal Mining and Production. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Crew, R. (1991). The experimental production of prehistoric bar iron. Journal of the Historical Metallurgy Society 25, 21–36.
David, N., Heiman, R., Killick, D. and Wayman, M. (1989). Between bloomery and blast furnace: Mafa iron smelting technology in North Cameroon. The African Archaeology Review 7, 183–208.
Deacon, H. J., Scholtz, A. and Diatz, L. D. (1983). Fossil charcoals as a source of palaeoecological information in the Fynbos region. In ( H. J. Deacon, Q. B. Hendey and J. J. N. Lambrechts, eds.) Fynbos Palaeoecology: a preliminary synthesis. Pretoria: South African National Scientific Progress Report 75 CSIR, pp. 174–182.
Department of Lands and Survey (1962). Atlas of Uganda. Entebbe and Kampala: Department of Lands and Survey.
Eggert, M. K. H. (1987). On the alleged complexity of early and recent iron smelting in Africa: Further comments on the preheating hypothesis. Journal of Field Archaeology 14, 377–381.
February, E. (1992). Archaeological charcoals as indicators of vegetation change and human fuel choice in the late Holocene at Elands Bay, Western Cape province, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 19, 347–354.
February, E. (1994). Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the Natal Drakensberg using wood charcoal as a conservation management tool. Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Wetenskap 90, 549–551.
Grant, M. R., Huffman, T. N. and Watterson, J. I. W. (1994). The role of copper smelting in the precolonial exploitation of the Rooiberg tin field. South African Journal of Science 90, 85–90.
Gordon, R. B. and Killick, D. J. (1993). Adaptation of technology to culture and environment: bloomery iron smelting in America and Africa. Technology and Culture 34, 243–270.
Goucher, C. L. (1981). Iron is iron ‘til it is rust: trade and ecology in the decline of West African iron-smelting. Journal of African History 22, 179–189.
Goucher, C. L. and Herbert, E. W. (1996). The blooms of Bangeli: technology and gender in West African iron making. In ( P. R. Schmidt, ed.) The Culture and Technology of African Iron Production. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, pp. 40–57.
Grunderbeek, M.-C. van, and Doutrelepont, H. (1988). Etude de charbons de bois provenant des sites métallurgiques de l’Âge du Fer Ancien au Rwanda et au Burundi. PACT (Journal of the European Study Group on Physical, Chemical, Biological and Mathematical Techniques Applied to Archaeology) 22, 281–298.
Hâland, R. (1980). Man’s role in the changing habitat of Mema during the old Kingdom of Ghana. Norwegian Archaeological Review 13, 31–46.
Haaland, R. (1985). Iron production, its socio-cultural context and ecological implications. In ( R. Haaland and P. Shinnie, eds.) African Iron Working–Ancient and Traditional. Oslo: Norwegian University Press, pp. 50–72.
Herbert, E. W. (1993). Iron, Gender and Power: Rituals of Transformation in African Societies. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Herbert, E. W. and Goucher, C. (1987). Resource Guide for the Blooms of Bangeli: Technology and Gender in West African Ironmaking. Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources.
Hollingdale, A. C., Krishnan, R. and Robinson, A. P. (1991). Charcoal Production. A Handbook. London: Commonwealth Science Council.
Home, L. (1982). Fuel for the metal worker. Expedition 25, 6–13.
I0c, J. (1991). CSIROAtlas of Hardwoods. Bathurst, NSW: Crawford House Press.
Jolly, D., Taylor, D., Marchant, R., Hamilton, A., Bonnefille, R., Buchet, G. and Riollet, G. (1997). Vegetation dynamics in central Africa since 18,000 yr BP: pollen records from the interlacustrine highlands of Burundi, Rwanda and western Uganda. Journal of Biogeography 24, 495–512.
Katende, A. B., Birnie, A. and Tengnas, B. (1995). Useful Trees and Shrubs for Uganda. Nairobi: Regional Soil Conservation Unit.
Killick, D. (1991). The relevance of recent African iron-smelting practice to reconstructions of prehistoric smelting technology. In ( P. Glumac, ed.) Recent Trends in Archaeometallurgical Research. Philadelphia: MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology 8, 47–54.
Killick. D. (1996). On claims for `advanced’ ironworking technology in precolonial Africa. In ( P. R. Schmidt, ed.) The Culture and Technology of African Iron Production. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, pp. 247–266.
Klapwijk, M. (1986). A late iron age furnace excavation on the Farm Longridge, Agatha, north-eastern Transvaal, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin 41, 22–26.
Leney. L. and Casteel, R. W. (1975). Simplified procedure for examining charcoal specimens for identification. Journal of Archaeological Sciences 2, 153–9.
Lind, E. M. and Morrison, M. E. S. (1974). East African Vegetation. London: Longman.
Mabberley, D. J. (1987). The Plant Book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Maluma, E. (1979). Chongwe and Kanatantapa iron smelting furnaces. South African Archaeological Society Goodwin Series 3, 7–13.
Merwe, N. J. van der, and Avery, D. H. (1987). Science and magic in African technology: traditional iron smelting in Malawi. Africa 57, 143–72.
Merwe, N. J., van der, and Killlick, D. J. (1979). Square: an iron smelting site near Phalaborwa. South African Archaeological Society Goodwin Series 3, 86–93.
Mighall, T. M. and Chambers, F. M. (1993). Early mining and metalworking: its impact on the environment. Journal of the Historical Metallurgy Society 27, 71–83.
Mighall, T. M. and Chambers, F. M. (1997). Early ironworking and its impact on the environment: palaeoecological evidence from Bryn y Castell Hillfort, Snowdonia, North Wales. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 63, 199–219.
Miller, D. E. and Merwe, N. J. van der (1994). Early metal working in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review of recent research. Journal of African History 35, 1–36.
Miller, N. F. (1985). Paleoethnobotanical evidence for deforestation in ancient Iran: a case study of urban Malyan. Journal of Ethnobiology 5, 1–19.
Miller, N. F. (1990). Clearing land for farmland and fuel: archaeobotanical studies of the ancient Near East. In ( N. F. Miller, ed.) Economy and Settlement in the Near East: Analyses of Ancient Sites and Materials. Philadelphia: MASCA, University of Pennsylvania, pp. 70–78.
Neumann, K. (this volume). Charcoal from West African savanna sites: questions of identification and interpretation. In (M. van der Veen, ed.) The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. New York: Plenum Press.
Noten, F. van (1983). Ancient and modern iron smelting in Central Africa: Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi. In ( R. Haaland and P. Shinnie, eds.) African Iron Working–Ancient and Traditional. London: Norwegian University Press, pp. 102–120.
Okafor, E. E. (1989). Eguru Amube Amalla Orba: blacksmith clan among the Orba. Nyame Akuma 32, 24–27.
Okafor, E. E. (1993). New evidence on early iron-smelting from southeastern Nigeria. In ( T. Shaw. P. Sinclair, B. Andah and A. Okpoko, eds.) The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns. London: Routledge, pp. 433–448.
Prior, J. and Price Williams, D. (1985). An investigation of climate changes in the Holocene Epoch using archaeological charcoal from Swaziland, southern Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 12, 457–475.
Rackham, O. (1993). Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape. London: J. M. Dent Ltd.
Rehder, J. E. (1986). Use of preheated air in primitive furnaces: Comments on views of Avery and Schmidt. Journal of Field Archaeology 13, 351–353.
Robertshaw, P. (1995). The last 200,000 years (or thereabouts) in Eastern Africa: recent archaeological research. Journal of Archaeological Research 3, 55–86.
Robertshaw, R. (1997). Munsa earthworks: a preliminary report. Azania 32, 1–20.
Robertshaw, R, Kamuhangire, E. R., Reid, A., Young, R., Childs, S. T. and Pearson, N. (1997). Excavations in Bunyoro-Kitara: preliminary results. Nyame Akuma 48, 70–77.
Rostoker, W. and Bronson, B. (1990). Pre-Industrial Iron, its technology and ethnology. Philadelphia, Archaeomaterials Monograph No 1.
Schiegl, S., Lev-Yadun, S., Bar-Yosef, O., El Goresy, A. and Weiner, S. (1994). Siliceous aggregates from prehistoric wood ash: a major component of sediments in Kebara and Hayonim caves (Israel). Israel Journal of Earth Sciences 43, 267–278.
Schmidt, P. R. (1994). Historical ecology and landscape transformation in eastern equatorial Africa. In ( C. Crum-ley, ed.) Historical Ecology: Cultural Knowledge and Changing Landscapes. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press, pp. 99–125.
Schmidt, R. R. (1996). Reconfiguring the Barongo: reproductive symbolism and reproduction among a work association of iron smelters. In ( R. R. Schmidt, ed.) The Culture and Technology of African Iron Production. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, pp. 74–127.
Schmidt, P. R. (1997). Iron Technology in East Africa: Symbolism, Science, and Archaeology. Oxford: James Currey. Schmidt, R R. and Avery, D. H. (1978). Complex iron smelting and prehistoric culture in Tanzania. Science 201 (4361): 1085–1089.
Schmidt, R. R. and Avery, D. H. (1996). Complex iron smelting and prehistoric culture in Tanzania. In ( P. R. Schmidt, ed.) The Culture and Technology of African Iron Production. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, pp. 172–185.
Schmidt, R. R. and Childs, S. T. (1995). Ancient African iron production. American Scientist 83, 524–533.
Schmidt, R. R. and Mapunda, B. B. (1997). Ideology and the archaeological record in Africa: interpreting symbolism in iron smelting technology. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 16, 73–102.
Schoenbrun, D. (1991). Treating an interdisciplinary allergy: methodological approaches to pollen studies for the historian of early Africa. History in Africa 18, 323–348.
Schoenbrun, D. L. (1994). The contours of vegetation change and human agency in eastern Africa’s Great Lakes region: ca. 2000 BC to ca. AD 1000. History in Africa 21, 269–302.
Shackleton, C. M. and Prins, F. (1993). Charcoal yields from dry wood samples of ten savanna trees. South African Archaeological Bulletin 48, 42–44.
Sinclair, R. J. J., Shaw, T. and Andah, B. (1993). Introduction. In ( T. Shaw, R. Sinclair, B. Andah and A. Okpoko, eds.) The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns. London: Routledge, pp. 1–31.
Sutton, J. G. (1985). Temporal and spatial variability in African iron furnaces. In ( R. Haaland and P. Shinnie. eds.) African Iron Working–Ancient and Traditional. Oslo: Norwegian University Press, pp. 164–196.
Taylor, D. M. (1990). Late Quaternary pollen records from two Ugandan mires: evidence for environmental change in the Rukiga Highlands of southwest Uganda. Palaeoecology, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 80, 283–300.
Taylor, D. M. (1993). Environmental change in montane southwest Uganda: a pollen record for the Holocene from Ahakayezi Swamp. The Holocene 3, 324–332.
Taylor, D. and Marchant, R. (1994–5). Human impact on the Interlacustrine region: long-term pollen records from the Rukiga Highlands. Azania 29–30, 283–295.
Tessmann, G. (1913). Die Pangwè. Völkerünliche Monographie eines West-Africanisches Negerstammes. Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth.
Thompson, G. B. (1994). Wood charcoals from tropical sites: a contribution to methodology and interpretation. In ( J. G. Hather, ed.) Tropical Archaeobotany: Applications and New Developments. London: Routledge, pp. 9–33.
Tillman, D. A. (1978). Wood as an Energy Source. New York: Academic Press.
Tonks, D. (1998). Charcoal Fuelled Fires or Wood Fuelled Fires? Unpublished BSc dissertation. University of Bradford, Department of Archaeological Sciences, England.
Trapnell, G. and Langdale-Brown, 1. (1969). Natural vegetation. In ( W. T. W. Morgan, ed.) East Africa: its Peoples and Resources. (2nd ed.) London: Oxford University Press, pp. 127–139.
Tusenius, M. L. (1989). Charcoal analytical studies in the north-eastern Cape, South Africa. South African Archaeological Society Goodwin Series 6, 77–83.
Tylecote, R. F. (1965). Iron smelting in pre-industrial communities. Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 203, 340–348.
Tylecote, R. F. (1986). The Prehistory of Metallurgy in the British Isles. London, The Institute of Metals.
Tylecote, R. F., Austin, J. N. and Wraith, A. E. (1971). The mechanism of the bloomery furnace process in shaft furnaces. Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 209, 342–364.
Wagner, D. B. (1985) Dabieshan: Traditional Chinese Iron-Production Techniques in Southern Henan in the Twentieth Century. London: Curzon Press.
White, F. (1983). The Vegetation of Africa. Paris: UNESCO.
Wise, R. (1958). Iron smelting in Ufipa. Tanganyika Notes and Records 50, 106–111.
Wynne, E. J. and Tylecote, R. F. (1958). An experimental investigation into primitive iron-smelting techniques. Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 190, 339–348.
Young, R. L. (1996). Archaeobotany, Fuel and Ironworking in Munsa, Uganda. Unpublished BSc dissertation, University of Bradford, Department of Archaeological Sciences, England.
Young, R. L. and Thompson, G. B. (in prep.). Munsa 1995, Archaeobotanical Report. Unpublished report on file at the University of Bradford, England and the California State University, San Bernardino, USA.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Thompson, G., Young, R. (1999). Fuels for the Furnace. In: van der Veen, M. (eds) The Exploitation of Plant Resources in Ancient Africa. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6730-8_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6730-8_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3316-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-6730-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive