African Archaeology :: Africa African Archaeology Essays

1) Metallurgical Origins in Africa Introduction The study of metallurgy in Africa has been reign by a concern with origins and antiquity. Some Anthropologists believe that African metallurgy was an early, individual invention, while others believe that it was an innovation, which came relatively late, and was a product of diffusion. With these two hypotheses as our only reference points, we are limited in our knowledge of metallurgy as well as its role in the lives of African passel. Anthropologists often run into themselves in the predicament of being presented with a small number of cause theories, which shape and direct further studies. Diffusionism J.O. Vogel, in an article published in the Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa (1991) entitled bulls eye Metallurgy, took the diffusionist theory of African metallurgy as a given, stating that The ultimate source of sub-Saharan metallurgy has not been conclusively identified, but among the closely likely source areas are Carthage or southern Morocco via Berber traders crossing the Sahara. (Vogel, 1997 125) This creator was working within the framework of diffusionist ideas, leaving little room for substitute(a) theories. James Woodhouse, however, a proponent of Indigenism, discusses the logistics of this theory, citing references that suggest that smelting in Carthage only appeared in the early first millennium B.C., making diffusion into Nigeria, and lands further south, challenging in such a short time, if not impossible. More explicitly, Vogel states that Copper metallurgy was invented in Eurasia, and began before 6000 B.C, (Vogel, 1997 125) and places the first evidences of African smelting between 900 and 300 B.C. (Vogel, 1997 126). Without whatsoever specific physical evidence cited to this effect, the argument lacks a certain make out of credibility. Another model, which is inherent of diffusionist theory, is that of progressive growth. It give awayms to be a trend in much of Western thought t hat societies must undergo certain stages of development to qualify as civilizations. The theory proposes that when faced with a new engineering, people will automatically embrace it in order to better themselves, and to ingrain up on the ladder of civilization. Proponents of the progressive development theory see any deviation from this pattern as problematic and anomalous. This is shown in the spoken communication used by certain anthropologists when describing such deviations. In the case of African metallurgy, any society, which does not produce metals, or does not embrace the technology immediately, is seen as facing some sort of barrier.