Azania Archaeological Research in Africa· 2016Q1
A global perspective on the pyrotechnologies of Sub-Saharan Africa
- 81citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2016year
Short summary
Sub-Saharan Africa possesses the earliest evidence of fire production, yet its pyrotechnological achievements, particularly beyond iron smelting, are underrepresented, with a unique Nigerian glass production highlighting this gap.
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Key points
- Sub-Saharan Africa has the earliest evidence for deliberate fire production.
- Research on African pyrotechnology is heavily skewed towards iron smelting.
- A unique glass production in Nigeria suggests overlooked advancements.
- External factors may explain differences in preindustrial pyrotechnology compared to other regions.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Although Sub-Saharan Africa has the oldest evidence for the deliberate production of fire, its recent record of pyrotechnology is more often presented as a list of absences than as a list of accomplishments. In this review I summarise the evidence, both before and after the initiation of long-distance trade with the Islamic world. The literature is decidedly unbalanced, with almost all attention so far having gone to African iron smelting, but the recent discovery of a unique type of glass production in Nigeria suggests that much more attention needs to be paid to other branches of pyrotechnology. I also suggest that we need to look outside the continent to understand why the record of preindustrial pyrotechnology in Sub-Saharan Africa is so different from that in other parts of the Old and New Worlds.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Azania Archaeological Research in Africa, 2016 · DOI ↗
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Field: Archeology (Social Sciences)
ArcheologySocial Sciences