Iles, L.E. orcid.org/0000-0003-4113-5844, Stump, D., Heckmann, M. et al. (2 more authors) (2018) Iron Production in North Pare, Tanzania: Archaeometallurgical and Geoarchaeological Perspectives on Landscape Change. African Archaeological Review, 35 (4). pp. 507-530. ISSN 0263-0338
Abstract
Archaeology, archaeometallurgy and geoarchaeology are combined in this research to examine the chronology and development of iron metallurgy and its environmental repercussions in North Pare, Tanzania. Pare was a prominent centre for iron production from at least the second half of the first millennium AD, and it has been assumed that this technology—with its demand for wood charcoal—had a significant and detrimental effect on local forest cover. This research sought to examine this claim by exploring the spatial, chronological and technological characteristics of iron production in Pare in conjunction with geoarchaeological evidence. Contrary to older assumptions, our results demonstrate that erosion processes were well established in North Pare before the documented intensification of smelting and smithing activity, and that iron production continued despite environmental changes. We suggest that although iron production may well have contributed to deforestation and erosion in Pare, it is unlikely to be the sole causal factor.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
Keywords: | Tanzania; East Africa; Iron Age; Metallurgy; Iron smelting; Historical ecology |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of Archaeology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 13 Sep 2018 13:58 |
Last Modified: | 18 Apr 2024 16:11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10437-018-9312-4 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:135630 |
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