Technology · c. 750–550 BCE
Iron smelting in West Africa
Nok, Kaduna State (central Nigeria)
The Nok culture of central Nigeria, famous for its hollow, near life-sized terracotta sculptures, was smelting iron in bloomery furnaces by about 550 BCE and perhaps from 750 BCE or earlier. Excavations at Taruga uncovered iron slag, clay furnace pipes and wrought iron, helping to show that the Nok people lived in an Iron Age.
Why it mattered
Early dates at Nok and other sites match or predate known ironworking at Carthage and Meroë, so many archaeologists now argue that iron smelting was invented independently south of the Sahara, though the evidence is still debated.
Elsewhere
Even earlier smelting dates claimed for sites in Niger (Termit, c. 1500 BCE) and Nigeria (Lejja) remain disputed.
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