Mapping Archaeological Smithing Sites with the Aid of Hammerscale

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Science and African Archaeology: Appreciating the Impact of David Killick" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 2013 and 2017 three major smithing sites in the Bitchabe zone of the Bassar region of northern Togo were mapped with GPS: former Bitchabe, Upper Bidjomambe, and Old Bitchobebe, covering 20.3, 14.5, and 5.4 ha, respectively. The sites were variously occupied from the late seventeenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Blacksmiths obtained iron bloom from the Bandjeli area 8–15 km to the north. Elements mapped included house remains and large basin metates for processing sorghum; large iron bloom crushing areas (likumanjool) and iron bloom crushing stones; stone anvils and small likumanjool for pulverizing bloom with small hammerstones; several types of large stone hammers for forging iron into hoes; tuyere fragments; anvil and stone hammer production areas; baobabs, tombs and cemeteries; and middens. To confirm potential anvils were used for hot forging, soil samples were taken to check for hammerscale as taught to me by David Killick. Site occupation periods were estimated using pottery types, ceramic tobacco pipe fragments, and oral traditions about migrations and site abandonment. 14C dates were not helpful due to the 0–300 BP radiocarbon plateau. The sites were mapped to preserve Bassar cultural patrimony and to compare site spatial organization in terms of residential and ironworking areas.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeological Science and African Archaeology: Appreciating the Impact of David Killick   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36770.0