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East African Iron Technology Iron technology has a long history in Africa. Steel is an alloy of iron. A high quality carbon steel was produced by the Bahaya people nearly 2000 thousand years ago. The Bahaya people are from the north-west area of what is now Tanzania, in East Africa. This quality of steel was not found in Europe until about the year 1800. The iron ore used by the Bahaya people had the formula Fe304.This was added to the top of the furnace with charcoal, as the source of carbon. The air entered the furnace through blow-pipes at the bottom. In this way the air was preheated, which improved the yield and quality of the iron. The temperature reached in the furnace was 1800°C.
Iron Technology in East Africa: Symbolism, Science, and Archaeology by Peter R. Schmidt
Peter R. Schmidt distills more than twenty years of research and scholarship into this major work on the history and culture of iron technology in East Africa from ancient times to the present. Although archaeologists have long held that ironmaking spread from a single point of origin in Europe, Schmidt shows that African iron smelting developed independently, based on the use of indigenous natural resources and local invention. Schmidt recounts the reenactment of traditional iron smelting by elders of the Haya people in northwestern Tanzania. Through analysis of the chemistry and metallurgy of the smelting process, he demonstrates the genius of African iron technology. The rich symbolism surrounding traditional methods of iron production sheds light on the history of iron technology and reveals its central cultural role.Posts: 461 | From: Kilimanjaro | Registered: Jan 2008
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^ Great find. Where on the Internet did you find this?
quote:Originally posted by rasol: I guess AE were dumber than East African Bahaya...
The kind of metal you use doesn't necessarily reflect your inherent intelligence. It can be a question of what resources were available, and in what quantities. For instance, Egypt doesn't have a lot of native iron deposits, so it isn't surprisingly that they lacked iron tools for most of their history.
Posts: 7080 | From: Fallbrook, CA | Registered: Mar 2004
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True, that resources have to first be available, so as to enable one to make regular or sufficient use of it, but it is also true that creativity is what's behind this...
...A high quality carbon steel was produced by the Bahaya people nearly 2000 thousand years ago....
This quality of steel was not found in Europe until about the year 1800.
...made possible by this "process" or "method"...
The iron ore used by the Bahaya people had the formula Fe304. This was added to the top of the furnace with charcoal, as the source of carbon. The air entered the furnace through blow-pipes at the bottom. In this way the air was preheated, which improved the yield and quality of the iron. The temperature reached in the furnace was 1800°C.
...which in fact, does reflect intelligence!
In other words, to make that *quality* of steel, one required intelligence, because it implies that a more refined process was used to achieve the extraordinary quality, which would have otherwise not been the case if it were just an ordinary/cruder-state product invented either by accident or via cruder production concepts.
Posts: 7516 | From: Somewhere on Earth | Registered: Jan 2008
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The title of this thread is wrong. The article cited says 2000 years AGO not 2000 BC
Posts: 833 | From: Austin, TX | Registered: Jan 2007
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What did Africans use steel for if not for building like the most of the so called developed world uses steel today for.
I mean non Africans have contempt for African by saying it is mud hut land and this is because they use steel to build. But the evidence shows steel was utilized a very long time ago in Africa before anywhere else.
What did they use it for? Did they make weapons with it and if they didn't why not? And why did they not use it to build with?
I have always wondered this.
Posts: 343 | Registered: Feb 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Wolofi: What did Africans use steel for if not for building like the most of the so called developed world uses steel today for.
I mean non Africans have contempt for African by saying it is mud hut land and this is because they use steel to build. But the evidence shows steel was utilized a very long time ago in Africa before anywhere else.
What did they use it for? Did they make weapons with it and if they didn't why not? And why did they not use it to build with?
I have always wondered this.
If you're asking why Africans weren't using steel to build Sky Scrapers like 2,000 years ago, then I must ask you why'd you stop taking your medication?
Weef Woof, I am starting to see the same light as others and I don't believe that you're African. I honestly think you're a white European in Black face.
Posts: 4021 | From: Bay Area, CA | Registered: Mar 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Wolofi: What did Africans use steel for if not for building like the most of the so called developed world uses steel today for.
I mean non Africans have contempt for African by saying it is mud hut land and this is because they use steel to build. But the evidence shows steel was utilized a very long time ago in Africa before anywhere else.
What did they use it for? Did they make weapons with it and if they didn't why not? And why did they not use it to build with?
I have always wondered this.
If you're asking why Africans weren't using steel to build Sky Scrapers like 2,000 years ago, then I must ask you why'd you stop taking your medication?
Weef Woof, I am starting to see the same light as others and I don't believe that you're African. I honestly think you're a white European in Black face.
Dude could you please stop with the feminine paranoia. I asked a sincere question what did Africans use steel for in ANCIENT TIMES!!!!!!! Not today idiot
And Djehuty, just a forum ago all of these Akatas were attacking you while I was defending you, but now you want to ride their di cks?
So, am I supposed to suspect that you are a masochistic homosexual that likes pain from black di ck or something?
I thought you were mature, please don't disappoint me.
Posts: 343 | Registered: Feb 2008
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