It is often said that African prehistory and antiquity, with the exception of Egypt, "went straight from the Neolithic to the Iron Age". I'm not an expert in this field (something I regret), and newer finds and research might invalidate this long-held claim, but I nevertheless have interest in the topic.
And so, I want to ask:
- How much and how far could bronze-making spread throughout the African continent before iron-making starts to replace it ?
- How would local conditions and some of the earliest African trade routes influence the spread of this knowledge and craft ?
- Would bronze-making be useful enough to most African cultures before the arrival of iron as a hardier material ?
On a similar note, I want to ask the same sort of question about Bronze Age Europe: How far could the crafts of bronze tool, bronze weapon and bronze ornament manufacturing get ? Not just among the Mediterranean cultures (e.g. Minoans, Myceneans, Hispanians, etc.), but also among the more northern or obscure cultures who's names had been lost to history.
Africa fans, prehistory fans, European Bronze Age fans, I'm all ears !
And so, I want to ask:
- How much and how far could bronze-making spread throughout the African continent before iron-making starts to replace it ?
- How would local conditions and some of the earliest African trade routes influence the spread of this knowledge and craft ?
- Would bronze-making be useful enough to most African cultures before the arrival of iron as a hardier material ?
On a similar note, I want to ask the same sort of question about Bronze Age Europe: How far could the crafts of bronze tool, bronze weapon and bronze ornament manufacturing get ? Not just among the Mediterranean cultures (e.g. Minoans, Myceneans, Hispanians, etc.), but also among the more northern or obscure cultures who's names had been lost to history.
Africa fans, prehistory fans, European Bronze Age fans, I'm all ears !