Red Gold of Africa

by Herbert, Eugenia W.

• ISBN13: 9780299096045
• ISBN10: 0299096041
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Pr

Summary

The classic history of copper working and use throughout Africa

Table of Contents

Illustrations	xi
Maps, Charts, Tables, and Diagrams	xv
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction	xix
Prologue The Age of Metals	3	(12)
Part I: COPPER RESOURCES AND COPPER METALLURGY IN PRECOLONIAL AFRICA
``Ancient Workings'' in sub-Saharan Africa	15	(14)
The Smith as Nganga: Ritual, Social, and Political Aspects of Copperworking	29	(20)
``Mangeurs de Cuivre'': Mining and Smelting	49	(27)
Smithing, Drawing, Casting, and Alloying	76	(27)
Part II: THE COPPER TRADE
Gold for Copper: The Copper Trade before the Period of European Discoveries	103	(20)
Manillas, Neptunes, Rods, and Wire: The Maritime Trade from the Discoveries to c. 1800	123	(31)
The Copper Economy in the Nineteenth Century	154	(31)
Coda Totals: Toward Quantification	179	(6)
Part III: COPPER IN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN SOCIETY
Copper as a Medium of Exchange	185	(23)
Copper as a Medium of Art	208	(32)
Copper as a Medium of Power	240	(37)
Shango and Nommo: Copper and the Language of Materials	277	(19)
Conclusion Red Gold	296	(11)
Abbreviations	307	(2)
Notes	309	(64)
Bibliography	373	(20)
Index	393