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Pulling the wires in the trade networks. Metallurgical techniques diffusion in South-Central and East Africa in the 19th century AD

par Nikis, Nicolas ;Garenne Marot, Laurence
Référence African archaeology Research Day (09-11-2019: University College, London)
Publication Non publié, 2019-11-09

Communication à un colloque

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Résumé :

In the second half of the 19th century, a group of Nyamwezi people moved from the interlacustrine area between lakes Victoria, Kivu and Tanganyika (modern Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania), and settled in the central part of the Copperbelt mining area (modern south-east of DRC) where they established the Yeke kingdom. Of key importance in the socio-political and economic history of South-Central Africa, this polity had an original socio-political system that combined elements both from the interlacustrine homeland and borrowed from the local populations of the Copperbelt. Yeke kingdom was further involved in the long-distance trade with Atlantic and Indian ocean coasts. The main export products were ivory and copper, both locally available. Interestingly, Yeke copper production techniques are also a combination of manufacturing processes of different origins: borrowed smelting process and introduction of new techniques such as wire drawing. According to historical sources, wire drawing used to make coiled and wound wire bangles would have been imported from the interlacustrine area where a concentration of comparable tools and manufacturing processes had been observed. Wire drawing processes showing comparable tools and methods have also been recorded at various places in the area stretching from the south lake Victoria to the north of lake Malawi. A review of the historical evidence strongly suggests this distribution is related to the extension of the Nyamwezi trade in order to produce wound wire bangles used in some of the exchanges. This study may thus illustrate how exchange networks can favour the spread of manufacturing techniques and provides additional perspectives to understand techniques diffusion in the past.