02 · Explore
Igbo-Ukwu: bronze masterpieces and early ironworking
In the 9th century, Igbo artisans cast bronzes so intricate that they overturned the idea of a technologically isolated sub-Saharan Africa.
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Nearly a thousand years ago, somebody in the forest zone melted copper and tin, shaped wax, poured metal, and made objects of astonishing detail. This chapter is the detective story of how we found them.
In this chapter
01A chance discovery in 1938
A man digs a cistern in 1938 and finds treasure.
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02What was found
Pots, crowns and a snail shell that look like they were made yesterday.
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03Dating and early iron
How old is it? What radiocarbon says, and the early iron furnaces nearby.
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04Metals, beads and long-distance trade
Copper, tin, glass beads and the long roads that brought them.
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