GENEVA, SWITZERLAND—Archaeologists led by Anne Mayor Anne Mayor of the University of Geneva uncovered an iron smelting workshop at the site of Didé West 1 in eastern Senegal, according to a SciNews report. The workshop was used for some 800 years, between the fourth century B.C. and the fourth century A.D. “The iron-smelting workshop at the Didé West 1 site in Senegal sheds new light on the emergence of iron metallurgy in West Africa,” said Mélissa Morel of the University of Geneva. The team discovered about 100 tons of slag; 30 tuyeres, or clay pipes used to channel air into a furnace, that had been arranged in a semicircle; and 35 small, circular furnace bases. These furnaces were likely used to produce iron and steel for local use, such as the production of tools for farming. “Despite the very long period during which this workshop operated, this tradition remained remarkably stable, undergoing only minor technical adjustments,” Mayor explained. To read about the sources of iron used to produce blades in the Kingdom of Dahomey, go to "African Swordcraft."
