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Editorial

Editorial Editorial The Journal of African Archaeology enters its eighth year of existence featuring a series of contributions on an especially controversial theme in the archaeology of the continent: the origins of early iron working. The bone of contention is the leading article by Étienne Zangato and Augustin F.C. Holl on allegedly very early archaeological remains from smelting and forging sites in Cameroon and the Central African Republic, excavated in course of the last ten years. Drawing upon the evidence recovered, the authors make a case for the emergence of fully indigenous iron working in North-Central Africa that by far shall predate similar developments elsewhere in the world. Inevitably, the published data raise a number of significant questions relating to the archaeological context, chronology and technology involved. Therefore the Editors invited four senior scholars (S. Chirikure, P. Craddock, M.K.H. Eggert, and S. MacEachern) for a critical analysis of the information and interpretations presented. As the reader will recognize, the possibility of an Africa-based development of iron metallurgy is in some cases admitted, though sound skepticism and a call for additional scrutiny of the present and future evidence clearly permeate the comments. Beyond the presumed indication of early iron working in Central Africa, the Journal's current issue includes papers focusing on aspects of the archaeology of East, Southern, and West Africa. Elisabeth A. Hildebrand and Steve A. Brandt provide a first comprehensive report on the surveys and discoveries they made in the Highland of Kafa, a region in southern Ethiopia that so far has received little attention of pre-historians. Judith Sealy argues from a large number of previous and hitherto unreleased stable isotope analyses on human skeletal remains from southernmost Africa that the specific way of life and diet of 17th to 18th century pastoralist Khoekhoe first emerged early in the second millennium AD. Also using stable isotope analysis as a major source of information, Jeannette Smith and colleagues trace the changing strategies then in use for managing large-scale herds of cattle and small stock around the large political centers of the Shashe-Limpopo River Basin, K2 and Mapungubwe. Last but not least, Alain Gallay proposes a preliminary chronology of pottery recovered from some of the westernmost megalithic sites excavated in the Senegambian region. Additionally, this number of the Journal of African Archaeology comprises a series of seven book reviews that the reader may use as an orientation to get acquainted with the increasingly larger number of volumes whose contents are to a greater or lesser extent related to the research of past African societies. As always, the Editors thank all those people (authors, reviewers, copy-editors, book review editor and members of the advisory editorial board) who assisted in keeping the scientific and editorial quality of the papers contained in the present issue. Frankfurt a. M., June 2010 Sonja Magnavita Peter Breunig Journal of African Archaeology Vol. 8 (1), 2010 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of African Archaeology Brill

Editorial

Breunig, Peter; Magnavita, Sonja
Journal of African Archaeology , Volume 8 (1): 5 – Oct 25, 2010
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1612-1651
eISSN
2191-5784
DOI
10.1163/21915784-90000003
Publisher site
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Abstract

Editorial The Journal of African Archaeology enters its eighth year of existence featuring a series of contributions on an especially controversial theme in the archaeology of the continent: the origins of early iron working. The bone of contention is the leading article by Étienne Zangato and Augustin F.C. Holl on allegedly very early archaeological remains from smelting and forging sites in Cameroon and the Central African Republic, excavated in course of the last ten years. Drawing upon the evidence recovered, the authors make a case for the emergence of fully indigenous iron working in North-Central Africa that by far shall predate similar developments elsewhere in the world. Inevitably, the published data raise a number of significant questions relating to the archaeological context, chronology and technology involved. Therefore the Editors invited four senior scholars (S. Chirikure, P. Craddock, M.K.H. Eggert, and S. MacEachern) for a critical analysis of the information and interpretations presented. As the reader will recognize, the possibility of an Africa-based development of iron metallurgy is in some cases admitted, though sound skepticism and a call for additional scrutiny of the present and future evidence clearly permeate the comments. Beyond the presumed indication of early iron working in Central Africa, the Journal's current issue includes papers focusing on aspects of the archaeology of East, Southern, and West Africa. Elisabeth A. Hildebrand and Steve A. Brandt provide a first comprehensive report on the surveys and discoveries they made in the Highland of Kafa, a region in southern Ethiopia that so far has received little attention of pre-historians. Judith Sealy argues from a large number of previous and hitherto unreleased stable isotope analyses on human skeletal remains from southernmost Africa that the specific way of life and diet of 17th to 18th century pastoralist Khoekhoe first emerged early in the second millennium AD. Also using stable isotope analysis as a major source of information, Jeannette Smith and colleagues trace the changing strategies then in use for managing large-scale herds of cattle and small stock around the large political centers of the Shashe-Limpopo River Basin, K2 and Mapungubwe. Last but not least, Alain Gallay proposes a preliminary chronology of pottery recovered from some of the westernmost megalithic sites excavated in the Senegambian region. Additionally, this number of the Journal of African Archaeology comprises a series of seven book reviews that the reader may use as an orientation to get acquainted with the increasingly larger number of volumes whose contents are to a greater or lesser extent related to the research of past African societies. As always, the Editors thank all those people (authors, reviewers, copy-editors, book review editor and members of the advisory editorial board) who assisted in keeping the scientific and editorial quality of the papers contained in the present issue. Frankfurt a. M., June 2010 Sonja Magnavita Peter Breunig Journal of African Archaeology Vol. 8 (1), 2010

Journal

Journal of African Archaeology – Brill

Published: Oct 25, 2010

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