Humankind is believed to have existed in Africa for over 6 million years, based on the dating of excavated fossils. Transformations took place over time in response to severe climate changes and the Modern Human, believed to be the first to spread beyond Africa evolved only about 2 million years ago and did not move to other parts of the world until about 200,000 years ago. What is now known about ancient human history came from several sources: paleontologists excavate and evaluate human and article fossils dating back 2-3 million years; archaeologists excavate ancient sites and study recovered articles, mostly dating back 40-60,000 years; historians study oral and recorded history but the scope is limited to about 3,000 years when writing was invented. Archaeometallurgy evolved in the second half of the last century and has become a major tool for the study of ancient metals, metalworking structures, tools, waste products and finished artifacts, using techniques from the physical sciences. While this does not in anyway distract from the traditional approach of other archaeo-scientists, it is a very valuable complement, since it provides in-depth information about ore and slag composition, furnace design, macro and micro analysis of objects, all of which give vital information about the probable production techniques. Materials have played a central role throughout human history, starting with stone, flint, wood, straw, and transitioning to metals around ten to twelve thousand years ago. In fact the major stages of historical evolution are delineated by the materials that were in prominent use: Stone Age; Bronze Age; Iron Age, etc. If Africa is indeed the cradle of humankind, then it should have a very rich archaeo-history but most of the discoveries so far have been accidental. This book presents the results of a comprehensive study of the rich early archeometallurgical history of Nigeria which dates back to around 800 BC, in the context of early world metallurgy. Issues treated include probable socio/ethno cultural settings, practices in the context of early world metal cultures, provenance of technologies, and local technological innovations.

The case studies included in this collection range from the coast of Lagos State, through the Yoruba inland, once dominated by Oyo and Ibadan, to Benin City, seat of the great pre-colonial empire, north to Zungeru, seat of colonial administration under Lord Lugard, and the Jos Plateau, homeland of the Ron; and south again to the Niger Delta, where the Nigerian people first began their historic interaction with Portuguese explorers.

This book reads the narrative of the national politics alongside deeper histories of political and social organization, as well as in relation to competing influences on modern identity formation and inter-group relationships, such as ethnic and religious communities, economic partnerships, and immigrant and diasporic cultures

This extensively updated new edition of the widely acclaimed Treatise on Geochemistry has increased its coverage beyond the wide range of geochemical subject areas in the first edition, with five new volumes which include: the history of the atmosphere, geochemistry of mineral deposits, archaeology and anthropology, organic geochemistry and analytical geochemistry. In addition, the original Volume 1 on "Meteorites, Comets, and Planets" was expanded into two separate volumes dealing with meteorites and planets, respectively. These additions increased the number of volumes in the Treatise from 9 to 15 with the index/appendices volume remaining as the last volume (Volume 16). Each of the original volumes was scrutinized by the appropriate volume editors, with respect to necessary revisions as well as additions and deletions. As a result, 27% were republished without major changes, 66% were revised and 126 new chapters were added. In a many-faceted field such as Geochemistry, explaining and understanding how one sub-field relates to another is key. Instructors will find the complete overviews with extensive cross-referencing useful additions to their course packs and students will benefit from the contextual organization of the subject matter Six new volumes added and 66% updated from 1st edition. The Editors of this work have taken every measure to include the many suggestions received from readers and ensure comprehensiveness of coverage and added value in this 2nd edition The esteemed Board of Volume Editors and Editors-in-Chief worked cohesively to ensure a uniform and consistent approach to the content, which is an amazing accomplishment for a 15-volume work (16 volumes including index volume)!

Publisher Description

This book provides insights into the archaeological context of the Nok Culture in Nigeria (West Africa). It was first published in German accompanying the same-titled exhibition “Nok – Ein Ursprung afrikanischer Skulptur” at the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung in Frankfurt (30th October 2013 – 23rd March 2014) and has now been translated into English. A team of archaeologists from the Goethe University Frankfurt/Main has been researching the Nok Culture since 2005. The results are now presented to the public. The Nok Culture existed for about 1500 years – from around the mid-second millennium BCE to the turn of the Common Era. It is mainly known by the elaborate terracotta sculptures which were likewise the focus of the exhibition. The research of the archaeologists from Frankfurt, however, not only concerns the terracotta figures. They investigate the Nok Culture from a holistic perspective and put it into the larger context of the search for universal developments in the history of mankind. Such a development – important because it initiated a new era of the past – is the transition from small groups of hunters and gatherers to large communities with complex forms of human co-existence. This process took place almost everywhere in the world in the last 10,000 years, although in very different ways. The Nok Culture represents an African variant of that process. It belongs to a group of archaeological cultures or human groups, who in part subsisted on the crops they were growing and lived in mostly small but permanent settlements in the savanna regions south of the Sahara from the second millennium BCE onwards. The discovery of metallurgy is the next turning point in the development of the first farming cultures. In Africa the first metal used was not copper or bronze as in the Near East and Europe, but iron. The people of the Nok Culture were among the first that produced iron south of the Sahara. This happened in the first millennium BCE – about 1000 years after the agricultural beginning. While iron metallurgy spread rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa, the terracotta sculptures remained a cultural monopoly of the Nok Culture. Nothing comparable existed in Africa outside of Ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean coast. The oldest, securely dated clay figures date back to the early first millennium BCE. Currently, it seems as if they appeared in the Nok Culture before iron metallurgy, reaching their peak in the following centuries. At the end of the first millennium BCE they disappeared from the scene. There is hardly any doubt about the ritual character of the Nok sculptures. Yet, central questions remain unanswered: Why did such an apparently complex world of ritual practices develop in an early farming culture just before or at the beginning of the momentous invention of iron production? Why were the elaborate sculptures – as excavations show – intentionally destroyed? And why did they disappear as suddenly as they emerged?

The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology as is reflected in the range of disciplines from which the international team of 200 contributors are drawn.

Copper is the first metal to play a large part in human history. This work is devoted to the history of metallurgical production in Northern Eurasia during the Bronze Age, based on experiments carried out by the author and analyses of ancient slag, ore and metal.