Iron Age Botswana site sourced copper across southern Africa-but tin from just one place
A new archaeological study of Iron Age sites in Botswana reveals that ancient communities were part of a vast, sophisticated trade network. Chemical analysis of metal artifacts shows that copper was sourced from across southern Africa, challenging the perception of these settlements as isolated.
Why it matters
This research reframes the historical understanding of southern African Iron Age societies, highlighting their economic complexity and extensive regional connectivity.
edited by Sadie Harley , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source One of the objects analyzed in the study from Bosutswe. Credit: J. Stephens Around 700 years ago, people living on hilltop settlements on the edge of the Kalahari wore beads, bangles and clips made from metal traded across the southern half of the African continent.
A new study using the chemical fingerprints of 30 metal objects has traced the source of that copper to mines scattered across four countries, some more than 950 kilometers (590 miles) away, overturning the idea that eastern Botswana was a quiet backwater on the fringe of greater political powers such as the famous Mapungubwe kingdom.
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