Credited to Nigeria. Whether iron smelting was invented independently in West Africa or introduced from elsewhere is unresolved. Other sites compete for the earliest date in sub-Saharan Africa, including the Termit Hills in Niger, where dates as early as 1400 BCE have been claimed and contested.
How it began
The Nok culture occupied part of what is now central Nigeria. The archaeologist Bernard Fagg identified it after terracotta sculptures were brought to him in 1943. At Taruga his excavations uncovered iron furnaces, and charcoal inside them was dated as far back as 280 BCE, then the earliest date for iron smelting in sub-Saharan Africa. Charcoal from a Nok smelter at Intini, collected later by Peter Breunig, gave a date between 519 and 410 BCE.
Before it existed
The Nok used stone tools and went on using them alongside iron, which suggests metal was scarce. Researchers have found no evidence that copper was smelted before iron in most of West Africa. The Nok are one of the few societies known to have moved from stone tools directly to iron without a copper or bronze stage.
How it works
Ore was heated with charcoal in furnaces to produce iron, which was then worked into objects. Archaeologists found at least 13 smelting furnaces at Taruga. At Intini, Nok pottery lay inside the furnace beside the charcoal, which ties the date to the Nok themselves. Iron farming tools and other artifacts have been recovered from Nok sites.
What lasted
Because West Africa shows no long copper age, archaeologists are examining the possibility that iron working was developed there independently, possibly starting with the Nok. Fagg's finds showed that a society with refined sculpture, metal smelting and a sizable population existed in the region well before the later states of Ife and Benin.
Where it stands today
The question of who first smelted iron south of the Sahara remains open. At least half a dozen rival sites have been proposed since Fagg excavated the first Nok furnace, and critics of the earliest claims point out that old wood can give misleading radiocarbon dates.
