West African Iron Age

expand_more Description

West African Iron Age tradition is found throughout the West African subcontinent from Chad to Senegal in the period from 2500 to 1200 BP. The tradition subsumes a tremendous range of variation and includes metallurgy, ceramic figurines, settlement mounds, and “defensive” works. There is evidence of variable patterns of small, shifting settlements occupied by semi-nomadic pastoralists, with a trend toward larger more permanent settlements in some areas. Subsistence strategies reflect a mosaic of adaptations suited to varying local resources and include domesticated animals and plants.

Identifier

Region

• Africa

Subregion

• Western Africa

Subsistence Type

• other subsistence combinations

Samples

• SRS

Countries

• Benin
• Cameroon
• General Africa
• Gambia, The
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Cote d'Ivoire
• Liberia
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Guinea-Bissau
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone
• Togo
• Burkina Faso