Vers Une Réduction Des Préjugés et la Fonte Des Antagonismes: Un Bilan de L'expansion de la Métallurgie du Fer En Afrique Sud-Saharienne

Abstract

E. Zangato’s 2007 book on the Oboui archaeological site in the Central African Republic has been read and commented. This contextualised reading leads to questioning some of the data published in the Journal of African Archaeology in 2010. At that time a very old date for the earliest iron smelting south of the Sahara was suggested. However, a detailed examination of chronological data from West, Central and East Africa leads one to date the more robust evidence for the start of iron smelting after 800 cal BC. Furthermore, important ideas are brought up, amongst others, about the reliability of radiocarbon dating, the required degree of accuracy during archaeological field work and problems of stratigraphy.