Wealth from the Rocks

About the Book

This study focuses on the study of metallurgy in pre-colonial Zambia to 1890. A general review of the literature on metallurgy in pre-colonial Zambia reveals that during the period our study (up to 1890), three metals were mined. Iron production was a widespread, important and significant phenomenon, responsible for producing utility tools—hoes, axe, knives, weapons, spears, arrow heads and broad knives, and regalia for the political and religious office holders—copper, which was confine to few areas; and gold to even fewer areas. Metallurgy was an important economic activity in which all ethnic groups participated in different levels of intensity. From iron ore which was smelted in elaborate and complicated processes imbued in magic, song, dance, incantations, medicines, and taboos by members of exclusively male guilds, blacksmiths were able to produce the following: (a) tools used in agriculture: hoes, axes used to clear forestays or areas to be cultivated to grow food for subsistence, non-edible crops such as tobacco and hemp which were smoked as part of relaxation, cotton used to make blankets sand shawls, needles for mending clothes, and knives for a variety of uses; (b) hunting using varieties of spears to hunt game, seek protection from dangerous animals, for defence of resources or offence to capture desired resources; (c) various sizes of hooks used in fishing different varieties of fish; and (d) making of regalia used in chieftaincies and priesthood as symbols of authority. Copper was also smelted and put in ingots of varying sizes and rods of varying sizes and lengths, which were (a) used to make copper wires as wires, rods, vessels and other utensils, copper smiths produced jewellery and ornaments and cast art pieces such as statues and necklaces worn by men and women as status symbols; (b) used in exchange of goods and services as currency; and (c) used to produce regalia for the for those in authority. Gold was mined directly and processed into making as variety of items such as buttons and regalia. In its various forms of development and sophistication, metallurgy was responsible for the economic, social and political advances among the pre-colonial societies. A variety of skills was required for building furnaces, producing charcoal, smelting and forging iron into goods. Metallurgy and production of various items that were needed and necessary for an improved life were generally not an enclave activity but a process that satisfied the totality of socioeconomic needs. It also promoted the gender division of labour within community. Wealth from the Rocks is therefore a detailed study of the place, role, and function of metallurgy in pre-colonial Zambian societies.

About the Author

The author is a graduate of the Universities of Zambia in Lusaka (1974); Wisconsin at Madison, USA (1976, 1981); and Uppsala, Sweden (1994). He has taught at the Universities of Zambia (1974–1997, 2005 to the present). As a member of staff at the University of Zambia from 1974 to 1997, the author served in many positions as head of department, dean of the School of Education, director of the Institute of Human Relations and Research and Graduate Studies. He was also a visiting professor at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in United States of America (1984 to 1985); Cape Town (1991) and Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (1993); Chancellor College, Malawi (1995); and several universities in the USA, South Africa, Malawi, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Burundi, Madagascar, and France. Between 1997 and 2000, he was professor and head of the Department of History at the University of Namibia (1997–2000). He is a recipient of many awards. He served as Zambia’s ambassador and permanent representative at the United Nations, New York (September 2000–February 2005). Currently, he is professor of history at the University of Zambia He has done extensive research and published widely on in political, economic, social, health, veterinary, and environmental issues in Eastern and Southern Africa.