Metals in Past Societies

Shadreck Chirikure graduated with a Masters of Arts in Artefact Studies Degree and a PhD in Archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Chirikure was born into one of the most senior houses of the Gutu-Rufura people in rural Zimbabwe. During his childhood years, Chirikure’s grandmother was a potter and a number of men were forging scrap iron in his village. Therefore, negotiating through rituals and taboos embedded in pottery making and other categories of practice were part of Chirikure’s experience growing up.  Unknown to him, these would be part of his academic routine when he later became an archaeologist. Because of this village experience, Chirikure always attempts to gestate archaeological reconstructions that are tempered with local realities where nothing was fixed in space and time. His main research marries techniques from earth and engineering sciences with those from more humanistic disciplines to study high temperature technologiessuch as metallurgy and pottery making to enlighten their contribution to societal development. Currently, Chirikure’s work on the metallurgy of the World Heritage Sites of Great Zimbabwe and Khami in southern Africa is throwing new light on the contribution of metals to culture contact, interaction, and social differentiation. The work shows that metals, like cattle were a pivot on which society achieved growth and renewal. Shadreck has published extensively on the subject including a book, multiple journal articles, book chapters and contributions prestigious encyclopaedias. In the process, he won several national and international awards for his contributions to African Iron Age research.

"This compact but comprehensive book on African metallurgy is the first of a Springer series that aims to boost the visibility of African archaeology and emphasise its relevance to broader archaeological debates. ... This book seems to be a very positive step towards ensuring that this occurs by eloquently presenting the numerous ways in which African archaeometallurgy has influenced archaeological theory to date and highlighting those arenas upon which it can make an impact in the future." (Louise Iles, Azania, Archaeological Research in Africa, Vol. 51 (2), 2016) "This slim book shines a spotlight on pre-industrial African metallurgy, its global connections, and anthropological implications. ... The sources of information are adequately cited, and the long list of references at the end of each chapter will be a boon to researchers in this field. ... This volume is well written and illustrated with photos, micrographs, colorful maps, and drawings that enliven this challenging topic." (Ram Devanathan, MRS Bulletin, Vol. 40, October, 2015)

• ​Chapter 1: Metals and the production and reproduction of society.- Chapter 2: Origins and development of Africa’s pre-industrial mining and metallurgy.- Chapter 3: Mother earth provides: mining and crossing the boundary between nature and culture.- Chapter 4: Domesticating nature.- Chapter 5: Socializing metals.- Chapter 6: The social role of metals.- Chapter 7: Bridging conceptual boundaries, a global perspective.