Sébastien Perret 1 Caroline Robion-Brunner 2 Vincent Serneels 1 1) Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland 2) Department of Anthropology,

Sébastien Perret 1

Caroline Robion-Brunner 2

Vincent Serneels 1

1) Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland2) Department of Anthropology, University of Geneva, Switzerland

International research program “Palaeoenvironment and Human Population in West Africa”, University of Geneva

The socio-economic organisationof the iron production:

Examples from the Dogon area (Mali)

Main issues

• Social status of the ironworkers

• Organization of the production (workforce management, control over means of production and products)

• Diffusion / consumption of iron (tools, semi-finished goods)

Introduction

Technological traditions on the Dogon plateau

Large scale, Fiko tradition

Medium scale, Ouin tradition

Medium scale, Aridinyi tradition

FIKO

ARIDINYI

OUIN

Smelting technology• Bloomery iron smelting• Low temperature process• Natural draft pit furnaces

Chaîne opératoire• Ore extraction and

charcoal production• Smelting• Bloomsmithing• Smithing

The chaîne opératoire

Ore extraction Smelting Smithing

Huysecom 1996

Huysecom 1996

Social categories involved• Dogon farmers • Blacksmiths

Status• Workforce• Holders of rights on:

– land– raw materials– means of production– products

• Holders of knowledge– magical– technical

The actors of the iron metallurgy

The Dogon farmers

The blacksmiths

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Furnace

Forge

Farmers Smiths External

Bloom

Half-product

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Furnace

Forge

Villages and territories

Smelting activities

Workforce displacements

(Semi-) finished goods

Workforce

Control of the means of production

Control of the products

Fiko

Ouin

Aridinyi

NIG

ER

/B

AN

I

YAMÉ

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Furnace

Forge

Farmers Smiths External

Bloom

Half-product

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Furnace

Forge

Workforce

Control of the means of production

Control of the products

Ouin

Aridinyi

Fiko

Villages and territories

Smelting activities

Workforce displacements

(Semi-) finished goods

NIG

ER

/B

AN

I

YAMÉ

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Furnace

Forge

Farmers Smiths External

Bloom

Half-product

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Mining

Charcoal

Smelting

Bloomsmithing

Smithing

Farmers Smiths External

Furnace

Forge

Farmers Smiths External

Bloom

Half-product

Farmers Smiths External

Furnace

Forge

Workforce

Control of the means of production

Control of the products

Ouin

Aridinyi

Fiko

Villages and territories

Smelting activities

Workforce displacements

(Semi-) finished goods

NIG

ER

/B

AN

I

YAMÉ

Fiko tradition• smelting: farmers• smithing: blacksmiths

→ Dualist system

Ouin tradition• Smelting / smithing: blacksmiths

→ Unitarian system

Aridinyi tradition• smelting: blacksmiths / farmers• smithing: blacksmiths

→ Mixed system

Social organisation of the production

Bruno Martinelli (1992, 1993, 2000, 2002)Olivier Langlois (2005-2006)

Villages and territories

Smelting activities

Workforce displacements

(Semi-) finished goods

Ouin

Aridinyi

Fiko

NIG

ER

/B

AN

I

YAMÉ

Ouin

Aridinyi

Fiko

Villages and territories

Smelting activities

Workforce displacements

(Semi-) finished goods

NIG

ER

/B

AN

I

YAMÉ

Aridinyi

Ouin

Fiko

NIG

ER

/B

AN

I

YAMÉ

Villages and territories

Smelting activities

Workforce displacements

(Semi-) finished goods

• Bloomsmithing generally seems to take place at the smelting sites

• The iron circulates in form of bars or preforms

• All villages have blacksmiths that produce finished objects for local consumption

In most cases, the iron enters the exchange network as bars or preforms, but neither as blooms nor finished objects

Diffusion of raw iron

Fiko tradition

• > 900 years

• 300’000 t of slag

= 300 t/a

• Annual output:

30 - 60 t/a

10s of tons

Evaluation of the iron production

Ouin tradition

• 500 years

• 2‘500 t of slag

= 5 t/a

• Annual output:

500-1000 kg/a

100s of kg

Aridinyi tradition

• 400 years

• 10‘000 t of slag

= 25 t/a

• Annual output:

2.5 - 5 t/a

some tons

Ratio of slag to iron (finished objects): from 10:1 to 5:1

Demography of the Dogon plateau in 1900 AD

• Population: 70’000 individuals• Mean village population: ca 500• About 150 villages

Iron consumption (annual renewal of iron stock)

• Few iron in circulation (mostly hoes, weapons, knives…)• Stock per adult men probably <2 kg, renewal max. 1 kg/a• ca 100 adult men per village

→ ca 100 kg per village

Consumption

Ouin

Aridinyi

Fiko

Excess production

Underproduction

Self-sufficiency

Import

NIG

ER

/B

AN

I10s of tons

100s of kg

Some tons

• Different modes of socio-economic organisation coexist in small area

• Production of the small to medium-sized production sites is sufficient to supply the whole Dogon plateau

• Large scale iron production of the Fiko tradition are not or marginally involved in trading networks on the plateau

• Smelting activities on large smelting sites are controlled by farmers

Conclusions

Thank you

Acknowledgements

Eric Huysecom, “Palaeoenvironment and Human Population in West Africa”, U. of Geneva

Barbara Eichhorn, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt (anthracology)

Anne Mayor, U. of Geneva (ceramic typology)

Adama Dembele, Mission Culturelle de Bandiagara, Mali