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Title: Iron Technology in East Africa: Symbolism, Science, and Archaeology by Peter R. Schmidt ISBN: 0-253-21109-3 Publisher: Indiana University Press Pub. Date: May, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: A very welcome surprise
Comment: This book comes as a very welcome surprise. For most of the 1980s and 1990s, Western anthropologists and archaeologists have been in upheveal or which -ism (functionalism, Marxism, structuralism, etc.) provides the best insights into explaining human behavior. As indicated in the sub-title of this book, this book manages to combine several of these -isms, and the result is a fairly interesting and thought-provoking study. The book opens with an overview on how Western scholars viewed sub-Saharan African ironworking up through the 1970s. The review stops in the 1970s, since it was then that serious archaeological and historical research began on sub-Saharan metallurgy. Some general readers will probably find parts of chapters 2, 3, and 4, boring or difficult. Having said this, this doesn't mean Schmidt is a bad writer-he is not. Its in these chapters that Schmidt reviews a variety of the -isms current in anthropology and archaeology and states how and why he wants to use them in his study. He then deals with the archaeological and ethnohistoric material in light of the theories he has discussed. Chapters 5 through 8 contain the science and archaeology. Schmidt presents the results of his ethnographic and experimental iron smelts and applies them to the archaeological record. The evidenc epoints to the Haya and other East African groups as having a fairly complex iron smelting technology. The furnace design incorporated pre-heating, and furnace temperatures could easily reach over 1200 degrees centigrade. One can debate whether this was intentional or accidental, but Schmidt demonstrates the Haya and other East African groups could do it consistently. The most controversial chapters of the book are the last two. In these, Schmidt takes the present day symbolic and ritual world of Haya iron smelters and projects it onto to the archaeological remains. While a strong case is made linking iron production and fertility rituals, one has to seriously question the assumption that the meaning of symbols remained unchanged for over 2000 years. Overall, this book is a welcome addition to the archaeological and anthropological literature. Schmidt tries to merge and apply a variety of disparate theories, and has suceeded in writing a very thought-provoking book.