Societal repercussions of the rise of large-scale traditional iron production: a West African example

Numerous scholars have outlined what they believed to be the consequences of the advent of iron technology in sub-Saharan Africa: increased food production using more efficient bush clearing tools; increased population densities; larger and more stable communities; increased trade, specialization and social differentiation; and the embryonic rise of modern politics. (Davidson 1974.) However, little has been demonstrated in the field.A regional study of the Bassar iron industry of northern Togo has shown that the rise of large-scale iron production may lead to higher population densities, larger and more stable communities, a more aggregated settlement pattern in the ore zone, and increased craft specialization and trade. However, it does not necessarily result in a significant increase in the degree of political centralization. The Bassar data also suggest that even the appearance of relatively small scale iron production may generate similar trends, albeit at more modest levels.

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Résumé De nombreux auteurs ont décrit ce qu'ils proposent d'avoir été les conséquences de l'adoption de la technologie de fer dans l'Afrique au sud du Sahara: augmentation de la production de nourriture à l'aide des outils plus efficaces pour débroussailler le paysage; augmentation des densités de population; communautés plus grandes et plus stables; croissance de la commerce, de la specialisation artisanale et de la differentiation sociale; et naissance embryonique de la politique moderne (Davidson 1974). Cependant il n 'y a que très peu de ce schéma qui a été validé par les recherches sur le terrain.Une étude régionale de l'industrie du fer des Bassar du nord de Togo a montré que l'essor de la production de fer à grande échelle peut aboutir à des densités de population plus hauts, des communautés plus grands et plus stables, une répartition de l'habitat plus agrégée dans la zone des minerais de fer, et l'augmentation de la specialisation artisanale et du commerce. Cependant il n'aboutit pas obligatoirement à une centralisation importante au niveau politique. Les résultats fournis par cette étude des Bassar nous amènt à proposer aussi que même l'apparition de la production modeste de fer peut donner naissance à des développements comparables, mais d'un ampleur plus restreint.

     

Markov Models of Inertia and Dynamism on Two Contiguous Ohio Landscapes

This study examined landcover change during 1940–1988 in two contiguous landscapes of approximately 12,400 hectares in central Ohio, USA: an inertial till plain area and a more dynamic moraine area. Agriculture dominated both landscapes throughout, however, the cover of natural vegetation and urban-suburban development increased over time on the moraine while natural vegetation decreased and agriculture increased on the till plain. Markov process models for landcover change were constructed for three 14–17-year time intervals and for the entire forty-eight-year study period. Probabilities of self-replacement for agricultural lands (0.91–0.97) were higher and those for forests (0.54–0.65) lower than those reported for other landscapes. Predictions of landcover percentages for fifty years in the future were made using Markov process models derived from actual cover changes in 1940–1957, 1971–1988, and 1940–1988. All three models produced similar predictions for the inertial till plain area. In contrast, the three models' predictions differed considerably for the moraine area. Only the 1971–1988 transition matrix was sensitive to increases in urbanization and reforestation which began on the moraine in the 1970s. These results indicate that reliance on lengthy study intervals and net rates of change can obscure spatial and temporal patterns of landcover change that are caused by natural and socioeconomic factors operating on shorter time scales.