Iron is iron 'til it is rust
Trade and Ecology in the Decline of West African Iron-Smelting
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8978025 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Candice L Goucher, Candice Goucher (0000-0001-9680-9952, University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1981 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 179-189 |
| Publication date | 1981-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of African History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021853700019393 |
| OpenAlex | W2161068103 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 70 |
| References cited | 28 |
Archaeological evidence and historical accounts have been used to examine the impact of trade and ecology on the decline of West African iron industries. Environmental changes including an increasingly desiccating climatic shift and widespread deforestation as a direct result of fuel procurement over centuries of iron-smelting and European coastal exploitation, seriously affected the survivability of these industries. While the increasing importation of European iron bars and other manufactured goods necessitated a certain amount of technological innovation, the only viable long-term response and adaptation to the ecological devastation became the increased reliance on imported supplies of iron
Biology · Climate change · Economics · Geography · Natural resource economics · Procurement · Smelting · African history and culture analysis · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts
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| Unique citing works | 70 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,59 |
| Citation span | 1982 - 2025 (44) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 70 |