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