Indigenous iron working has received considerable attention from Africanist
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attracted serious interest in southern Africa. In this article, comparative
historical and archaeological data presented suggest that specialist iron working
was linked with the configuration and reconfiguration of political and economic
systems. This is because iron was produced within a worldview and the ideological
and symbolic meanings attached to its production and use sometimes fashioned
opportunities through which power was created, negotiated and institutionalized. A
number of examples from southern Africa are discussed and serve to illustrate these points.
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