The Iron Furnaces of the Nok

I spend quite a bit of time on ATS. Not always posting, but definitely reading and one of my favorite subjects on ATS is Ancient & Lost Civilizations. I find myself learning quite a bit about civilizations that I didn't even know existed and I certainly appreciate the members that author the threads that invite me to learn and research more. Well, today that has inspired me to try to do that for others.

I was looking around and discovered information about the ancient Nok culture of Nigeria. The Nok were named after a nearby village in Nigeria and their story (what we know if it) was brough to light when several teracotta artifacts were discovered in a digg in 1943. The Nok depicted both people and animals in their terracotta work, and here is an example below.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9f249062950f.jpg[/atsimg]

Link

Through a combination of luck, legwork, and new dating techniques, Fagg and his collaborators had apparently discovered a hitherto unknown civilization, which he named Nok.

What I find especially interesting about the Nok is that they were able to find furnaces which identified the Nok people as early users of the smelting process.

Link

One excavation site, near the village of Taruga, revealed something else Fagg had not expected: iron furnaces. He found 13 such furnaces, and terracotta figurines were in such close association—inside the furnaces and around them—that he postulated the terracottas were objects of worship to aid blacksmithing and smelting. Carbon dating of charcoal inside the furnaces revealed dates as far back as 280 B.C., giving Nok the earliest dates for iron smelting in sub-Saharan Africa up to that time.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/813c3a5d8f68.jpg[/atsimg]

So far they have determined that the Nok culture goes back as far as early as 900 BC. So far we do not know if their smelting knowledged developed independent of outside influence or if it was learned from a traveling culture, but their works were certainly impressive and long lasting.

Interesting!
Very Asian look to that very interesting and preculiar face (last image).

They are stunning artefacts for the period, they have a real beauty, elegance, and fascination about them. Thanks for bringing the Nok to the wider attention of the group.

reply to post by Abrihetx



I absolutely LOVE anthropologically based threads. Thank you for sharing about people that some of us may have not known about (although I am sure some around here may have).

I give you a star and thread for two reasons: interesting content, and the misspelling of the word "digg", with two "g's" (props to Mudvayne, great song, especially live in concert).

That, and that scientists name was awkwardly humorous, given how overly sensitive people are nowadays.

Thanks, guys. I'm glad you guys were able to enjoy the information and much as I enjoyed looking it up. And I totally missed that type-o, Bigfatfurrytexan. I'm usually pretty good with proofreading, but I admit I was a little excited to get it posted. And since I've already been caught I will just leave it.

Thanks again!

Awesome!

I too love ancient civilizations! It's amazing to see how they lived and looked. Their statues are always so interesting to me because I can put a face so to speak to the people!

I have never heard of these people so thanks for sharing! It will give me something to read at work when it's slow.

SF for u!

reply to post by Abrihetx


don't get me wrong. i was an English major, despite all my own grammar faux pas. But i am far from a grammar Nazi. I only mentioned it because i am also a HUGE Mudvayne fan.

Great thread , great topic.

many many thanks for posting this fabulous thread.

snoopyuk

How beautiful! I'd never heard of them, either, so I was delighted to read what you'd "dug up" for us.

I think it's interesting that they entered the Iron Age so early. That should have given them a big technological advantage over any regional enemies, and yet they vanished. I am just now sitting down from a long day (and am going off to have a nice scotch, as Slayer suggested ) but I wonder what other cultures were in that area -- and who (if anyone) got iron technology from them.

Anthropologists have long argued over whether technology starts in multiple places ("Kulturkreis") or whether it starts in a single place and spreads ("diffusion.") This seems like such an isolated culture that it might actually help add points on one of the sides of the argument.

Great find!

reply to post by Byrd


Good question, although I don't think they just vanished. Could have been an issue of needing to move for farming purposes, or maybe they assimilated into another culture. I'm not familiar enough with the region and history (yet) to be able to guess at what may have happened to them. It is weird though that we only have sculptures and remnants of the furnaces to indicate that they even existed.

I have never heard of "Kulturkreis" and I'm very interested in looking it up to see what my "theory" will be once I become more familiar with the concept and the cultures affected. Thanks for your contribution!

Just to add...there are some that think that the Yoruba are descendents of the Nok people. I guess there is also a chance that the Nok migrated to the area known now as Yorubaland. If you take a look on a map, the areas are very near one another. Perhaps they moved towards the coast due to a change in climate. I believe that area is desert lands now.

Map of where the Yoruba live:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1819a02b60a6.gif[/atsimg]

Map of where the Nok lived:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/26e9127ed958.png[/atsimg]

Looking at the maps, once could say that the Nok could have easily moved into the region that the Hausa live now, but I went with with the Yoruba because the Yoruba have a belief in a deity named Ogun. Ogun presides over iron, among other things, and the Yoruba believe that they were given the art of metalworking from their gods.

Originally posted by Abrihetx
reply to post by Byrd

 

Good question, although I don't think they just vanished. Could have been an issue of needing to move for farming purposes, or maybe they assimilated into another culture. I'm not familiar enough with the region and history (yet) to be able to guess at what may have happened to them. It is weird though that we only have sculptures and remnants of the furnaces to indicate that they even existed.

It is interesting and suggestive. The culture could have collapsed from a number of things, including disease or drought. Several interesting lines of thought to pursue would be:
* what's the technological history of their nearby neighbors (looking particularly at bronze works and pottery, since you need good fires for metal forges.
* what's the known climate history of the area?

Research on this is one of those problems that can be rewarding but extremely difficult. Africa is in constant conflict and has been so throughout most of its history. Diseases (some pretty horrible ones) like malaria and dengue fever run rampant in the area, and food resources are not always reliable. I'm not sure if this is one of those tectonically active areas, but we know that volcanoes have killed quite a few people in Africa.

Just to add...there are some that think that the Yoruba are descendents of the Nok people. I guess there is also a chance that the Nok migrated to the area known now as Yorubaland. If you take a look on a map, the areas are very near one another. Perhaps they moved towards the coast due to a change in climate. I believe that area is desert lands now.

Interesting thought. One way to check the migration patterns is to look at the languages and see which languages are related and which are "isolates.'' An "isolate" language usually means a new group of people who spoke a different language overran the whole area, leaving only a few pockets of the older language.

reply to post by Byrd

Spend some time on the Benin while you are in the area. Cheers!

Thanks for such an interesting thread. Ever since I saw the cave paintings of the swimmers in the Sahara and been aware of the terrific change in climate Africa must have undergone, I have wondered about how the different peoples had survived. I look forward to hearing a lot more about the people there.

The headresses or how they tied their hair fascinated me, they were so unique, although the neck adornment seemed similaar to the ones worn by the Egyptians. So many cultures have the almond eyed long forehead sculptures, I wonder if mixing due to trade different people copied each others fashions and 'trends' spread. I hope the archaelogists get a chance to research the Nok etc as I am sure there will be a lot of surprises for us to wonder at.

Thank you, Byrd and Logarock for the ideas. I have taken some notes and will definitely check out what you have suggested. I am a very new "researcher" and I have to admit that it can be a little overwhelming when looking these things up so I appreciate your tips.

And thank you, Lynda101. I am glad you enjoyed it.

So many cultures have the almond eyed long forehead sculptures, I wonder if mixing due to trade different people copied each others fashions and 'trends' spread.

I wouldn't be surprised. I actually believe that the ancient Egyptians were ethnically mixed people anyways, so this fits along with what I think...but that's a whole 'nother topic!