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A NIGERIAN TIN TRADE IN ANTIQUITY?
Author(s) -
TAYLOR JOHN W.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
oxford journal of archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1468-0092
pISSN - 0262-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0092.1982.tb00316.x
Subject(s) - cassiterite , tin , feature (linguistics) , archaeology , geology , history , philosophy , metallurgy , linguistics , materials science
Summary: Eighteen hundred miles due south of Carthage, across the Sahara, lies one of the richest sources of tin in the modern world. Here, the Bauchi region of northern Nigeria contains extensive deposits of alluvial cassiterite. This is a singularly important geological feature, since stream tin, as it is more commonly known, was the only tin ore profitably available in antiquity (Muhly, 1973: 248). This paper, as the title implies, is concerned with the question of whether Carthage received tin from this particular area of West Africa. 1 There are certain considerations that suggest such a possibility, but the evidence is tantalizingly nebulous, making answers both inconclusive and speculative.