# Phillip L. de Barros: La Métallurgie du Fer en Pays Bassar (Nord-Togo) Depuis 2400 Ans. Tome I: L'Âge du Fer Ancien (de 400 avant J.-C. à 130 après J.-C.)

Éditions Harmattans, Paris, 2021, 258 pp., ISBN 978-2-343-22221-9

Djimet Guemona

Published online: 13 December 2023

© The Author(s) 2023

This volume by Philip L. de Barros is the result of more than three decades of research on ancient iron metallurgy in Bassar Country, a region in northern Togo well known for an abundance of metallurgical remains. The book includes 256 pages, richly illustrated with 57 figures and 18 tables and organized into four main sections and two appendices.

In the preface, de Barros explains how he came to do thesis research in Togo, where he discovered the great archaeological potential of Bassar Country. The first section presents an overview of the natural geography of this region with an emphasis on climate, ecology, hydrography, and topography. This latter is important because topographic relief allows the author to identify the sources of different ores. This is followed by a summary of archaeological research in Togo, and West Africa more broadly, on periods prior to the establishment of ancient metallurgy. Here, de Barros presents some sites from the past 50,000 years (Later Stone Age) which have yielded chipped stone

tools, polished axes, and, after 9400 calBC, ceramic assemblages with twisted and braided fiber roulettes. He then addresses the ongoing scientific debate about the origin and diffusion of African iron metallurgy. Based on a critical analysis of dates proposed by different archaeologists, de Barros concludes that additional data will be needed to confirm or refute claims about the origins of iron metallurgy in Africa.

The second section of the book addresses the question of early iron metallurgy in Togo at the site of Dekpassanware. After first presenting a history of research, de Barros proceeds to discuss the spatial organization of the site. High-quality maps and plans make it possible to distinguish artisanal areas from residential areas, as well as areas with high concentrations of metallurgical and/or ceramic remains. Radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates from these different areas then help to establish a chronological framework of four phases: a Later Stone Age phase; a transitional phase between the Later Stone Age and the Iron Age; an Early Iron Age phase; and a Later Iron Age phase. The author then presents data from excavations in the different areas, including diverse material remains listed in tables and linked to the four chronological phases. Based on these observations, the author argues that the availability of local resources (e.g., clay, ores, water, fuel) shaped the spatial organization of the site, as well as relationships between the artisanal and residential areas.

The third section is devoted to ceramic typology and traditions in Bassar Country. Here, de Barros identifies

<footnote>D. Guemona
l'Université Adam Barka d'Abéché, Abéché, Chad</footnote>

<footnote>D. Guemona
Département Archéologie, Réserve Naturelle et Culturelle
de l'Ennedi, Fada, Chad</footnote>

<footnote>D. Guemona (✉)
Laboratoire TRACES, UMR 5608/Pôle Afrique,
Université de Toulouse 2-Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France
e-mail: guemonadjimet@yahoo.fr; guemonad@
africanparks.org</footnote>
four major ceramic series in an assemblage of more
than 26,500 pottery sherds: the Bassar series; the Fine
Mica (Mica fin) series; the Brilliant Mica (Mica brillant)
series; and the Brown (Brun) series. For each series,
the author discusses the paste composition, the vessel
types and forms, the decorative motifs, and the finish-
ing and firing methods. He also identifies the likely clay
sources for each series based on comparison to geologi-
cal formations across western and northern Togo. This
rich description of ceramic attributes allows de Barros
to examine close links between the environment, decora-
tive motifs, and potters’ social identities, as well as the
chronology of sites across Bassar Country.

The fourth and final section of the book focuses on an Iron Age smelting site near the hill known locally as Bidjilib. Excavations of more than twenty units at this site uncovered a blast furnace and associated anthropogenic deposits. Based on an analysis of the slag, iron objects, and other artifacts, de Barros suggests that iron ores came to this location from Bidjilib hill, and that iron smelting activities in Bassar Country were sometimes accompanied by rituals.

Overall, the book is well written, demonstrating
a comprehensive sense of the field and great rigor
in data collection. We can salute the critical spirit of
the author and the distance he takes from the chron-
ological arguments proposed by other researchers.
Nevertheless, there are some issues arising from the
presentation of data. For example, the interpretations
of tuyère dimensions and surface treatments from
Dekpassanware and the BAS-273 site are question-
able (pp. 169–170); differences between these sites
could also be linked to different reduction methods,
the size of the furnaces, and/or economic needs. In
terms of volume organization, it would have been
helpful to orient the chapters around sites with shared
assemblage types—lithic tools, pottery sherds, or
metallurgical remains—to better draw comparisons
between them and draw social interpretations from

these datasets. For example, a brief presentation of
the furnace remains does not discuss their associated
reduction techniques, which could be inferred from
systems for ventilation and slag evacuation. Similarly,
the discussion of ceramics focused more on sources of
raw materials than on the social groups responsible for
their production and use. Finally, some word choices
are inappropriate to the technical vocabulary of metal-
lurgy. On pages 73–78, the author uses the term “slag
pit” (puit à scories) to designate the internal volume
of the furnace base and “chimney” (cheminée) to des-
ignate the furnace wall built from clay. In the field of
archaeometallurgy, the former is known as “the tank”
(la cuve) and the latter is called “the furnace wall” (la
paroi de four).

Beyond these minor criticisms, this book is a qual-
ity work of scientific research. The author is to be
commended for his work to inventory, excavate, and
date sites across Bassar Country—this is a significant
contribution to the chronological framework for iron
metallurgy in Togo and beyond.

**Open Access** This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

**Publisher's Note** Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.