Sentence:  The ultimate origins of iron in east Africa, then, must remain conjectural, though a spread from Meroe up the Nile to the Lake Victoria region is the most plausable route at the moment, and <WSD>Meroic</WSD> furnaces and tool styles are similar to those in East Africa. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Pertaining to the ancient African civilization south of Egypt with the capital city Meroë.