Abstract
Indigenous iron working has received considerable attention from Africanist archaeologists but its contribution to the evolution of political process has never 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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