XRF and LA-ICP-MS studies of gold and silver artefacts from a 12–13th century CE tumulus in Senegal: Implications for the medieval African gold trade

Abstract

Silver and gold artefacts from a 12–13th c. CE tumulus in Senegal were recently analysed by means of XRF and LA-ICP-MS. The identification of major, minor and trace elements allowed gaining a rare insight into the composition of precious metals circulating in that part of Africa in medieval times. The results show that all objects were made of polymetallic alloys. Comparisons with analyses from other West African as well as North African and European silver and gold artefacts suggest that the metal from the studied objects most probably originate from outside West Africa. At least in the case of the gold artefacts, this is quite surprising, as we expected to come across pure West African gold. The results hint at a hitherto little known facet of the medieval African gold trade. It is concluded that, in addition to the acknowledged mass export of West African raw gold toward North Africa, there was also a thus far widely ignored traffic of alloyed gold (and silver) into West Africa.