Contacts Between West Africa and Roman North Africa: Archaeometallurgical Results from Kissi, Northeastern Burkina Faso

Abstract

Early first millennium AD trans-Saharan contacts between North and West Africa long have been debated and disputed, mainly due to lack of archaeological evidence. However, recent excavations in the Mare de Kissi region, northeastern Burkina Faso, recovered a number of exotic and imported materials in cemetery contexts mainly dated from between the 3rd to 7th centuries AD. Copper-based artifacts were recovered from some graves and were subjected to elemental and isotopic analyses. Lead isotopic analysis results suggest that metal used in the manufacture of some Kissi copper-based objects originated, at least partly, from North African and eastern Mediterranean ore sources. Strong similarities also were observed with metallurgical debris and ingots from the site of Marandet, Niger, suggesting connections between Kissi, Marandet and North Africa. Elemental analysis results indicate that the many copper-based objects shared common production histories, and the presence/absence and concentrations of alloying and minor impurity elements corroborated that much of the metal was wholly or partially produced outside West Africa. Isotopic and elemental analyses strongly support a North African and eastern Mediterranean origin for much of the Kissi metals, suggesting Roman era trade existed across the Sahara in the early first millennium AD.