Social Sciences and History / Unit 5 SSH 0428 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Africa's Geography and Independent Iron
Captions available
The idea
Rainfall, soil and water dictated where Africans settled, from the desert San to the rainforest Baka. Domestication arose three times: Egypt from southwest Asia, and independently in the eastern Sahara and West Africa with sorghum and yams. Iron smelting, scholars now agree, developed independently in Central Africa.
In practice
Sahel, savanna, rainforest as bands.
Where people slip
The older view routed iron through Egypt.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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