Lyaya, Edwinus Chrisantus2016-08-292016-08-292011http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11810/3591Amongst the features of ironworking of sub-Saharan Africa can be counted: (1) the critical incorporation of rituals, symbolism, and medicines; (2) that some societies produced bloomery iron through two stages - namely, iron smelting and smithing - while others, employed a three-stage process where an iron refining process was situated between the former two stages; (3) that while iron smelting activities were generally secluded from the general population, iron refining and smithing were more often carried out in or near villages. The purpose of the current work is to examine the available archaeometallurgical remains of ironworking in order to investigate how the Mjimwema ironworking technology in Tanzania relates to these three features of the African ironworking process. To this end, methods including macroscopic examination of the remains, ethnohistorical exploration of the process, and botanical classification of the bioarchaeometallurgical samples have been used. The results indicate that the ironworking at Mjimwema followed the two-stage process, and that the ironworking process symbolised the process of pregnancy and child-birth. With regard to the latter finding, it is argued that in order to fully understand the justification of the incorporation of rituals and medicines in the technology, we ought to give equal research attention to the socio-cultural contexts within which the technology operated. It is also argued that the same socio-cultural conditions explain the seclusion of both smelting and smithing activities from residential areas.en