Dr. Bandama Publishes Article in African Archaeological Review
UIC Lecturer of Anthropology and Assistant Curator in African Anthropology at The Field Museum Dr. Foreman Bandama has co-authored an article in African Archaeological Review titled "Science, Not Black Magic: Metal and Glass Production in Africa."
From Dr. Bandama:
This paper is part of a United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) inspired project on using African archaeology to support school learning led by Anni Stahl of the University of Victoria. Annie challenged us to write about our African archaeological research, not for the benefit of other archaeologists, but to enrich school learning (primary and secondary levels).The paper “Science, not black magic,” challenges stereotyped notions of science and technology in Africa by discussing metal and glass working as transformational pyrotechnologies that long predate European contact. We argue that ancient Africans had their own versions of science that, despite the lack of writing systems and European style laboratories, should be celebrated for the successful improvisation and experimentation. We discuss processes of metal and glass production in western and southern Africa to reveal key aspects of the scientific method in these ancient African technologies.