Leaded Copper Crescent-Shaped Objects and a Brass Ring from Medieval Gao, Mali
Name
Babalola_et_al_OA_17_11_25_IL.pdf
Description
visibility:open
Size
3.14 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (CRC64NVME)
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Resource type
Journal article
Date published
November 19, 2025
Abstract
Copper-related metal artefacts and ingots are prominent metal objects of the Trans-Saharan trade route, providing a nexus between producers and consumers often separated by vast distances. The role of Gao in southern Mali as a major transit point of this trade is archaeologically and historically well established, within the framework of other Medieval trade towns. However, the study of Gao’s metallurgical heritage is not fully explored and is full of potential. Of particular interest are the hundreds of crescent-shaped metal objects found across the different parts of Gao, but not encountered elsewhere. We present a pilot study on five crescent fragments and one brass ring from Medieval Gao, offering new compositional and isotopic data. It is unlikely that these objects were re-melted or recycled, given the frequent presence of sulphide inclusions in them. The results show that the crescent-shaped objects are heavily leaded copper and retain their as-cast texture, making a functional use unlikely. Their composition is either due to a possible mixing of lead and copper metal, or the smelting of multi-metallic ores where different batch compositions result in different concentrations in lead, antimony and arsenic within the dominant copper metal. The lead isotope data, presented here for the first time, confirm general statements made earlier for a similar set of artefacts from Gao, arguing that the metal is isotopically consistent with lead ores from Tunisia as well as being similar to several artefacts from Nigeria, in particular Igbo Ukwu. In the absence of a comprehensive database of regional copper ore data and the long-distance trade of lead across the Sahara, a firm assignment of geological origin of the metal from Gao’s crescent-shaped objects remains elusive.
Journal title
METALLA
Publisher
Universitatsbibliothek der Ruhr-Universitat Bochum
ISSN
0947-6229
eISSN
2749-6430