Tadmekka Bamako 0 km 500 N Tadmekka, a town at the southern edge of the Sahara desert, has produced good evidence for making gold coins in the ninth-tenth century AD, the first concrete proof of coinage in precolonial West Africa. These were produced by melting gold dust or nuggets in ceramic moulds, similar to those used for the first pelletlike coinage of the European Iron Age. The authors suggest these coins were not political statements, but were probably blank and intended to facilitate the busy early Islamic caravan trade to destinations north, south or east. On arrival at the Mediterranean coast, these blank pieces would have been melted down or converted into inscribed coins by the local authorities.
We describe two crucible fragments from an early Islamic context at the West African site of Tadmekka, in the Republic of Mali. They are made from a very sandy fabric and contain numerous gold particles and mineral grains in a matrix of lightly-coloured glass-based crucible slag. We interpret these as remains of a process separating freshly-panned gold concentrate from residual mineral inclusions, by melting the concentrate together with crushed glass beads. The process has similarities in modern artisanal practice, and shows the versatility of craftspeople in this major urban trading centre famous for its gold wealth
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