A Nigerian Tin Trade in Antiquity?

Abstract

Summary: Eighteen hundred miles due south of Carthage, across the Sahara, lies one of the richest sources of tin in the modern world. Here, the Bauchi region of northern Nigeria contains extensive deposits of alluvial cassiterite. This is a singularly important geological feature, since stream tin, as it is more commonly known, was the only tin ore profitably available in antiquity (Muhly, 1973: 248). This paper, as the title implies, is concerned with the question of whether Carthage received tin from this particular area of West Africa.1 There are certain considerations that suggest such a possibility, but the evidence is tantalizingly nebulous, making answers both inconclusive and speculative.

The Antiquity of Horses and Asses in West Africa: A Correction

“…Worthy of reminder here is that tin is also obtainable near Azelik, and this may conceivably solve part of the issue, including the presence of the occasional early bronze object thereabouts. So, while we may want to drop for the present the argument about Nigerian tin reaching Carthage at the dawn of the Iron Age (see Taylor 1982), the case for trans-Saharan metallurgical connections at this very period remains tenable.…”