Metallurgy and urbanism in sub-Saharan Africa

Social stratification and the emergence of urbanism that followed only
developed after metallurgy was fully entrenched in sub-Saharan Africa.
However, no research has been carried to explore the role of metallurgy in
these historic developments. Perhaps, the lack of well resolved data sets has
deterred ardent students of urbanism from pursuing the issue. This contribution
weaves data from archaeology and related disciplines to elucidate the
role of metallurgy in sub-Saharan urbanism. It demonstrates that metallurgy
had an all-pervading influence in society indicating that researchers may
have understated its role in the rise, flourishing and decline of African urban
centres.