Peter R. Schmidt distills more than twenty years of research and scholarship into this major work on the history and culture of iron technology in East Africa from ancient times to the present. Although archaeologists have long held that ironmaking spread from a single point of origin in Europe, Schmidt shows that African iron smelting developed independently, based on the use of indigenous natural resources and local invention.

Schmidt recounts the reenactment of traditional iron smelting by elders of the Haya people in northwestern Tanzania. Through analysis of the chemistry and metallurgy of the smelting process, he demonstrates the genius of African iron technology. The rich symbolism surrounding traditional methods of iron production sheds light on the history of iron technology and reveals its central cultural role.