The evolution of iron among the Ngbandi people: from bladed weapon to the firearm (18th to 21st century)

Abstract

Yakoma territory is inhabited almost entirely by the Ngbandi, known as forest clearers, fishermen and sculptors. This study concerns the evolution of iron craft. Since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, iron products from Yakoma have spread beyond the territory, while part of the population moved from iron tools to firearm manufacture.