Burkina Faso

Ancient ferrous metallurgy sites

WHS Score 1.95 Votes 3 Average 2.5

The Ancient Iron Metallurgy Sites of Burkina Faso represent an early phase of iron production in Africa.

The five locations Douroula, Tiwêga, Yamané, Kindibo and Békuy are spread out over Burkina Faso’s territory. The latter four were massive production sites and comprise iron ore smelting furnaces, slag heaps and other traces of mining, while Douroula is the oldest dating back to the 8th century BCE. The development of this technology has led to blacksmith traditions that are still alive today.

Community Perspective: Wojciech visited Tiwega in 2019, and describes the effort that was necessary to get to the site.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Ancient Ferrous Metallurgy Sites of Burkina Faso (ID: 1602)
Country
Burkina Faso
Status
Inscribed 2019 Site history
History of Ancient ferrous metallurgy sites
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • iii
  • iv
  • vi
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Secular structure: Factories and industry
Travel Information
One thousand visitors or fewer
One thousand visitors or fewer
DD : “Visitor pressure is non-existent at present, as the …
Recent Connections
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Connections of Ancient ferrous metallurgy sites
Geography
  • Volta Basin
    All the sites are situated within the Volata basin in Burkina Faso. That of Douroula is a few kms from the Mouhoun River (a.k.a "Black Volta")
  • Sahel
History
  • Iron Age
    examples of technological construction types that illustrate the Iron Age in Western Africa (AB ev)
World Heritage Process
Human Activity
Timeline
  • Built in the 8th century BC
    "Dated to the 8th century BCE, Douroula bears the most ancient testimony to the development of iron production in Burkina Faso" (AB ev)
Visiting conditions
  • One thousand visitors or fewer
    DD : “Visitor pressure is non-existent at present, as the serial property is not yet included in official tourism circuits, and is only a subject of scientific research” (AB ev)
  • Red Zone Travel Advisory
    All of Burkina Faso except the main cities
WHS Names
  • Name changes
    Addition of "of Burkina Faso" to the name upon inscription
News

No news.

Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

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First published: 22/04/19.

Wojciech Fedoruk

Ancient Ferrous Metallurgy Sites

Ancient ferrous metallurgy sites (Inscribed)

Ancient ferrous metallurgy sites by Wojciech Fedoruk

During my short stay in Burkina Faso in February 2019 I was unable to visit its two WHS – Arly National Park was a no-go zone and Loropeni required three more days that I did not have. So I did my best to visit the site that hopefully will become WHS in July 2019 – Ancient metallurgy sites. At least one location seemed to be quite close from Ouagadougou – ovens of Tiwega, near Kaya.

Kaya was theoretically located on the border of the no-go zone, but the taxi driver at the Ouagadougou airport assured that it was safe. We agreed for 50,000 CFA (around EUR 70) for the trip. The road to Kaya took us two hours and did not look like a road through a country with a terrorist threat. For over 100 kilometers, we did not see any police checkpoint (incidentally, perhaps that is why it is easier for extremists to act here). We got to Kaya and the town positively surprised me - it even has a museum (although it did not work, you could at least see or buy some local craft).

Immediately afterwards, the tracking of the proper destination began. The place we were looking for - Tiwega iron furnaces - was to be located only a few kilometers from Kaya. Google even had its exact coordinates, but it turned out to be worthless (its real location is 13.087748, -1.144837). There was a signpost along the main road, but in the …

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