The exploitation of manganese-rich 'ore' to smelt iron in Mwenge, western Uganda, from the mid second millennium AD

This sample set provided an opportunity to discuss the impacts of manganese and phosphorous on the smelting systems in operation in Mwenge. Principal component analysis suggests that smelters in this region were deliberately combining an iron ore with a separate manganese-rich flux, rather than using a naturally manganiferous iron ore. This use of two 'ores' has parallels with ethnographic literature from the region, which link the use of a second ore to the production of a harder metal. It is believed that this is the first analytically documented example of the use of a manganese-rich flux in sub-Saharan Africa. In the absence of analyses of surviving iron artefacts, the data also provides an opportunity to consider the quality of the iron metal that would have been produced.