Benin bronzes made from brass mined in west Germany, study finds

Related: German brass for Benin Bronzes: Geochemical analysis insights into the early Atlantic trade (Plos One)

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Source: The Guardian

Benin bronzes made from brass mined in west Germany, study finds

Metal used for west African artworks was acquired from manilla bracelets, the grim currency of the slave trade

Dalya Alberge
Wed 5 Apr 2023 19.00 BST
Last modified on Wed 5 Apr 2023 19.01 BST

Scientists have discovered that some of the Benin bronzes were made with brass mined thousands of miles away in the German Rhineland.

The Edo people in the Kingdom of Benin, modern Nigeria, created their extraordinary sculptures with melted down brass manilla bracelets, the grim currency of the transatlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries.

While rarely found in archaeological excavations on land, they have been retrieved in substantial numbers from the wrecks of vessels that had been transporting them.

In carrying out the largest study of these bracelets, a team of German researchers compared their metal with metallic ores and mines across Europe before tracing them to the Rhineland in western Germany.

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Manillas, derived from the Latin for hand or bracelet, were a “currency” used by Britain, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France and Denmark to trade with west Africa in gold and ivory, as well as enslaved people.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/05/benin-bronzes-made-from-brass-mined-in-west-germany-study-finds

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