Iron : Making a Tool
(See also Iron Smelting and Making a Spearhead)
At Chiana, Upper West Region, Ghana May 1972
Enclosing pieces of iron bloom in a clay ball
The blacksmith at his forge
Iron in its clay ball being heated
The iron in its clay ball being gently tapped to consolidate the metal
The iron being hammered heavily to further consolidate it
Iron, now a rectangular piece, being flattened into a hoe-blade shape
The tang of the hoe blade being formed
The tang of the hoe blade being extended
The hoe-blade given its curve using a wooden former set in the ground
At Tiza, Upper West Region, Ghana February 1972
The hole in the hoe handle to take the tang being formed using a hot poker
An old hoe, retained by the blacksmith, from the 1940s
The 'ears' are no longer part of the hoe-blade design
Hoeing up a mound preparatory to sowing yams
