GoKawiilNew genetic and archaeological data refine timeline of Bantu expansion across Africa
Researchers studying iron-smelting sites such as those near Great Zimbabwe are piecing together how Bantu-speaking peoples from western Africa spread farming, livestock-raising, pottery and metalworking across the continent's southern half starting 6,000 to 4,000 years ago. Field Museum archaeometallurgist Ezekiel Mtetwa and colleagues point to sophisticated natural-draft iron furnaces as evidence of the technological capacity these migrating communities developed and spread. The expansion also reshaped Africa's linguistic map, giving rise to roughly 500 related Bantu languages spoken today by about 350 million people.