Ivory from Savannah elephants appears in Medieval European art. Chinese porcelain has been found at Medieval archaeological sites in the Sahara. Trade routes snaked out from West Africa deep into sub-Saharan regions and far into East Asia and the Middle East, she said. The discovery of the molds confirmed Arabic texts at the time, which referred to Tadmekka as the source of dinars, Bickford Berzock said. Coin molds from Tadmekka, Mali, still hold flecks of the gold from the dinar coins that were a dominant form of currency of the day.
One item in the exhibit, a seated figure found in Nigeria, was made of copper that was likely mined in Europe. It had a rich culture of sculpture, textile art and other production, Bickford Berzock said. Africa was not just simply a place that Europe plundered for raw materials. Other artifacts in the collection tell a similar tale. "It's hard to imagine anybody having that kind of wealth today," she said, "Basically, unlimited access to wealth." Far and wide
WESTERN EUROPE FEUDAL KINGDOMS WORLD MAP FULL
The ruler of the Mali empire, he had full control of the region's gold production - and Mali's gold was the purest, most sought-after gold of the day, Bickford Berzock said. Mansa Musa puts a face to the phenomenon. "It also helps people think about the history of Africa before western involvement in things like the Atlantic slave trade." "It tells us a lot about the world we live in today to understand the long history of exchange and interaction on a global scale," Bickford Berzock told Live Science.
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