Copper crosses (handa) and Kisalian metallurgy
Cruces de cobre (handa) y metalurgia kisaliana
- Date
- c. 900-1300 · confidence medium
- Place
- Sanga, Upemba Depression, Haut-Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Credited to
- Kisalian culture
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
In the cemeteries of Sanga and Katoto, the Kisalian culture smelted Katanga copper into cross-shaped ingots (handa) that served as standardised currency and prestige goods. It is one of the earliest monetary economies of the African interior.
The chronology of the Kisalian cemeteries (Sanga: c. 700-1300) was established by Jean Hiernaux and Pierre de Maret in the 1960s-70s.
What it led to
- long-distance copper trade towards the Zambezi and the Indian Ocean
- copper currencies used until the 19th-20th centuries
- the economic basis of the Luba and Lunda kingdoms