List of pre-colonial African inventions and innovations

This is an alphabetic list of pre-colonial achievements in science and technology made by the peoples of Africa during the thousands of years of human habitation of the continent. Africa is the birthplace of anatomically modern humans and contains some of the oldest evidence of human technological achievement.

A

• African rice – Oryza glaberrima was independently domesticated in the Niger River delta region of West Africa around 3000 years ago, making Africa one of the world's independent centers of rice cultivation.
• Architecture – Africa developed diverse architectural traditions including the stone structures of Great Zimbabwe built without mortar, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the coral stone buildings of the Swahili coast, and the monumental architecture of ancient Egypt and Nubia.
• Arithmetic – The Lebombo bone (c. 42,000 years ago) and Ishango bone (c. 20,000 years ago) are among the oldest known mathematical artifacts in the world, featuring tally marks that suggest early counting and possibly lunar calendar tracking.
• Astronomy – The Nabta Playa stone circle (c. 4800 BCE) in the Nubian Desert is among the world's oldest known archeoastronomical devices. Ancient Egyptians developed a 365-day civil calendar based on the heliacal rising of Sirius, which signaled the Nile's annual flood. The Borana calendar of Ethiopia and Kenya represents a rare luni-stellar system tracking the moon's conjunction with seven star systems, maintained by astronomical specialists called ayantu. Among southern African Nguni peoples, the Pleiades (IsiLimela, "the digging stars") signaled planting season, while the Southern Cross served for navigation.

B

• Barkcloth – The Baganda people of Uganda developed sophisticated barkcloth-making techniques from the Ficus natalensis tree. This ancient textile art was recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.
• Bellows – African ironworkers developed sophisticated bellows systems for smelting iron. The Haya people of Tanzania developed preheating bellows systems that allowed furnaces to reach high temperatures, enabling the production of carbon steel.
• Board games – Several board games originated in Africa, including Mancala (also known as oware, bao, and other names), one of the world's oldest known games. Senet, played in Egypt from around 3100 BCE, was one of the earliest known board games.
• Bow and arrow – Archaeological evidence from Sibudu Cave in South Africa indicates that bow and arrow technology was developed in Africa around 64,000 years ago, representing the oldest known evidence of this technology worldwide.
• Bronze – Benin Bronzes from the Kingdom of Benin (from the 13th century onwards) represent some of the finest bronze castings in world art history, created using the lost-wax casting technique.

C

• Calendar – The ancient Egyptians developed one of the world's first solar calendars around 2400 BCE, consisting of 365 days divided into 12 months of 30 days each, plus 5 additional days. This calendar influenced the Julian calendar and ultimately the Gregorian calendar used worldwide today.
• Canoe – The Dufuna canoe, discovered in Nigeria, dates to approximately 6000 BCE (about 8,000 years old), making it the oldest boat discovered in Africa and the second-oldest known boat in the world after the Pesse canoe.
• Carbon steel – The Haya people of northwestern Tanzania developed methods to produce medium to high-carbon steel approximately 2000 years ago. Their furnaces, using preheated forced-draft technology, could reach high temperatures suitable for steel production.
• Cesarean section – Evidence from Ugandan traditional medicine documented by European travelers in the 19th century described indigenous surgical techniques for cesarean sections that were performed successfully. The procedure employed banana wine for anesthesia and antisepsis, cauterization for hemostasis, and wound closure with iron spikes and herbal dressings.
• Coffee – Coffea arabica originated in Ethiopia. According to tradition, the stimulating properties of coffee were discovered in the Ethiopian highlands, and the beverage spread from there to Yemen and eventually worldwide.

D

• Domestication of animals – Africa was the site of several important animal domestications, including the donkey (domesticated from the African wild ass in Nubia around 5000 years ago).
• Drums – Africa developed a rich tradition of drum making and drumming, including the talking drum of West Africa, which could mimic tonal languages for long-distance communication.
• Dry stone construction – The builders of Great Zimbabwe (11th-15th centuries) developed sophisticated dry stone construction techniques, creating walls up to 11 meters high without using mortar. Similar techniques were used in over 200 stone enclosures across Zimbabwe and neighboring regions.

E

• Embalming – Ancient Egyptians developed sophisticated mummification techniques over thousands of years, involving organ removal, desiccation with natron, and wrapping in linen.

F

• Fermentation – African peoples developed diverse fermented foods and beverages that remain dietary staples across the continent. These include sorghum beer (such as umqombothi and pombe), fermented cereal porridges (such as ogi and togwa), fermented dairy products (such as amasi), tej (honey wine) in Ethiopia, and fermented legume products (such as dawadawa). Traditional fermentation serves purposes of food preservation, improved digestibility, and enhanced nutrition.
• Fractal geometry – Principles of fractals, specifically self-similarity and scaling, were widely applied in pre-colonial African architecture and urban design. Notable examples include the recursive layout of Logone-Birni in Cameroon and the Ba-ila settlements in Zambia.

G

• Ge'ez script – The Ge'ez script (Ethiopic) was developed in the Kingdom of Aksum around the 5th century BCE, making it one of the oldest alphabets still in continuous use today. It is an abugida (syllabic alphabet) used to write Amharic, Tigrinya, and other Ethiopian languages.
• Gold – African civilizations developed sophisticated gold mining, refining, and metalworking techniques. The gold of Nubia, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and Great Zimbabwe made Africa a major source of gold for the ancient and medieval world.

I

• Iron smelting – Independent iron smelting developed in Africa, with evidence from various sites. The dating and origins of African iron smelting remain debated among archaeologists, with some sites potentially dating to the early first millennium BCE or earlier.
• Ishango bone – This bone tool found near Lake Edward in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dating to approximately 20,000 years ago, features grouped tally marks that some researchers interpret as early mathematical notation.

K

• Kente cloth – The Ashanti and Ewe people of Ghana developed kente cloth, one of Africa's most famous textiles. Woven on narrow looms in strips that are then sewn together, kente features complex geometric patterns with symbolic meanings.

L

• Lalibela churches – In the 12th-13th centuries, King Lalibela of Ethiopia commissioned the construction of 11 rock-hewn churches carved from single pieces of volcanic rock. These engineering marvels are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Lebombo bone – This baboon fibula found in the Lebombo Mountains of Eswatini, dating to approximately 42,000-43,000 years ago, is one of the oldest known mathematical artifacts. It features 29 notches that some researchers interpret as a tally system.
• Lost-wax casting – The lost-wax casting technique was used to create the famous Benin Bronzes and Ife heads, which rank among the finest metal castings in world art history.

M

• Mathematics – African contributions to mathematics include the tally marks on the Lebombo and Ishango bones, Egyptian geometry and arithmetic (documented in the Rhind Papyrus and Moscow Papyrus), and the Yoruba base-20 numeration system.
• Medicine – Egyptian medicine, documented in papyri such as the Edwin Smith Papyrus and Ebers Papyrus, described surgical procedures, diagnoses, and treatments.

N

• Navigation – African peoples developed maritime navigation skills. The Swahili coast sailors used dhows to navigate the Indian Ocean using monsoon winds, trading with Arabia, India, and beyond.
• Nsibidi – Nsibidi is an indigenous writing system developed by the Ekoi (Ejagham) people of southeastern Nigeria and Cameroon. Unlike alphabetic scripts, Nsibidi consists of ideographic and pictographic symbols used for communication and record-keeping.

P

• Papyrus – The Egyptians invented papyrus, the world's first paper-like writing material, around 3000 BCE. Made from the papyrus plant native to the Nile Valley, it was used for writing throughout the Mediterranean for over 3,000 years.
• Pottery – The pottery from Ounjougou in Mali, dating to before 9400 BCE, represents some of the earliest pottery in Africa and among the earliest in the world, along with early ceramics from East Asia.
• Pyramids – The Egyptian pyramids represent one of humanity's greatest architectural achievements. The Great Pyramid of Giza (c. 2560 BCE) was the tallest structure in the world for over 3,800 years. The Nubian pyramids of Meroë, though smaller, are more numerous than Egyptian pyramids.

S

• Sorghum – Sorghum bicolor was domesticated in Africa, possibly in what is now Sudan. It is now the world's fifth most important cereal crop.
• Stone tools – Africa has the world's oldest evidence of stone tool technology. Oldowan tools from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania date to approximately 2.6 million years ago. Acheulean handaxes, developed in Africa around 1.7 million years ago, represent a major technological advance.
• Surgery – Egyptian surgical techniques, documented in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, describe treatments for 48 cases of wounds, fractures, dislocations, and tumors. The Kisii people of Kenya practiced trepanation (cranial surgery) to treat acute cranial trauma, documented into the 1980s.

T

• Talking drum – The talking drum of West Africa could reproduce the tonal patterns of languages such as Yoruba and Twi, enabling long-distance communication.
• Teff – Eragrostis tef was domesticated in the Ethiopian highlands. This grain is the main ingredient in injera, the fermented flatbread that is a staple food in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisines.
• Tifinagh – Tifinagh is the indigenous alphabet of the Berber (Amazigh) peoples of North Africa, with origins in the ancient Libyco-Berber script dating back at least 2,500 years.

V

• Variolation – Historical accounts suggest that inoculation against smallpox was practiced in parts of Africa before its wider introduction to Europe in the 18th century. Knowledge of the practice was brought to colonial America by an enslaved African named Onesimus.

W

• Walls – The earthworks of Benin City extended across a vast area. According to the 1974 Guinness Book of Records, the combined earthworks across the region were described as "the world's largest earthworks carried out prior to the mechanical era."
• Watermelon – Citrullus lanatus was domesticated in Africa, with evidence of domesticated watermelon seeds from Libya dating to approximately 4000 BCE.
• Writing systems – Africa developed multiple indigenous writing systems, including Egyptian hieroglyphs, Meroitic script, Ge'ez script, Tifinagh, and Nsibidi.

Y

• Yams – Several yam species were domesticated in Africa. The West African yam (Dioscorea rotundata) was domesticated in the Niger River Basin.
• Yoruba numerals – The Yoruba people developed a sophisticated vigesimal (base-20) numeration system that required complex subtraction to express numbers.

Z

• Zimbabwe Bird – The Zimbabwe Birds are a series of eight soapstone sculptures discovered at the ruins of Great Zimbabwe. They are believed to represent the Bateleur eagle and served as symbols of royal authority.

See also

• History of science and technology in Africa
• History of Africa
• Ancient Egyptian technology
• Iron metallurgy in Africa
• African textiles
• Writing systems of Africa
• Great Zimbabwe
• Ancient Egyptian medicine
• Agriculture in Africa

Notes

References

• Chirikure, Shadreck. Metals in Past Societies: A Global Perspective on Indigenous African Metallurgy. Springer, 2015.
• Connah, Graham. African Civilizations: An Archaeological Perspective. Cambridge University Press, 2015.
• Joseph, George Gheverghese. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics. Princeton University Press, 2011.
• Zaslavsky, Claudia. Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Cultures. Lawrence Hill Books, 1999.