History of West Africa more states. Early human settlers arrived in West Africa around 12,000 BCE. In the fifth millennium, as the ancestors of modern West Africans began entering the area, the development of sedentary farming began to take place in West Africa. The Iron industry, in both smelting and forging for tools and weapons, appeared in Sub-Saharan Africa by 1200 BCE, and by 400 BCE, contact had been made with the Mediterranean civilizations, and a regular trade included exporting gold, cotton, metal, and leather in exchange for copper, horses, salt, textiles, and beads. Culture developed further with the Nok culture (1000 BCE to
History of West Africa the Nok culture developed on the Jos Plateau, until it vanished under unknown circumstances by 200 or 300 CE. It was a highly centralised community. The Nok people produced miniature, lifelike representations in terracotta, including human heads, elephants, and other animals. Iron use, in smelting and forging for tools, appears in Nok culture in Africa at least by 550 BC and possibly earlier, prior to 1000 BC. Based on stylistic similarities with the Nok terracottas, the bronze figurines of the Yoruba kingdom of Ife and the Bini kingdom of Benin are now believed to be continuations of the traditions of