Teaming up with termites - Appraising termites' contributions to earth technologies in West Africa

This essay explores the role and impact of termites in the social and cultural history of West Africa. It proposes an integrated understanding of a wide range of hitherto symbolically or metaphorically understood practices related to the mining of iron and gold, iron production, agriculture, health, wood carving and pottery, as well as to creation myths and the Sunjata epic.