The earliest iron production in the territory of Angola dates to the 5th to 8th centuries

Since 1974 the Ndalambiri rock shelter in Angola has been protected as a monument of national heritage, thanks to a painted frieze 60 metres long with almost 1,200 figures.

A team led by Isis Mesfin of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris has excavated there. The first traces of habitation go back 45,000 years and probably further still, but the early layers are poorly preserved. The layers of the 5th to 8th centuries AD, on the other hand, are in splendid condition, and in them were found iron slag, blowpipes, hammer scale, three finished iron objects, three pieces of ore and a small oval furnace dug into the ground. This is the earliest and most securely dated evidence of iron production in the territory of Angola.