The Gold-Salt Trade Ms. Baquedano

Wangara Mines Secret mines in Ghana forests No one but Wangarans knew where it was Some miners would be captured, but no one ever told The mine location is still unknown

Taghaza Location of salt mines Salt was valued for three reasons Used to preserve food Used to season food Humans lose salt by sweating in hot environments

Taghaza (cont.) No crops or vegetation in Taghaza Houses made of salt blocks Residents relied on caravans to bring food If no trade caravan came, miners would starve

Salt Production Evaporation Water is poured into holes in the salty ground Water draws out salt, and evaporates in the hot sun Only salt remains and is collected Mining Salt minerals were 3ft below ground Slave miners dig tunnels and holes and cut it out of the ground

Ghana Tax System Traders pay taxes on good entering and leaving Salt taxes: Charged 1/6th of an ounce of gold for each salt load going in Charged 1/3 of an ounce of gold for each load leaving Other taxes: 5/8th of an ounce of gold for copper 1 ounce~ for other goods Helped pay for armies, made trade safe, helped pay city expenses Draw a diagram of the salt taxes using arrows

Kumbi Ghana’s capital and first caravan stop Busiest market in West Africa Sold: iron weapons and tools, jewelry, clothes from Spain and Morocco, sheep, cows, honey, etc. Also a huge slave market Raiders caught people from southern Ghana and sold them to Arab merchants Merchants then sold them to North Africans or Europeans

Wangara’s Silent Barter System After Kumbi, traders went south to Wangara Used silent bartering system Caravans brought goods and laid them on river banks Used a drum to announce trade and left Wangarans come, leave gold dust by things they want, beat the drum, and left Traders come back, take the gold, and leave the goods Why do this? Allows people of different languages to trade Lets Wangarans hide mine locations

End of Ghana War Natural Resources Muslim Almoravids attack Ghana and capture Kumbi, empire breaks Natural Resources Population too big for amount of resources Not enough trees or water With Kumbi weak, the Mande people took over This began the rise of the kingdom of Mali