Douroula

Douroula is a town in Burkina Faso and serves as the administrative seat of Douroula Department in Mouhoun Province. It is distinguished by an archaeological site near the town containing the remains of an iron-smelting furnace and evidence of early ferrous metallurgy. The site has been dated to the eighth century BC and is recognized as the oldest confirmed metallurgy site discovered to date within Burkina Faso. The remains document the early development of iron production in the region and form part of a broader group of ancient metallurgical locations distributed across the country. On 5 July 2019, Douroula was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the ancient metallurgy complexes of Tiwêga, Yamané, Kindibo and Békuy. The UNESCO inscription recognizes the sites as evidence of longstanding technical knowledge, social organization and metalworking traditions in Burkina Faso. Douroula is therefore a geographic and heritage subject rather than a commercial brand. No brand ownership, product portfolio, corporate structure, public listing, or commercial operating activity is established in the supplied reference material.

Douroula is a town in Burkina Faso, located in Mouhoun Province, and is the administrative seat of Douroula Department. The town's principal historical significance comes from archaeological remains situated nearby rather than from a documented commercial or institutional history. These remains include a furnace associated with iron smelting and other evidence of ferrous metallurgy. Archaeological dating places the metallurgical activity at approximately the eighth century BC, establishing Douroula as the oldest confirmed metallurgy site discovered to date in Burkina Faso according to the supplied reference material. The site provides evidence for the early production and working of iron in the region. Iron-smelting installations are important historical sources because they reveal not only the use of metallurgical technology but also the organization of labor, access to fuel and ore, and the circulation of technical knowledge. Although the available reference does not provide a detailed excavation history, named archaeological phases, or a complete account of the communities responsible for the furnace, the surviving remains place Douroula within the wider history of ancient iron production in West Africa. Douroula is part of a larger network of ancient ferrous-metallurgy locations in Burkina Faso. Other sites associated with this heritage group include Tiwêga, Yamané, Kindibo and Békuy. Together, these locations illustrate the geographic breadth and historical depth of ironworking traditions in the country. Their significance is collective as well as individual: the sites preserve physical evidence of technological practices that developed before the modern state and continued to shape regional economies and societies over long periods. On 5 July 2019, Douroula was inscribed, together with the other named ancient metallurgy complexes, on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the collective designation Ancient Ferrous Metallurgy Sites of Burkina Faso. The inscription gave the Douroula site international heritage recognition and formally connected it to the country's broader archaeological record. The supplied material does not identify a separate modern brand, company, owner, executive structure, product range, or commercial strategy associated with Douroula. Accordingly, this dossier treats Douroula as a place and cultural-heritage subject rather than as a conventional consumer or corporate brand.

• 2019

  World Heritage inscription

  [1]Douroulaen.wikipedia.org

  Douroula was inscribed with the ancient metallurgy complexes of Tiwêga, Yamané, Kindibo and Békuy as part of the Ancient Ferrous Metallurgy Sites of Burkina Faso.

• Ancient iron-smelting activity at Douroula

  [1]Douroulaen.wikipedia.org

  A furnace and related archaeological evidence near Douroula document ferrous metallurgy dating to the eighth century BC, identified as the oldest confirmed metallurgy site discovered to date in Burkina Faso.

1. 1Douroulaen.wikipedia.org