Ethnic groups · pre-1822 and continuing

Loma people

Smiths and weavers of the northern highlands, on the road to the Mande markets.

Biography

Loma country lies in the higher, cooler northern uplands where the forest thins toward the Guinea savanna — the natural corridor for trade between the interior markets and the coast. Loma smelters and blacksmiths were renowned, and Loma weavers produced the narrow-strip country cloth that circulated as both dress and currency. Islam reached Loma towns early through Mandingo traders, layering over the Poro without displacing it.

Historical significance

One of the sixteen principal peoples mapped in the atlas; Mande (southwestern) in language, with an economy built on iron smelting and narrow-strip weaving.

Timeline

pre-1500Loma settlement of the northern highlands
18th c.Loma iron traded across the forest belt

On the map

Associated with Zorzor-area towns. Open the historical atlas.

References

Holsoe 1971; comparative ethnography