Final answer:
By the middle of the first millennium BCE, the Bantus had begun to produce iron tools and weapons, leading to advancements in agriculture and the rise of powerful Bantu kingdoms by the tenth century.
Step-by-step explanation:
By the middle of the first millennium BCE, the Bantus had begun to produce iron tools and weapons. This was thanks to the adoption of ironworking technology from the Nok culture, which enabled the Bantu-speaking people to clear forests, cultivate crops more efficiently, and advance their agricultural practices. Their way of life was centered around an Iron Age economy that included farming crops such as sorghum and millet, and raising livestock like cattle, pigs, and chickens, although farming was a more predominant activity. Settlements were strategically located near resources essential for iron smelting. The Bantus also engaged in trade, exchanging commodities such as copper and salt within the Congo and Tanzania regions.
The Bantu migrations, which likely began between 3000 and 2000 BCE, led to significant cultural, technological, and linguistic changes in sub-Saharan Africa. Ironworking allowed the Bantus to create better agricultural tools and weapons, facilitating the expansion of agricultural practices and the displacement of hunter-gatherer populations. By the tenth century, powerful Bantu kingdoms began to rise, dominating the regions they inhabited, both economically and politically, underpinned by the integration of Neolithic cultivation, animal husbandry, and Iron Age technologies.