Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-208).

The Middle Iron Age in southern Africa has long been associated with the development of class distinction and state formation. However, most research focus has been on K2 and Mapungubwe in the Middle Limpopo Valley, the presumed first state capitals of the region. Mapela Hill is a site located outside the Middle Limpopo in south western Zimbabwe. Preliminary excavations at the summit of the hill by Peter Garlake in 1968 has resulted in archaeologists drawing contrasting conclusions about the position of the site in the development of complexity in the region. The problem is that we do not have sufficient evidence to support nor deny these theories. As a result of excavations from the foot of the hill to the hill summit, this study has used a combination of theories and analyses in order to classify the material cultural objects recovered at Mapela Hill. Ceramic studies have been used to identify the cultural groups which occupied the site, and tight radiocarbon dates were established, giving insight to the chronology of the site. The results showed that Mapela Hill was occupied by the same groups as at Mapungubwe Hill, contains vast revetment stone walling, successions of thick solid dhaka hut floors and an abundance of traded glass beads; attributes which collectively signify state formation in the region. The radiocarbon dates revealed that the site was occupied before, during and after the abandonment of Mapungubwe Hill. These results call for more research at relatively unknown sites in the region as a progression towards new frameworks for the development of state formation in the Shashe Limpopo confluence

Bibliography: pages 103-110. / Up until the present, analyses of micromammal assemblages in South Africa have been based upon the premise that the agent responsible for the accumulation of these assemblages was the Barn owl. These micromammal assemblages were used to make extrapolations of past changes in vegetation and climate. It was assumed that the agent of accumulation, the Barn owl, remained constant. This thesis used taphonomy to analyse the micromammal bones from Elands Bay Cave in order to question the traditional assumption of the Barn owl as predator arid to ascertain which predator/s had been responsible for the accumulation of the microfaunal assemblages. The methods used to identify the accumulator of the microfaunal assemblages from Elands Bay Cave were based on those used by Andrews (1990a) in his investigation of the bone contents of pellets and scats of several species of owl, diurnal birds of prey and small carnivores. The results from Andrew's(1990a) analyses provided comparative information on breakage patterns of the cranial and postcranial bones and on the acid etching (produced during digestion) on micromammal bones and teeth, caused by the various species of predator. Information on the habits of various predators was collected. This information was used in combination with the results obtained from the analysis of the breakage patterns of the mandibles, maxillae and long bones, and from the acid etching on the incisors, in order to ascertain the agent of accumulation of the micromammal bones from Elands Bay Cave. The breakage patterns of the long bones and the acid etching on the incisors of the micromammals indicated that a variety of predators had contributed to the micromammal assemblages in the Holocene packages of the site. The Terminal Pleistocene packages appeared to have been deposited by a Bamowl but there was some circumstantial evidence that people may have also been responsible for the accumulation of some of the micromarnmal remains in these packages. The results from this thesis indicate that taphonomy should be used to ascertain the predator of micromammal assemblages prior to using the assemblages to trace palaeoenvironmental change. The use of taphonomy at Elands Bay Cave highlighted some of the problems that may arise when dealing with small samples and also raised the issue of the affect that the period of deposition of an archaeological assemblage could have on the micromammal population represented. This thesis found evidence that contradicts the traditional assumption, usually made in the analysis of micromammal assemblages in South Africa, that short-term fluctuations in rodent communities may be safely ignored during analysis.

The archaeology of the 18th and 19th century western BaTswana towns in the Rustenbutg·Zeerust region of North West Province, South Africa, is important and complex. This period, the late Moloko phase at the end of the Late Iron Age, was a time of significant upheaval. The colonial frontier was advancing, slowly hemming in the BaTswana population. In the mid· 17th century, the climate became cooler and drier, resulting in widespread drought through the beginning of the 18th century. These factors increased inter-group competition over land, access to trade goods and control of agricultural and exchange networks. The sociopolitical response to these political and environmental pressures was large- scale centralization, in which people moved from dispersed village homesteads into expansive stone-walled towns with populations in the thousands. Settlement aggregation had significant effects on the scale of production at these new centres. Whereas earlier, small populations were largely self-supporting in basic needs such as agriculture and pottery manufacture, large, centralized populations required controlled maintenance of food and other natural resources. This trend toward sustainable management likely spread to materials production, as well. This research examines a shift in pottery manufacturing techniques that occurred between the early and late Moloko periods, as evidenced by inclusions of grapWtic and lustrous, platy and fibrous tempers in ceramic samples from town sites that do not occur in ceramics from earlier sites. Comparatively, petrographic data of analyzed potsherds from Marothodi, an early 19th century BaTlokwa town, reveals only two of 42 ceramic samples containing lustrous inclusions and none made of graphitic clay. A number of concepts, drawn from materials science and ethnographic analogy, are put forth to help understand this variation. This shift must be examined in the broader context of aggregation. Craft specialization and standardization might be one solution for providing for the needs of a large population. There are underpinning technological, social, political, economic, environmental and ideological factors that must be considered in understanding and interpreting the production and use of an object. Also implicit in the chafne operatoire of pottery manufacture is human behaviour, technological choice, function, style and social identity. Changes in scale or type of ceramic manufacture must be evaluated in terms of the sociopolitical, cultural and technological context in which they took place. These shifts in pottery production occurred over a relatively short time, but the exact sequence of change over the late Moloko is unknown. While the oral-historical record offers a general indication of when the large stone-walled towns were occupied and abandoned, the beginning and duration of settlement cannot be resolved. This is because radiocarbon, the most common archaeometric method for dating the Late Iron Age, is ineffectual during the late Moloko due to anomalies in atmospheric production ofradiocarbon and acute De Vries effects in the time range AD 1650- 1950. Bayesian radiocarbon calibration can help to refine radiocarbon results, but still the resolution is not precise enough to inform usefully on the late Moloko archaeological record. An alternative dating method is optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), which determines the amount of time passed since a mineral grain was last exposed to heat or light. This research includes a pilot study in dating late Moloko sites by measuring OSL of quartz grains from furnace and midden features for which approximate age is already known though oral-historical records and ceramic seriation. The results of this experiment in OSL dating of the recent past are promising. OSL provides chronological control with the resolution necessary for establishing the settlement and ceramic sequence of late Moloko sites. This constitutes a first step in the future construction of a master archaeomagnetic calibration curve for absolute dating of sites in this region using chronometric data obtained through OSL. Archaeomagnetism is potentially the best method for relative, and eventually absolute, dating of sites in this temporal and geographic context.

Much of the work undertaken in the field of Vernacular Architecture on the West Coast of South Africa has focused on the Verlorenvlei settlement. The buildings of this small settlement have come to define the Vernacular Architecture of the Sandveld. The Sandveld, however, is a relatively poorly understood region in terms of historical research, particularly in the 19th century, but forms an important link between events in the Cape and events on the Northern Frontier in the late 18th and 19th Century. The purpose of this study is to explore, modify and expand the characteristics of Sandveld Vernacular Architecture and build on the empirical and theoretical work done at Verlorenvlei and elsewhere through increasing the sample of buildings recorded. Additionally, the study seeks to pay attention to specific historical and biophysical contexts and considers the development of the vernacular landscape at three analytical scales, a broad, macro-scale, a midscale, and the detailed micro-scale. To do this I have drawn on multiple strands of evidence in both the documentary and archaeological record. These multiple strands of evidence contribute to an understanding of the Vernacular Architecture of the Sandveld that confronts variability that defies a singular definition of a Sandveld Vernacular.

Bibliography: pages 103-116. / Current archaeological perspectives on the change in Later Iron Age diet and subsistence patterns and the subsequent affect on the economy, are re-examined using isotopic and caries analyses. Existing perspectives have focused mainly on material archaeological evidence and are not reflective of diet at the individual level. Consequently, the focus of archaeological research has been biased towards the importance of cattle in subsistence patterns and the economy, and the role of agriculture has not been as thoroughly investigated. In order to address this problem the isotopic signatures of 72skeletal remains, and the pattern of carious lesions of 44 of those individuals, were examined. The samples were drawn from different ethnic groups and geographical/climatic regions. Skeletons were analysed for both ᵟ¹³C and ᵟ¹⁵ N values in order to better reflect both the level of cultigen consumption and the relative importance of animal protein in the diet. The results were initially examined at an individual level, within the biomes from which they were drawn, to determine subsistence type. The diets of persons and ethnic groups was then compared to archaeological and ethnographical research. Combination of results demonstrates a trend towards more enriched ᵟ¹³C values over time. Although there were differences between individuals diets, there is an overall increasing consumption (and therefore reliance) on domesticated grains, whilst the consumptive levels of animal protein remain relatively constant over the last 1000 years. Consequently, the context of previously undated skeletal material was founded on the trend towards increasing ᵟ¹³C values during the second millennium. The creation of a set of criteria based on pattern, type and extent on carious lesions, has provided a further means of assessing the carbohydrate intake level of individuals. An increase in both ᵟ¹³C values and the incidence of caries during the 18th century, may reflect the introduction of maize in the interior of South Africa, via Delagoa Bay. It is suggested that population growth and increased demand resulted in maize replacing indigenous African cultigens to become a staple food source after this period. In conclusion it is postulated that further re-examination of the current outlook should be undertaken as it is clear from this study that the Later Iron Age is heterogenous with comparable but distinct dietary levels.

To what extent are humans responsible for the biological landscapes that we see today? We relate to recent phenomena such as urban environments and commercial farmlands as anthropogenically created landscapes, however historic anthropogenic influence may have been a lot more extensive than previously accepted (Gomez-Pompa & Kaus 1992, Bird 1995, Motzkin et a/1996). In southern Africa we are surrounded by landscapes influenced by humans to some degree (Hoffman 1997). It is now accepted that even wilderness landscapes previously labelled as "pristine" or "natural" are subject to constant change (Botkin 1990) and could well have been generated, or at least influenced, by humans in the past (Gomez-Pompa & Kaus 1992, Foster et a/1996, Bird & Cali 1998). This is certainly the case for many forest systems (Binford eta/ 1987, Balee 1989, Northrop & Horn 1996, Noble & Dirzo 1997, Ogden eta/ 1998, Lindbladh & Bradshaw 1998, Foster et a/1999). This thesis attempts to answer, for forest ecosystems, the question posed almost 20 years ago by Feely (1980): "Did Iron Age Man have a role in the history of Zululand's wilderness landscapes?" In doing so, I hoped to address the larger issue of "ecosystem virginity" and to what extent landscapes with a lengthy history of human habitation are dependant on human-ge·nerated disturbance.

Summary in English. / Bibliography: leaves 80-91. / δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C measurements were used to investigate whether dietary differences existed between Later Stone Age people buried at Robberg/Plettenberg Bay and Matjes River Rock Shelter. Since isotopic values of marine foods from this area had not previously been measured, the first step was to sample shellfish and Arctocephalus pusillus (Cape Fur seals), representing the lower and higher trophic level marine foods important in prehistoric diets along the coast.

The overriding aim of this project was to obtain accurate and detailed information on the rock art and associated Late Stone Age deposits that occur in the rockshelters of the Natal Drakensberg. The emphasis though, was undoubtedly to be rock art. These data were primarily intended for management planning but are also of importance as pure research and permanently stored data. Therefore the project was principally aimed at the following: 1. establishing accurately the localities of as many rock art and other archaeological sites that occur in the Natal Drakensberg. 2. to record fully these sites. The nature of the recording is discussed later. 3. to assess the quantity, quality and general value of the paintings at each site and their condition with regard to natural degradation and vandalism. 4. to gather the basic information essential to devise conservation measures. 5. to make recommendations as to the steps necessary to conserve the paintings. This would include identifying 'bench mark' sites with a view to keeping track of the influence of conservation measures, visitor usage, and natural degradation of the art. 6. the provision of data for future research.

Bibliography: leaves 215-239. / The Cobern Street site was shown to be a burial ground only in 1994, when a number of skeletons were disinterred prior to building operations. Attempts to locate documentary records of the burials have been unsuccessful, and we do not know who these people were. The lack of documentary records is unusual, and suggests that Cobern Street may have been the burial ground for lower-class citizens. From the history of the site, and the few items buried with the bodies, we can deduce that they are eighteenth century burials. As part of the investigation into the identity of these people five techniques of dietary tracing have been applied to 53 of the excavated skeletons, and are reported in this thesis. Analysis of different skeletal elements has allowed us to reconstruct the life histories of some of these people. Of particular interest are several skeletons with filed teeth. This practice is not known from the Cape, but is common further north in Africa. Isotopic analysis of teeth and long bones from the skeletons with decorated teeth show that these individuals were of tropical origin, from diverse areas, and are likely to be slaves brought to the Cape.