Eighty-four skeletons pooled from 10 Toutswe tradition sites in east central Botswana are used to investigate the lifestyles of Early Iron Age inhabitants of Botswana. The Toutswe people arrived in central Botswana at approximately AD 700 into a land previously occupies seasonally by hunter-gatherers. The investigation entails an assessment of the demographic profile, gross pathology, dental health and characteristics as well as skeletal growth of the Toutswe polity. Macroscopic observation of age markers, sex indicators, skeletal and dental lesions is the main tool used in the analysis. The sites from which the skeletons come from are characterized by similar ceramics and settlement layout. From the archaeological point of view, it has been accepted that while these were different villages or towns, the communities were culturally homogeneous. There is no evidence to suggest that the communities were genetically heterogeneous and this investigation took on a premise that the skeletons are of the same population affinity. The low frequencies of nonspecific markers of stress and the absence of chronic infection suggest that the communities were generally healthy especially when compared to K2/Mapupngubwe people. However, the demographic profile, which is characterized b high infant mortality, suggests that the children may have been more prone to acute diseases. Degenerative diseases and traumatic lesions are within frequencies often reported in southern African prehistory and there is a possible case of DISH. The analysis of dental health suggest that the diet of the Toutswe people was non-cariogenic / Dissertation (MSc (Anatomy))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Anatomy / unrestricted

Bibliography: pages 322-353. / The primary aim of this thesis is to document and explain the 10 000 BP AD 1800 history of the Thukela Basin hunter-gatherers. The primary information for this study comes from my excavation, between 1981 and 1984, of eight rock shelters in the upper Thukela catchment. My aims and theoretical orientation have altered substantially since the project's ,inception. They have changed from being concerned primarily with ecological phenomena to the reconstruction of a regional social history. As part of this redefinition I have developed a critique of South African Later Stone Age (LSA) studies from the early 1960s, arguing that the predominant, ecological, approaches of this period are inadequate in dealing with past human societies. My reasons for adopting a socially orientated historical approach concern the social relevance of archaeology, and the need to generate the best possible insights into past societies. I submit that historical materialism offers a very valuable framework for social historical analysis. The theoretical propositions germane to this study are presented. I then concentrate specifically on Thukela Basirr hunter-gatherer history. The periods dating to before and after 2000 BP are dealt with separately because of the arrival of farmers in the Thukela Basin around AD 500.

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Preacher's Cave, an archaeological site in North Eleuthera, Bahamas, is arguably one of the most important historical places in that country. This large cave, isolated in a natural setting, has long been associated in the popular imagination with the first English colonists who shipwrecked in the Bahamas in 1648 and laid the foundation for the modern nation. Before the present work, no systematic scientific archaeological work had ever been conducted at this site. While Project Director for the Preacher's Cave archaeological investigations in 1991, 1992, 2005, 2006, and 2007, I acted as liaison between the Bahamian Government, local island constituents, and the team of scholars who accomplished the work, organizing all aspects of the excavations. By analyzing the recovered material assemblage from these excavations, we were able to prove that the seventeenth-century English Puritans not only used Preacher's Cave for shelter in the first period of colonization, but altered the natural rock formations of the cave for use as the first church in the Bahamas. These excavations, in conjunction with the written record, also suggest that the area surrounding the site is the location of the first free black community in the country. Finally the scientific investigation confirmed Preacher's Cave as a prehistoric burial spot for the Lucayan people who lived in the islands before Columbus landed in 1492. These burials are unique because they were recovered with grave goods and one of the five Lucayan burials appears to be a victim of human sacrifice. No where else in the country do these three compelling narratives come together and form the basis for the development of a National Heritage Tourism Site. / But protecting an historic site and interpreting it for visitors in a country where tourism is one of the major industries can be challenging. This study summarizes past strategies that were successful in the development of a small museum on the nearby is Wells using the techniques of the public historian and public archaeologist to proceed with plans for the opening of Preacher's Cave as a national park. Discussions concerning constituents, park boundaries, access, and political realities in the twenty-first century Bahamas are considered while examining the larger concept of heritage and tourism as collaborative industries. / by Jane S. Day. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Univ., Diss.--London, 2000.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology, August 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 263-286). Also available on the Internet.