An archaeological investigation was made of two Iron Age sites on the farms Schroda and Pont Drift. The farms are situated on the southern bank of the Limpopo River, about 65 km and 95 km respectively west of Messina. Little is known about the archaeological cultures of the area surrounding the Limpopo and Shashi Rivers in the northern Transvaal and north eastern Botswana. Attention has been given to the work done in Rhodesia, Botswana and in particular at Greefswald. The project was initiated in 1973 with a survey during which 86 Iron Age sites were recorded. Five sites were excavated, of which Pont Drift (TPD 1/2) and Schroda (TSR 1/1) were chosen for interpretation in this dissertation . Attention was given to pottery as well as other cultural facts. Schroda was found to contain stamp decorated Zhizo pottery, although a certain amount of incised ware was found. Certain features were noted here, which suggested that characteristics normally associated with the Leopard's Kopje A Tradition may have had their origin during the earlier Zhizo Tradition. During analysis of the material, particular attention was given to these aspects. At Pont Drift, an interesting sequence was exposed. The two metre deep occupation could be divided into four stratigraphic units, which were culturally different from one another. The lower unit (4) contained Zhizo pottery, while the topmost unit (1) contained Leopard's Kopje A pottery. The intermediate units (2 + 3) contained a mixture of Zhizo and Leopard's Kopje A pottery with the Zhizo decreasing towards the upper levels. Radiocarbon dates placed the Zhizo occupation of Schroda and Pont Drift Unit 4 at between 790 and 850 A.D. The Leopard's Kopje A unit at Pont Drift was dated to around 1100 A.D. From the information a reconstruction can be made of the development of the two pottery traditions in the research area. Schroda and Pont Drift were inhabited by people with the well developed stamp decorated Zhizo pottery tradition from about 790 to 850 A.D. At this period (850 A.D.) new inhabitants entered the area bringing with them a new, incised pottery series. These people mixed with the Zhizo peoples and out of this union developed the Leopard's Kopje A tradition, which contains numerous characteristics of the Zhizo cultuLe. There is no indication at either site of a forced abandoning of the villages, suggesting that the newcomers lived peacefully amongst the original inhabitants of the area. It is at the same time clear that the Leopard's Kopje A did not develop naturally out of the Zhizo. Schroda represents the first excavated site of the southern branch of the Zhizo Tradition, and it is the author's opinion that it should be regarded as the type site. Further work should still be done, particularly that other Zhizo sites be excavated to control the findings at Schroda and Pont Drift unit 4. A spatial settl.ement study of other Leopard's Kopje A sites should be undertaken to determine relationships to one another, as well as differences in economy. AFRIKAANS : 'n Argeologiese· ondersoek is gedoen op twee Ystertydperkterreine op die plase Schroda en Pont Drift. Die plase is onderskeidelik ongeveer 65 km en 95 km wes van Messina geleë op die suidelike oewer van die Limpoporivier. Weinig is bekend oor die argeologiese kulture van die omgewing random die Limpopo-en Shashiriviere in die Noord-Transvaal en Noordoos-Botswana. Aandag is gegee aan werk gedoen in Rhodesië en Botswana besonder by Greefswald. Die projek is in 1973 aan die gang gesit met 'n opname waartydens 86 Ystertydperkterreine aangeteken is. Vyf van hierdie terreine is opgegrawe, waarvan Pont Drift (TPD 1/2) en Schroda (TSR 1/1) gekies is vir interpretasie in hierdie verhandeling. Aandag is gegee aan die potwerk sowel as ander kultuurfasette. By Schroda is stempelversierde Zhizo-potwerk gevind, tesame met 'n sekere persentasie met insnyding. Sekere verskynsels is hier opgemerk wat geimpliseer het dat kenmerke wat normaalweg met die Leopard's Kopje A Tradisie verbind word, moontlik hulle oorsprong kon gehad het tydens die vroeëre Zhizo. Met die ontleding van die materiaal is besondere aandag hieraan gegee. 'n Interessante volgorde van lae is gevind by Pont Drift. Die bewoningslae, wat twee meter diep was, kon in vier stratigrafiese eenhede verdeel wore wat kultureel van mekaar verskil het. Die onderste eenheid (4) het Zhizo potwerk bevat, terwyl die boonste eenheid (1) slegs Leopard's Kopje A potwerk gehad het. Die eenhede tussenin (2 + 3) het gemengde Zhizo en Leopard's Kopje A potwerk bevat, met 'n afname in Zhizo na die boonste lae. Radiokoolstofdaterinq plaas die Zhizo bewoning van Schroda en Pont Drift op ongeveer 710 tot 850 n.C. Die Leopard's Kopje A eenheid by Pont Drift se datering is ongeveer 1100 n.C. Uit die inligting kan 'n rekonstruksie gemaak word van die ontwikkeling van die twee potwerktradisies in die navorsingsgebied. Schroda en Pont Drift is vanaf ongeveer 790 tot 850 n.C. bewoon deur mense met 'n goed ontwikkelde stempelversierde Zhizo potwerktradisie. Op daardie tydstip (850 n.C) het nuwe intrekkers die gebied binnegekom en het 'n nuwe potwerkserie wat deur insnyding gekenmerk was, saamgebring. Hierdie mense het vermeng met die Zhizo mense en uit die verbintenis het die Leopard's Kopje A tradisie ontwikkel wat talle kenrnerke van die Zhizo kultuur dra. Daar is geen aanduiding by enige van die twee terreine van 'n gedwonge ontruiming van die nedersettings nie. Dit suggereer dat die nuwe intrekkers hul vreedsaam tussen die oorspronklike inwoners van die gebied gevestig het. Dit is terselfdertyd duidelik dat die Leopard's Kopje Tradisie nie spontaan uit die Zhizo kon ontwikkel het nie. Schroda verteenwoordig die eerste terrein van die suidelike vertakking van die Zhizo Tradisie wat opgegrawe is en dit is die mening van die skrywer dat dit as die tipeterrein beskou behoort te word. Verdere werk moet nog gedoen word, veral ten opsigte van die opgrawing van addisionele Zhizo terreine om die gegewens van Schroda en Pont Drift, eenheid 4, te kontroleer. Ook moet 'n studie van die ruimtelike vestigingspatroon van ander Leopard's Kopje A terreine onderneem word om die verband tussen hulle asook verskille in ekonomie te bepaal. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 1980. / Anthropology and Archaeology / unrestricted

Bio-archaeology is the study of biological remains found at sites of archaeological interest. It is an interdisciplinary science employing different scientific fields including physical anthropology, geography, archaeology and genetics. Genetic analysis includes ancient DNA (aDNA) studies, now a specialised field in genetics. This approach was used to analyse human skeletal material of eight individuals from various Iron Age archaeological sites in southern Africa. Included in this sample is a naturally mummified individual from Tuli, in Botswana. The context of the specimens found in the Limpopo Province (Thulamela), as well as their cultural links with the Zimbabwe Culture Complex (which includes Mapungubwe and Khami) suggests that some gene exchange might have occurred. While this is not the first aDNA study on southern African samples, it is the first aDNA study based on southern African Iron Age human individuals and also included a naturally mummified individual. Morphometric and morphological analyses have indicated the age at death, sex and health status of the individuals, and the context in which they were found has helped in assessing their cultural affinity. Bone samples were analysed in a specialized aDNA laboratory at the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine in Switzerland. Following DNA extraction, ancestry-specific mitochondrial DNA was amplified from all samples and was compared to that of modern sub-Saharan Africans whose data were accessed from GenBank. Some individuals show (maternal) genetic similarities to present-day Sotho/Tswana groups. The male individual from Thulamela aligns somewhat more with the groups from the west and the female with the eastern peoples. Two Early Iron Age individuals from Happy Rest presented some similarities to the Khoesan peoples. Genetic-sex determination efforts were inconclusive for all individuals. The purpose of this study was to place the Thulamela individuals within the context of the genetic diversity in South Africa. It was noted that the introduction of genetic material from the early Sotho/Tswana was gradual in the case of Thulamela. Two other individuals from Happy Rest, who were contemporaries of each other, showed very little genetic variation and it can be said that their maternal DNA was of the same (possibly Khoesan) origin. Further resolution in haplotype assignment will be done in future. These temporally and spatially dispersed individuals can only provide a glimpse into the population interactions of the Iron Age that may have partially shaped the immense genetic diversity of present-day southern Africa. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Anatomy / MSc / Unrestricted

This study analyses the faunal remains of four Iron Age sites from eastern Botswana, namely Phoenix 17, Phoenix 18, Thabadimasego and Dukwe 25. Phoenix 17, Phoenix 18 and Thabadimasego date to the 9th century AD, and Dukwe 25 to the 15th century AD. The sites are significant as they date to critical time periods during which we see shifts in the socio-political organisation, towards increasing social complexity in the 9th century AD, and the establishment of powerful states in the 15th century AD. By comparing the results of Phoenix 17, Phoenix 18, Thabadimasego and Dukwe 25, it will also be possible to examine whether these sites point to regional, chronological or socio-cultural variability. Other sites in eastern Botswana together with the sites in this study, can give broad understanding into animal exploitation patterns during these time periods, specifically the relative use, social use and exploitation of animals. Understanding animal exploitation patterns can assist researchers in exploring the impact these communities had on their environment. In particular, how they reacted and responded to diverse environments, rich in wild fauna, such as the Makgadikgadi. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Anthropology and Archaeology / MA / Unrestricted

Le6 and Le7 are Early Iron Age settlements located in north-eastern South Africa in the Kruger National Park. These two open-air sites, immediately adjacent to one another on the west bank of the Letaba River, likely date to circa 500-800 AD. The wild-dominated Le6 and Le7 faunal assemblages allow for a site-level examination of the treatment of wild species within the highly variable spectra of Early Iron Age animal use. Using previously unanalysed faunal material, this study moves beyond basic procurement interpretation to examine more than just the pure subsistence choices present at these hunting-dominated sites. Instead, new socially-focussed zooarchaeological questions are asked by coupling traditional morphological analysis with taphonomic analyses and theoretical frameworks of intensification. Through this, both the procurement and processing methods utilised at Le6 and Le7 are identified and the significance of these choices are discussed. The occupants at these sites showed an intensive preference for predominantly adult large wild mammals. These were then processed in similarly consistent manners, with explicit focus on the largest, most easily accessible muscle groups and in-bone fat sources. Among other factors, the scant evidence of cooking and signs of speed in processing suggests the majority of preparation was focussed not on immediate consumption, but possibly on secondary transport of the animal resources off these sites. Altogether, rather than traditional residential Early Iron Age sites, Le6 and Le7 are considered as repeatedly re-used, shorter-term hunting bases for intensified, and possibly specialised, large wild mammal-use a potentially new faunal use strategy and site type for the period and region. The socio-economic implications and potential drivers of these faunal choices are then considered within the broader context of the southern African Early Iron Age. The place of expanded zooarchaeological methods and theories in social archaeological questions and more emic lines of site interpretation is also introduced, here specifically presented in the context of re-exploring the role and significance of wild animals at two Early Iron Age sites. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Anthropology and Archaeology / MA / Unrestricted

Why is it so often a gap between science and general opinion? And how authentic is the monuments when they has been moved or damaged. This paper deals with the question of how the archaeological science interpret things and places from prehistoric times, and how it is presented for a general public. Under what circumstances is there a gap between archaeological science and general opinion and why?

Luxury goods, used in mediaeval long distance trade ca. AD 900-1250, found an important market among the Iron Age peoples of southern Africa. Indirect evidence of this trade can be seen in the form of archaeological collections of glass beads at sites throughout Africa and Southeast Asia. Thousands of beads have been found at Iron Age sites in the eastern Transvaal Lowveld and at inland sites along the Limpopo Valley and in Botswana. Similar looking types of beads, referred to as small seed beads, were also used in the Muslim mercantile networks and maritime trade in the Indian Ocean, and have been found at coeval sites throughout Southeast Asia, particularly at entrepot ports in India, eastern and western Malaysia and Thailand. At the commencement of the Iron Age occupation of southern African sites, glass beads of any kind were very rare. From ca. AD 900-1000, Islamic influences spread southward along the African east coast. This coincided with the marked increase of glass beads found in southern Africa. Their presence is direct evidence of foreign industry, external trade and contact. The beads are widely believed to have originated in India, and to have been distributed through Arab traders in the Indian Ocean. Exports would have included gold, possibly ivory, and other raw materials. Archaeology has much to contribute towards documenting these activities. The identity and location of the bead sources is important to an understanding of early contact and economic and political developments in southern Africa. The trade connection coincided with the beginning of a critical sequence of events in the cultural history of southern Africa, which culminated in the formation of an incipient state at Great Zimbabwe (AD 1250-1450) from precursors at Mapungubwe and related sites. This period corresponds in time with an important episode in Islamic history, when Muslims conquered Egypt and the Fatimids moved their capital eastwards, in AD 969, from Tunisia to al-Qahira (Cairo) next to the well-established cosmopolitan port entrepot of al- Fustat (now old Cairo). Texts, chronicles, glass weights, scribal notes and receipts confirm that it was already a successful industrial centre with a history of glass-making when the Fatimids gained control of Egypt. In this thesis I have addressed two aspects of research to investigate the trade networks associated with internal and foreign contact: (1) the manufacturing origins of the beads, and, (2) who brought them to southern Africa. Glass material from Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Southeast Asia was used for comparison, and as possible source material. Scientific techniques were used to confirm these operations. The beads were described, classified, and sampled selectively for physical and chemical analysis. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used to determine the rare earth elements (REE) composition. The results show that a particular glass, used to make beads in Egypt, is the same as that used to make some of the beads found at sites in the northern and eastern Transvaal. They document the existence of a trade link with the Mediterranean via the Red Sea 1000 years ago. Until now, both the origin of this contact and the extent of indigenous responses were largely unknown. These findings cast a different light on maritime trade along the east coast of Africa from a millennium ago. Bibliography: pages 175-190.

Geoarchaeology has had a long history within archaeology around the world, but not so much so in Gotlandic archaeology. This study is aimed at drawing attention to this by using magnetic susceptibility (MS) and phosphate (P) analysis of an Iron Age site at Ytings, Gotland. This is where a small silver hoard was discovered in 1888, and in 2009 a geophysical survey was done, via metal detector, and concluded with the theory of there being a workshop in the southern field and a farmstead in the north (ArkeoDok, 2011). The first part of this study discussed predictive modeling and whether or not the information available at the time would be enough to generate a reliable model (Coleman, 2016). The first study concluded with not being able to do so since the only discrete data available was from the metal detecting survey, which when used alone is not the most reliable instrument for archaeological prospection (Coleman, 2016). This led to this current study, which is the second part of a two-part study of Ytings. This study is aimed at using geoarchaeological methods for archaeological prospection to illustrate the benefits and need for these types of studies on Gotland, by comparing the MS and P results with the 2015 excavation report.

Throughout Scandinavia the funeral practices of the Iron Age were, in general, inhumation or cremation. The Iron Age society held many overarching beliefs but with a great ritual flexibility where practices could vary between communities. This study examines the Iron Age burial ground at Nygårds in the parish of Västerhejde, Gotland. The graves consist of both cremated and skeletal remains dating to the period of 400–600 AD. Thus, two different funeral customs were practiced at the burial ground during the same time period. Although excavated in the 1970s, no detailed analyses have been carried out on the Iron Age remains from Nygårds or their grave goods. This study aim is consequently to contribute with new information about the burial ground at Nygårds and the individuals who were interred there. By examining the spatial composition of the two burial customs, their demographic and grave goods, differences and similarities emerge. With the burial grounds spatial structure as a framework, this study discusses the different aspects of the Iron Age life and what the actions of the living can tell us about their dead.

No description available.

This doctoral thesis examines complex burial behaviors as ritualized responses to changing sociopolitical landscapes just prior to a warring-states period and emergence of Rome as world power. A multivariate statistical approach investigates skeletal estimations of biological kinship (“biodistance”) and its role in the burial and social organizational practices of two central Italian Iron Age (1000-27 BC) groups: Pentri Samnites from Alfedena Campo Consolino (600-400 BC, L’Aquila, Abruzzo) and Pretuzi from Campovalano (750-100 BC, Teramo, Abruzzo). Despite missing data and sample imbalances, these are two of the largest, best-preserved, and generally contemporaneous Iron Age series spanning prehistoric, protohistoric, and historic periods. Alfedena Campo Consolino is a special subsection of a broader burial area and Campovalano represents a nearly complete necropolis. Most data from these Iron Age semi-transhumant agropastoralists comes from mortuary rather than settlement contexts. Thus, burial location is a central archaeological theme because of its potential to indicate corporate land ownership, group permanence, and identity. However, burial areas tended to be structured by family lineages and the similar material cultures they contain confound detailed discernment of the social identities encoded within the graves. I test the hypothesis that the mountainous and economically less-incorporated Pentri Samnites at Alfedena Campo Consolino will have stronger associations between biological and burial distances due to greater emphasis on biological kinship organization of the deceased. On the other hand, I expect that the Pretuzi from Campovalano will be more phenotypically variable as a result of broader ideas of kinship due to further economic and social reaches. To test these hypotheses, Mantel tests were used to examine the strength of association between biological similarity and spatial proximity of burials. Also, multidimensional scaling and univariate and multivariate analyses of variance were performed on data subgrouped by burial location, sex, time period, head position, and clothes brooch frequencies. Distribution of widely found funerary items, brooches, were examined in-depth for the potential that they varied spatially with biological patterns of variation as a marker of biological group membership. In general, I think brooches were well-made, distinctive, and highly visible indicators of wearers’ social position and identity. Male faces and cranial bases at Alfedena Campo Consolino and female multivariate tooth row measures at Campovalano produce the most noticeable signals. Because samples differ so greatly in their compositions and sizes, results of this study cannot specify if ACC was organized by biological kinship to a greater degree than CMV. Instead, results are interpreted in terms of the idea that a greater diversity of burial and social organization existed in Iron Age central Italy than previously thought. This research constitutes an important advance in evaluation of the spatial dimension of mortuary practices and social identity formation during an unstable time, and novel biodistance approaches such as those developed in this thesis should be considered as additional lines of evidence for comprehensive mortuary analyses.