Decades of archaeological research have established the chronology of the history of culture by farmers in northern South Africa from the beginning of the first millennium AD to the recent past (1900). This thesis sought to explore the archaeology and archaeometallurgy of the early inhabitants of the Lowveld region. Rigorous methodological and theoretical approaches, which include Ethno-Historical, archaeological and archaeometallurgical studies, were employed to acquire the relevant information required to address research problems. Ceramic typology and settlement pattern studies were used to establish the culture-history to contextualise Iron Age sites, while Optical Microscopy, X-Ray Fluorescence analysis (XRF) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used to investigate the metallurgical remains to understand metal production technology. Both Mutoti and Thomo sites share several similarities, namely, they are situated near the perennial streams, the presence of metal-production sites and the predominant pottery types, consisting of short and long neck vessels dominated by comb stamping, incision and punctate decorations on the rim, neck and shoulder of the vessels. Ceramic tradition analysis revealed that both Mut 2 and Thomo combine ceramic designs and attributes that appeared in the region near the beginning of the first Millennium AD, that is the Urewe and the Kalundu traditions. Garonga Phase tradition developed from the Urewe tradition which represent the first facie, represented by the Silver Leaves sites of the Kwale branch ceramic tradition which dates to AD 280- 420 and the Kalundu tradition (which starts from Happy Rest and progresses to Diamant - Phase 2) which dates from the sixth century AD, both traditions share distinctive ceramics styles and decoration attributes (Burrett, 2007; Huffman, 2007). The radiocarbon-based chronology suggests that Mut 2 and Thomo sites were occupied contemporaneously and dated to AD 650-850. Analysis of the distribution of materials objects across Mut 2 site revealed active participation in both local and international trade network (Soapstone and Islamic ceramics) operated at a village status. Some of the craft production related evidence include metal production, eggshell beads and cloth manufacturing. Metal production was regarded as signature of power and authority in Iron Age period (Herbert, 1996). More research may strengthen this observation.

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

<p>In the Zimbabwean past, farming societies utilized mineral resources for their own use and for exchange to local and regional populations, as well as to markets beyond African borders. Successful agriculture was constrained by environmental hazards, principally unpredictable and often inadequate rainfall. Farming communities managed this predicament in various ways. It is likely that some groups used mineral resources found in the vicinity of their settlements to produce materials or items to exchange. The social contexts that defined the nature of mineral production and exchange altered between the mid-first and mid-second millennium AD, as social ranks emerged and political and economic systems became increasingly complex. The thesis is a commentary on how the motivation of society to broaden its resource base, to improve the benefits to households and to society in general, contributed to the emergence of leaders and, ultimately, of an elite class. The focus of the research is on iron and copper production because the author has examined gold production thoroughly in a previous study. Four published papers outline the history of iron and copper production in Zimbabwe. The papers provide case studies of the scale and social context of iron and copper production and exchange.</p>

Tropical woodlands play a key role in the livelihoods of rural communities in southern Africa, but exist in contexts of constant ecological and socioeconomic change. With research into tropical woodlands neglected compared to tropical forests, it is important to improve understanding of the consequences of tropical woodland change for rural wellbeing. The aim of this thesis is to examine the dynamic interactions between woodland change and rural livelihoods through an interdisciplinary case study of a miombo woodland landscape on and around Wedza Mountain, Zimbabwe. The thesis is organised into three parts addressing: (1) the patterns of land use intensity and provisioning ecosystem service availability around Wedza Mountain; (2) the importance of environmental resources in rural income portfolios and hazard coping strategies; and (3) the adequacy of ecosystem service literature in representing the environmental values of rural African communities. The first part of this thesis explores patterns of land use and woodland structure on the woodland cover gradient around Wedza Mountain. In Chapter 2 I characterise land use intensity in the six study villages using a new method of calculating human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) at the village scale. Use of this approach indicates that previous studies have underestimated land use intensity in African small-scale farming areas, with village-scale HANPP estimates in Wedza ranging from 48% to 113% of total potential annual NPP as compared to 18 to 38% in published studies. In Chapter 3 I combine woodland survey data with a quantitative ethnobotanical assessment of the use values of woody species and demonstrate that per-household availability of provisioning ecosystem services declines with declining relative tree cover. These findings also suggest that more deforested villages have reduced diversity of ethnospecies underlying service provision, with ramifications for service resilience and livelihood option values in response to future change. The focus of the second part of the thesis is on the role of woodland resources in rural livelihoods. In Chapter 4 I quantify the contribution of environmental income to the total income portfolios of 91 households and show that lower village woodland cover is not associated with reduced livelihood diversity, in part because a large proportion of environmental income is derived from degraded woodland or non-woodland environments. In Chapter 5 I assess the importance of environmental resources for coping with hazard exposures, drawing on recall of past exposure responses and a survey exercise weighting the elements of coping strategy portfolios in response to varying shock scenarios. Synthesis of these data sets indicates that environmental resources represent an important safety net in coping with interacting covariate and idiosyncratic hazard exposures. The third part of the thesis consists of critical reflection, firstly on the adequacy of current ecosystem services research in southern Africa landscapes and secondly on this specific research project. In Chapter 6 I identify the value discourses which are most dominant across 356 peer-reviewed papers adopting an ecosystem services approach to miombo landscape research, and contrast these with the environmental values of study communities in Wedza District. Through this I show that the current ecosystem service literature is failing to represent rural African social and spiritual imaginaries of landscapes, with potentially serious consequences for the efficacy and equity of landscape management interventions. In Chapter 7 I examine some of the methodological and ethical challenges encountered during this research project through a discussion of the relationships between researcher, research assistant and respondents in an interdisciplinary field research context. Finally, in Chapter 8 I synthesise the key messages from the thesis, and conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for understanding of how future change will impact the resilience and vulnerability of savanna woodland socioecological systems.

In the Zimbabwean past, farming societies utilized mineral resources for their own use and for exchange to local and regional populations, as well as to markets beyond African borders. Successful agriculture was constrained by environmental hazards, principally unpredictable and often inadequate rainfall. Farming communities managed this predicament in various ways. It is likely that some groups used mineral resources found in the vicinity of their settlements to produce materials or items to exchange. The social contexts that defined the nature of mineral production and exchange altered between the mid-first and mid-second millennium AD, as social ranks emerged and political and economic systems became increasingly complex. The thesis is a commentary on how the motivation of society to broaden its resource base, to improve the benefits to households and to society in general, contributed to the emergence of leaders and, ultimately, of an elite class. The focus of the research is on iron and copper production because the author has examined gold production thoroughly in a previous study. Four published papers outline the history of iron and copper production in Zimbabwe. The papers provide case studies of the scale and social context of iron and copper production and exchange.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The Northern Cape province has not been able to achieve the 90% immunization target recommended for South Africa’s expanded programme on immunisation (EPI). The situation has been attributed to the lack of access to EPI in the rural community. The Northern Cape’s poor infrastructure renders the provision of equitable preventive care service to rural communities a complex and costly task. The province is predominantly a rural setting consisting of farmland, with low population densities, and many residents have poor access to public transport to receive primary health care services from surrounding fixed or satellite clinics. Consequently, mothers often do not adhere to the immunization schedules, and lack awareness of the risks associated with the failure to have their infants vaccinated against communicable diseases. EPI services delivered via mobile clinics serve the primary health care needs for rural communities, but their sustainability remains a challenge. Additional barriers are found in literature which highlighted the shortage of health professionals, unreliable funding, limited transportation within rural areas and deficiencies in maintenance and suitability of mobile clinic vehicles.

yes / This paper presents an innovative application of wireless, mobile and ubiquitous technologies to support informal and collaborative learning in Kenyan rural farming communities. Such an approach is achieved by the development of a knowledge management system (KMS) integrated with existing local community communication channels, together with experimental knowledge management (KM) initiatives employing the VeSeL (Village e-Science for Life) distributed resource kits (DRKs). The initiatives support illiterate and semi-literate farming community groups, in learning new agriculture practices, and also enable the use of advanced digital technology to improve their agricultural practices and literacy levels. Results of a recent field trip to Kenya are presented and an application sketch is developed. The process of applying wireless and Internet technologies for the education of local farming communities, using irrigation and water management as the application, concludes the paper. / EPSRC

This study was conducted in two shires of Laidley and Gatton in the Lockyer Valley in 1986. The research method used was a self-administered mail questionnaire sent to four hundred primary producers. The response rate received was 49.5 percent which is quite reasonable for a random sample of a non-specific interest group. The study area was divided into six zones based on the 198 respondents’ assessment of the enterprise from which they derived major income. The main approach of this project was a situational analysis o the Lockyer Valley. Central to this research was identification of the pressure and extent of problems relating to several aspects of land use, notably soil erosion, weed infestation; availability and quality of water and more general community-based problems. The characteristics of farm households, the role of family members in decision-making and tasks related to farm as well as home, were also included in this study. The Lockyer Valley is a major production area of vegetables as well as a mixed farming area. Natural pasture, which was extensively found in Zone 6, was largely used for cattle grazing. Generally, rural women were better educated than their husbands, and the ratio of educational level of husband and wife was higher than previous research findings. A large number of producers and their wives have taken off-farm work, and women tended to spend more time in off-farm employment. Only 6.1 percent of producers’ children had completed tertiary education and the majority of all sons were working on the farm. Partnership was found to be the major type of property ownership and inter-generational transfer of the property was the future plan. The producers who were from a non-farm upbringing and who had already taken up off-farm work intended to leave their properties at some time in the future. With the running of the farm business , 35 percent of rural women worked full-time in partnership with their husbands, and 42 percent worked part-time. However, 23 percent of rural women were homemakers and were not involved in running the farm business. The association between decision-making of husband and wife and situational factors such as ownership, involvement in farm tasks, record-keeping, education, on-farm upbringing and age were analysed. Joint involvement of wives in decision-making was to be related to ownership, farm tasks and record-keeping. However, husbands were more likely to take a major role in decision-making if they were more educated and had an on-farm upbringing. Age was found to be a factor affecting joint decision-making, although this result conflicted with findings of earlier research. The opinions of the farm community in identifying the problems of the specific small area in the Lockyer Valley were revealed. Lantana was the most severe weed problem in the whole catchment. The catchment area also had problems with wattle. The recommended control method of lantana was replacement by improved pasture, but it was adopted by few primary producers. Soil erosion in the form of gullies, bank erosion, sheet erosion, salinity and flooding were some of the problems perceived by the local community. Regular ‘slash and burn’ was practised by most of the producers. This is one of the causes of land degradation. Bore, creek and river, and dam were the main water sources for farm supply and irrigation. Only 60 percent of bored had adequate water supply and good water quality. Farm dam and creek/river sources were less reliable due to the inadequate availability of water. Consequently, operators at about half the cropped farms had to stop growing some vegetables which were previously commercially successful. Within the context of farm family needs, emphasis was placed on conservation of water, because of the erosion and water problems. The community’s opinion on community development activities emphasised the involvement of farm families. Finally, suggestions for the extension program which should be emphasised on rural development by means of community participation were included. The bases for further studies was also provided in this report.

This study was conducted in two shires of Laidley and Gatton in the Lockyer Valley in 1986. The research method used was a self-administered mail questionnaire sent to four hundred primary producers. The response rate received was 49.5 percent which is quite reasonable for a random sample of a non-specific interest group. The study area was divided into six zones based on the 198 respondents’ assessment of the enterprise from which they derived major income. The main approach of this project was a situational analysis o the Lockyer Valley. Central to this research was identification of the pressure and extent of problems relating to several aspects of land use, notably soil erosion, weed infestation; availability and quality of water and more general community-based problems. The characteristics of farm households, the role of family members in decision-making and tasks related to farm as well as home, were also included in this study. The Lockyer Valley is a major production area of vegetables as well as a mixed farming area. Natural pasture, which was extensively found in Zone 6, was largely used for cattle grazing. Generally, rural women were better educated than their husbands, and the ratio of educational level of husband and wife was higher than previous research findings. A large number of producers and their wives have taken off-farm work, and women tended to spend more time in off-farm employment. Only 6.1 percent of producers’ children had completed tertiary education and the majority of all sons were working on the farm. Partnership was found to be the major type of property ownership and inter-generational transfer of the property was the future plan. The producers who were from a non-farm upbringing and who had already taken up off-farm work intended to leave their properties at some time in the future. With the running of the farm business , 35 percent of rural women worked full-time in partnership with their husbands, and 42 percent worked part-time. However, 23 percent of rural women were homemakers and were not involved in running the farm business. The association between decision-making of husband and wife and situational factors such as ownership, involvement in farm tasks, record-keeping, education, on-farm upbringing and age were analysed. Joint involvement of wives in decision-making was to be related to ownership, farm tasks and record-keeping. However, husbands were more likely to take a major role in decision-making if they were more educated and had an on-farm upbringing. Age was found to be a factor affecting joint decision-making, although this result conflicted with findings of earlier research. The opinions of the farm community in identifying the problems of the specific small area in the Lockyer Valley were revealed. Lantana was the most severe weed problem in the whole catchment. The catchment area also had problems with wattle. The recommended control method of lantana was replacement by improved pasture, but it was adopted by few primary producers. Soil erosion in the form of gullies, bank erosion, sheet erosion, salinity and flooding were some of the problems perceived by the local community. Regular ‘slash and burn’ was practised by most of the producers. This is one of the causes of land degradation. Bore, creek and river, and dam were the main water sources for farm supply and irrigation. Only 60 percent of bored had adequate water supply and good water quality. Farm dam and creek/river sources were less reliable due to the inadequate availability of water. Consequently, operators at about half the cropped farms had to stop growing some vegetables which were previously commercially successful. Within the context of farm family needs, emphasis was placed on conservation of water, because of the erosion and water problems. The community’s opinion on community development activities emphasised the involvement of farm families. Finally, suggestions for the extension program which should be emphasised on rural development by means of community participation were included. The bases for further studies was also provided in this report.