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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/33794 |
| Date | 17 August 2021 |
| Creators | Mathoho, Ndivhuho Eric |
| Contributors | Chirikure, Shadreck |
| Publisher | Faculty of Science, Department of Archaeology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Format | application/pdf |
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