Excavations in the South-Western Cape, South Africa, and the Archaeological Identity of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers within the Last 2000 Years

Smith, Andrew B.; Sadr, Karim; Gribble, John; Yates, Royden

doi:10.2307/3889087

Cited by 124 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The most common unit of analysis for archaeological OES beads is external diameter; previous studies of the southern African hunting/herding transition found that older beads are often smaller than younger beads (e.g., Jacobson 1987a, b;Orton et al 2005;Sadr et al 2003;Smith et al 1991Smith et al , 1995Smith et al , 2001). This diameter change also appears to be present at Mlambalasi.…”

Section: Beadsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excavations at Mlambalasi Rockshelter: a Terminal Pleistocene to Recent Iron Age Record in Southern Tanzania

et al. 2017

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Section: Beadsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excavations at Mlambalasi Rockshelter: a Terminal Pleistocene to Recent Iron Age Record in Southern Tanzania

et al. 2017

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“…On the other hand, ostrich egg shell (OES) bead sizes have been argued to be distinctive cultural markers, especially between hunters and herders (Smith et al 1991;Yates and Smith, 1993;Tapela, 1995). Hunter-gather OES beads are thought to be smaller than those of herder and agriculturalist counterparts (Tapela, 1995).…”

Section: 32: Bead Typologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Archaeology and Technology of Metal Production in the Late Iron Age of the Southern Waterberg, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Bandama

2014

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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The inception of metallurgy in southern Africa was relatively late, compared to other regions in Africa, and as a result, this part of the sub-continent was mistakenly thought to have been less innovative during the Iron Age. On the contrary, dedicated materials analyses are showing that starting from the terminal first millennium AD, southern Africa is replete with innovations that include the growth of state systems, specialised long-distance trading, the re-melting of glass beads, the working of ivory, and the weaving of cotton using ceramic spindle whorls.Additionally, the appearance of gold and tin production, against a background of on-going iron and copper metallurgy, has been interpreted by some as intimating innovation in metal technology. While some research energy has been invested into these novelties, there has only been incidental concern with the innovation in tin and bronze production. This study investigates the context of this novelty in the metallurgy of the Southern Waterberg, an area that hosts one of the unequivocal cases of pre-colonial tin mining in southern Africa. Recent trace element studies have indicated that bronzes from several elite sites in the region, were produced using tin that was sourced from the Southern Waterberg. The current chronology from the Southern Waterberg does not capture the full tin sequence that is implicated by the trace-element analyses of tin and bronze from dated contexts elsewhere and falls short by at two centuries. To bridge this gap, the present study sought, to explore the visibility of tin production in the Southern Waterberg at sites that are contemporary with the appearance of tin and bronze in southern Africa, and to investigate how this innovation was integrated into on-going iron and copper production.Rigorous methodological and theoretical approaches that include ethno-historical, archaeological and archaeometallurgical studies were employed in order to glean relevant information required to address these issues.

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“…Among the stone tools, flakes of quartz, shale, quartzite and sandstone are the most frequent artefacts. In view of their similarity to the débitage from the upper layers of the site Kasteelberg B, which date to the early and mid second millennium AD (SMITH 1987;SMITH et al 1991), such flakes may belong to the recent pre-colonial occupation of KFS 5. Older débitage is also present.…”

Section: Mapping Kfsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of the sites are located close to the Atlantic shoreline, e.g. in the vicinity of Saldanha Bay (Drie Sisters, Vlaeberg, Kreeftebaai or Oudepost 1; see SCHRIRE & DEACON 1989;SMITH et al 1991), near Paternoster or close to Elands Bay (Dunefields Midden; see PARKINGTON et al 1992). These locations, economically determined as marine sources, were exploited intensively which is also evidenced by a series of shell middens.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The visibility and invisibility of herders' kraals in southern Africa, with reference to a possible Early Contact Period Khoekhoe kraal at KFS 5, Western Cape

Fauvelle-Aymar

Sadr

Bon

et al. 2006

JAA

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Excavations in the South-Western Cape, South Africa, and the Archaeological Identity of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers within the Last 2000 Years

Cited by 124 publications

References 15 publications

Excavations at Mlambalasi Rockshelter: a Terminal Pleistocene to Recent Iron Age Record in Southern Tanzania

Excavations at Mlambalasi Rockshelter: a Terminal Pleistocene to Recent Iron Age Record in Southern Tanzania

The Archaeology and Technology of Metal Production in the Late Iron Age of the Southern Waterberg, Limpopo Province, South Africa

The visibility and invisibility of herders' kraals in southern Africa, with reference to a possible Early Contact Period Khoekhoe kraal at KFS 5, Western Cape

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