Fiber Spinning During the Mapungubwe Period of Southern Africa: Regional Specialism in the Hinterland

Abstract

The Middle Iron Age (MIA) of southern Africa is a period characterized by increased social complexity centered on the polity of Mapungubwe. This article considers the role that fiber spinning played in the regional political economy of the period. At Mutamba and other sites in the southern hinterland of Mapungubwe, spinning was a significant economic activity. Evidence from 187 spindle whorls from the site suggests that intensive spinning of cotton was practiced by households. This enabled hinterland communities to actively participate in regional trade networks and acquire trade goods, including objects that were often restricted in the Mapungubwe heartland. This casts hinterland communities as active participants, rather than passive bystanders, in the regional economy.

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“…The most exceptional copper object recorded at Chumnungwa was a plaited copper bangle fragment. Spindle whorls are perforated flat circular discs that are crafted from various materials which include clay, soapstone, and cycled potsherds (Huffman 1971;Alt 1999;Antonites 2019). These technologies are widely believed to have been used as flywheels and weights which were attached to the end of spindles to enable the spinning of the fibre into a thread which was thereafter woven into textiles such as cloth (McAdams & Howman 1940;Davison & Harries 1980;Ellert 1984;Ruwitah 1999;Phillipson 2005).…”

“…Based on the available chronostratigraphic data, the craft of spinning in Iron Age southern Africa is believed to have first appeared in the second millennium CE at places such as Mapungubwe, Mananzve where some of the oldest spindle whorls were recovered (Gardner 1963;Antonites 2019). Based on these dates some scholars regard the technology of spinning using spindle whorls to have spread from India into the interior of southern Africa via the Indian ocean trade rim (Huffman 1971(Huffman , 2000Phillipson 2005;Antonites 2019). However, local research is beginning to show that both spinning and weaving were probably indigenous developments that mushroomed independently in southern Zambezia (Ruwitah 1999).…”

“…Iron Age settlements such as Leokwe (Calabrese 2007), Mutamba (Antonites 2019), Vumba, (Van Waarden 2012, Village 16 (Manyanga 2006), Nenga (Huffman 1978), Ndongo (Shenjere-Nyabezi 2017), Nhunguza, (Garlake 1973a) which shows that spinning was widely practiced across southern Zambezia, perhaps using the indigenous cotton (Ruwitah 1999).…”

“…The typological and metric attributes of spindle whorls recovered from Chumnungwa hilltop and foothill areas were analysed using standard methods commonly used in southern African Iron Age (see Huffman 1971, Van Waarden 2012Antonites 2019). Ultimately, the data sets for each spindle whorl were recorded and a detailed attribute analysis is presented in the forthcoming section.…”

“…Over the years, crafting has become topical in most studies (i.e. Voigt 1983;Matenga 1993;Huffman 1996Huffman , 2007Pwiti 1996b;Antonites 2012Antonites , 2019Van Waarden 2012;Pikirayi & LindahI 2013;Chirikure 2015Chirikure , 2019Bandama et al 2016;Klehm et al 2017;Mukwende et al 2018). However, the region is yet to undertake a comprehensive review that integrates Iron Age crafting activities, spanning the first and second millennials since crafting is usually found in the appendices of most Iron Age studies.…”