New Radiocarbon Dates for the Early Iron Age in the Luangwa Valley, Eastern Zambia

Barham, Lawrence; Jarman, Catrine

doi:10.1080/00672700509480417

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…At Gundu only two of the four Kalomo villages are dated, but they still provide a useful datum. A few other stratified sites, such as Kalala Island (Derricourt, 1985) and Chowo (Barham and Jarman, 2005), will be useful for this purpose once the ceramic identifications are better known. Significantly, the stratified horizons account for 10 of the 12 known droughts.…”

Section: Southern and Central Zambiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive El Niño and the Iron Age of South-eastern Africa

Huffman

2010

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Section: Southern and Central Zambiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive El Niño and the Iron Age of South-eastern Africa

Huffman

2010

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…AD 339-541) at Chowo River (Fig. 1: CH) on the Zambia/Malawi border (Barham and Jarman, 2005), carbonized Cucurbita seeds dated 1570 ± 140 BP (cal. AD 168-834) at Maunatlala (Fig.…”

Section: Savannamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To reassess the relationship between vegetation, climate and human activities in southern Africa, we revisit published archaeological records that give clear evidence of human occupation within the first millennium AD (e.g., Maggs, 1984;Maggs and Whitelaw, 1991;Smith, 1992;Mitchell, 1996;Mitchell and Whitelaw, 2005) and published archaeobotanical evidence (e.g., Denbow and Wilmsen, 1986;Barham and Jarman, 2005;Neumann et al, 2008Neumann et al, , 2010Hahn et al, 2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeobotanical evidence for the emergence of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa

Olatoyan¹,

Neumann²,

Orijemie³

et al. 2022

Acta Palaeobot.

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Several models which remain equivocal and controversial cite migration and/or diffusion for the emergence and spread of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa during the first millennium AD. A synthesis of archaeobotanical proxies (e.g., palynology, phytoliths, anthracology) consistent with existing archaeobotanical and archaeological data leads to new insights into anthropogenic impacts in palaeorecords. Harnessing such archaeobotanical evidence is viable for tracing the spread of pastoralism and farming in the first millennium AD because the impact of anthropogenic practices is likely to result in distinct patterns of vegetation change. We assess this impact through the synthesis of published archaeobotanical evidence of pastoralism and farming, as well as vegetation changes in southern Africa during the first millennium AD. It has been argued that the decline of forests during the first millennium AD in southern Africa predominantly relates to climate change. This argument often precludes anthropogenic effects on vegetation. Our reassessment of the relationship between vegetation, climate, and human activities in southern Africa reveals evidence of human impact during the same period. We also highlight gaps in the current knowledge of early pastoralism and farming and potential future research directions. We hypothesize that the pattern exhibited by the decline of forest tree pollen, coupled with the increase of open-land indicators, the occurrence of pioneer trees, as well as the spores of coprophilous fungi, and possible changes in the fire regime are reflective of, and consistent with, anthropogenic activities of pre-European pastoralists and farmers.

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“…Archaeological evidence from the Valley shows that food production, as marked by the appearance of pottery, domesticated sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and iron-working, arrived 100 AD as part of the southward spread of the Chifumbaze Complex which is assumed to be the material culture of early Bantu speaking groups (Barham and Jarman, 2005;Barham, in preparation). Elsewhere in Zambia there is supporting evidence for domesticated plants associated with the settlement of the savanna woodlands by EIA (Chifumbaze) communities (Robertson, 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Genetic perspectives on forager‐farmer interaction in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia

Filippo

Heyn

Barham

et al. 2009

American J Phys Anthropol

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The transformation from a foraging way of life to a reliance on domesticated plants and animals often led to the expansion of agropastoralist populations at the expense of hunter-gatherers (HGs). In Africa, one of these expansions involved the Niger-Congo Bantu-speaking populations that started to spread southwards from Cameroon/Nigeria approximately 4,000 years ago, bringing agricultural technologies. Genetic studies have shown different degrees of gene flow (sometimes involving sex-biased migrations) between Bantu agriculturalists and HGs. Although these studies have covered many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the central part (e.g. Zambia) was not yet studied, and the interactions between immigrating food-producers and local HGs are still unclear. Archeological evidence from the Luangwa Valley of Zambia suggests a long period of coexistence ( approximately 1,700 years) of early food-producers and HGs. To investigate if this apparent coexistence was accompanied by genetic admixture, we analyzed the mtDNA control region, Y chromosomal unique event polymorphisms, and 12 associated Y- short tandem repeats in two food-producing groups (Bisa and Kunda) that live today in the Luangwa Valley, and compared these data with available published data on African HGs. Our results suggest that both the Bisa and Kunda experienced at most low levels of admixture with HGs, and these levels do not differ between the maternal and paternal lineages. Coalescent simulations indicate that the genetic data best fit a demographic scenario with a long divergence (62,500 years) and little or no gene flow between the ancestors of the Bisa/Kunda and existing HGs. This scenario contrasts with the archaeological evidence for a long period of coexistence between the two different communities in the Luangwa Valley, and suggests a process of sociocultural boundary maintenance may have characterized their interaction.

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New Radiocarbon Dates for the Early Iron Age in the Luangwa Valley, Eastern Zambia

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Intensive El Niño and the Iron Age of South-eastern Africa

Intensive El Niño and the Iron Age of South-eastern Africa

Archaeobotanical evidence for the emergence of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa

Genetic perspectives on forager‐farmer interaction in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia

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