The roots of global trade in the southern African Iron Age

Summary

During the African Iron Age from 800 to 1200 AD, overseas trade began to expand out of southern Africa across the Indian Ocean, which caused an increase in the export of raw materials such as ivory. Archaeological evidence of ivory working has been found on sites across southern Africa dating to this period, including KwaGandaGanda and K2 in South Africa, Kaitshaa and Bosutswe in Botswana and Ingombe Ilede in Zambia. It is unknown whether the raw ivory was obtained locally or traded in, whether certain sites were production centres, and which markets drove the demand for the manufacture of ivory bangles/bracelets. To this end, we explore the distribution and frequencies of ivory artefacts and working debris across these sites. We also report the results of carbon, nitrogen and strontium isotope analysis to understand the origins and procurement of the ivory alongside Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) analysis to identify the species of the ivory. Results indicate that the worked ivory derived from elephants and that at some sites, ivory was derived from several catchment areas, implying a degree of landscape/resource partitioning. These sites therefore yield the earliest evidence for the trade of ivory in southern Africa.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Complexity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Approaches to Landscape, Craft, and Trade in the Past 3,000 Years

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15272