Excavations at the Iron Age Village Site of Fibobe II, Central Zambia

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Steven T. Goldstein ◽  
Jeremy Farr ◽  
Martha Kayuni ◽  
Maggie Katongo ◽  
Ricardo Fernandes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Household Archaeology ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Indian Ocean Trade ◽  
Unique Nature

Abstract The period from c. AD 900 to AD 1300 in southern Africa is characterized by transitions from small-scale Iron Age mixed economy communities to the beginnings of more intensive food production and eventually the emergence of complex polities. In Zambia, this coincides with the appearance of larger and more permanent agro-pastoralist villages that began participating in Indian Ocean trade networks. Unlike other parts of southern Africa where stone architecture became common, the predominance of wattle-and-daub type construction methods across Zambia have often impeded preservation of Iron Age activity areas. It has therefore been difficult to reconstruct how economic and land-use changes between the Early and Later Iron Ages impacted family and community relationships reflected in intra-site and intra-household spatial organization. Fibobe II, in the Mulungushi River Basin of Central Zambia, is a rare example of an Early-to-Mid Iron Age village site where these spatial patterns may be discernable due to preservation of activity spaces and vitrified remains of wattle-and-daub structures. This paper reports on new investigations following original testing of the site in 1979, confirming preservation of an Iron Age hut with distinct patterning of features, artifacts, and charcoal. These results reaffirm the unique nature of Fibobe II and indicate the potential for programs of household archaeology aimed at studying this important and understudied period in Zambian prehistory.

The Archaeology of Metal Production in Southern Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail Moffett
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Metal Production ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Specialized Production ◽  
Gendered Division Of Labor ◽  
First Millennium

Metal production in southern Africa dates to the early first millennium ce when the technology of working iron and copper was brought into the region by incoming “Iron Age” farming communities. The mining and production of copper, iron, and later, tin and gold were important activities in the lives of communities in southern Africa throughout the past two millennia. Not only were metals central to livelihoods, like the iron hoe in farming, but metal objects were also enmeshed in the social and political fabric of society, with the transaction and display of them creating social identities and cementing relationships. The production of different metals varied in space and time, from household production of iron for domestic consumption to more specialized production of iron, copper, and tin or seasonal production of gold. Metals produced in southern Africa were traded over long distances and fed into regional trade networks that expanded to the wider Indian Ocean rim. Copper ingots and iron gongs from central Africa and brass from Europe have also been recovered in southern Africa, indicating the complex directionality with which metals, and the ideas and technological innovations associated with them, flowed. Analyzing patterns in the production and exchange of metals can reveal both micro-shifts in political economy, such as changes in the gendered division of labor, to macro-shifts, such as changing regional political powers. As a result, the archaeology of metal production exposes many aspects of the lives of Iron Age farming communities in southern Africa through time.

scholarly journals Dark Ages woodland recovery and the expansion of beech: a study of land use changes and related woodland dynamics during the Roman to Medieval transition period in northern Belgium

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Deforce ◽  
Jan Bastiaens ◽  
Philippe Crombé ◽  
Ewoud Deschepper ◽  
Kristof Haneca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ilex Aquifolium ◽  
Early Medieval Period

Abstract The results from analyses of botanical remains (pollen, wood, charcoal, seeds) from several archaeological features excavated in Kluizen (northern Belgium) are presented. The region was largely uninhabited until the Iron Age and Roman period when a rural settlement was established, resulting in small-scale woodland clearance. The site was subsequently abandoned from c. AD 270 till the High Middle Ages. The results of the archaeological and archaeobotanical analyses provide information on changes in land use and resulting dynamics of woodland cover and composition between c.600 BC and AD 1200, with a spatial and temporal resolution unrivalled in northern Belgium. Especially the long period of woodland regeneration following abandonment of the site around AD 270, covering the Late Roman and Early Medieval period, could be reconstructed in detail. Abandoned fields were first covered with pioneer woodland (Salix, Corylus and Betula), then Quercus-dominated secondary forest and finally a late-successional forest with Fagus sylvatica, Carpinus betulus and Ilex aquifolium, an evolution that took over 300 years. The results also indicate that the observed increase of Fagus during the Early Middle Ages, which was never an important element in the woodland vegetation in northern Belgium before, was related to climatic changes rather than anthropogenic factors.

Ores Sources, Smelters and Archaeometallurgy: Exploring Iron Age Metal Production in the Southern Waterberg, South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Foreman Bandama ◽  
Shadreck Chirikure ◽  
Simon Hall
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Metal Production ◽  
European Colonization ◽  
Sem Analyses

The Southern Waterberg in Limpopo Province is archaeologically rich, especially when it comes to evidence of pre-colonial mining and metal working. Geologically, the area hosts important mineral resources such as copper, tin and iron which were smelted by agriculturalists in the precolonial period. In this region however, tin seems to be the major attraction given that Rooiberg is still the only source of cassiterite in southern Africa to have provided evidence of mining before European colonization. This paper reports the results of archaeological and archaeometallurgical work which was carried out in order to reconstruct the technology of metalworking as well as the cultural interaction in the study area and beyond. The ceramic evidence shows that from the Eiland Phase (1000–1300 AD) onwards there was cross borrowing of characteristic decorative traits amongst extant groups that later on culminated in the creation of a new ceramic group known as Rooiberg. In terms of mining and metal working, XRF and SEM analyses, when coupled with optical microscopy, indicate the use of indigenous bloomery techniques that are widespread in pre-colonial southern Africa. Tin and bronze production was also represented and their production remains also pin down this metallurgy to particular sites and excludes the possibility of importing of finished tin and bronze objects into this area.

scholarly journals A Model-Based Tool for Assessing the Impact of Land Use Change Scenarios on Flood Risk in Small-Scale River Systems—Part 1: Pre-Processing of Scenario Based Flood Characteristics for the Current State of Land Use

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Frauke Kachholz ◽  
Jens Tränckner
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Small Rivers ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Ungauged Catchments ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Impact

Land use changes influence the water balance and often increase surface runoff. The resulting impacts on river flow, water level, and flood should be identified beforehand in the phase of spatial planning. In two consecutive papers, we develop a model-based decision support system for quantifying the hydrological and stream hydraulic impacts of land use changes. Part 1 presents the semi-automatic set-up of physically based hydrological and hydraulic models on the basis of geodata analysis for the current state. Appropriate hydrological model parameters for ungauged catchments are derived by a transfer from a calibrated model. In the regarded lowland river basins, parameters of surface and groundwater inflow turned out to be particularly important. While the calibration delivers very good to good model results for flow (Evol =2.4%, R = 0.84, NSE = 0.84), the model performance is good to satisfactory (Evol = −9.6%, R = 0.88, NSE = 0.59) in a different river system parametrized with the transfer procedure. After transferring the concept to a larger area with various small rivers, the current state is analyzed by running simulations based on statistical rainfall scenarios. Results include watercourse section-specific capacities and excess volumes in case of flooding. The developed approach can relatively quickly generate physically reliable and spatially high-resolution results. Part 2 builds on the data generated in part 1 and presents the subsequent approach to assess hydrologic/hydrodynamic impacts of potential land use changes.

scholarly journals Experimental and Numerical Study for the Shaping Formation of SCST Structures by Cable-tensioning

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
J.W. Kim ◽  
J. H. Doh ◽  
S. Fragomeni
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
Geometric Model ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Construction Technique ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Space Truss ◽  
Test Models ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Joint Behaviour

This paper discusses the behaviour characteristics of the shaping formation of Single-Chorded Space Truss (SCST) structures by means of cable-tensioning of bottom chords. The innovative technique is fast and economical and issued in many types of space structures. The small-scale test models presented herein consist of uniform pyramids with multi-directional ball type joints which are erected into their final shape by cable-tensioning. Since the joint behaviour is very significant in studying the shaping of SCST structures, basic tests for beam and pyramidal units were performed. The feasibility of the proposed cable-tensioning technique and the reliability of the established geometric model were confirmed by finite element analysis. The proposed cable-tensioning technique indicates that the behaviour characteristic of joints is very important in the shaping formation of SCST structures. More specifically in situations where heavy cranes are inaccessible, the cable-tensioning construction technique has proven to be an easy and reasonable method compared to conventional construction methods that typically include heavy cranes and scaffolding.

The Pershore Hoards and Votive Deposition in the Iron Age

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 297-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Hurst ◽  
Ian Leins
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Geophysical Survey ◽  
Landscape Position ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Archaeological Excavation ◽  
Extensive Area ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Votive Deposition ◽  
Twisted Wire

A large hoard of Iron Age coins was discovered by metal-detecting at Pershore, Worcestershire, in 1993. During small-scale archaeological excavation further Iron Age coins were recovered, including a likely second hoard. Further fieldwork in the same vicinity as the hoard(s) produced more Iron Age finds, including more coins, and a possible fragment of a twisted wire gold torc. In total 1494 Iron Age gold and silver coins were recovered. Geophysical survey indicated that the hoard(s) lay at the southern end of an extensive area of settlement which, based on the fieldwalking evidence, was mainly of Iron Age and Roman date. This covered an overall area ofc.10 ha, within which several areas of more intensive activity were defined, including enclosures and possible round-houses. It is suggested that the coin hoard(s) indicate the location of a Late Iron Age religious space in an elevated landscape position situated on the edge of a settlement which continued into the Roman period. As part of the archaeological strategy, specialist deep-search metal-detecting was undertaken in order to establish that the site has now been completely cleared of metalwork caches

Micromammals and the Late Quaternary of southern Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.M. Avery
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Pinnacle Point ◽  
Human Movements ◽  
Geographical Scale ◽  
Land Mammal

Abstract Improvements in excavation methods, dating, analytical techniques and statistical applications have all led to a substantial increase in recoverable environmental evidence from micromammals. Because these animals are so small the information they provide is on a smaller geographical scale than that afforded by most other lines of evidence. However, with increasing amounts of data and greater interpretational precision in all spheres, the chances are improving of being able to mesh information from different scales. Blombos, Pinnacle Point and Klasies River on the southern coast of South Africa have clearly demonstrated that micromammalian data can contribute to multidisciplinary interpretations of past conditions, in this case during MIS 5 and 6. Little attention has been paid to the generally small samples from Iron Age sites but the presence of the House rat Rattus rattus may provide important information about human movements and may also contribute to our understanding of the Anthropocene once this has been formally defined. Micromammals have not yet been used as chronostratigraphic indicators in southern Africa but it may be possible to develop biochronologies using them and to incorporate this material into African Land Mammal Ages.

Urbanization and Spatial Organization in Southern France and North-Eastern Spain during the Iron Age

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Intermediate Zone ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Southern France ◽  
North East ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Process Of Urbanization

This chapter examines the process of urbanization in north-east Spain and southern France during the Iron Age. The findings reveal that the French Midi is an intermediate zone where the process of urbanization develops later than in the central Mediterranean, but earlier than in Celtic Europe. The results also indicate that it was the Greek commercial demand that influenced the organization of a network of exchange which resulted in the network of settlements that occurred at the end of the sixth century BC.

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