Economy and cosmology in the Iron Age of Kwazulu-Natal
Date
2016-01-20
Authors
Whitelaw, Gavin Douglas Allies
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Abstract
This thesis considers economy and cosmology in the Iron Age of KwaZulu-Natal. It draws
on models derived from anthropological and historical analyses of precolonial agriculturists
in southern Africa and applies these to archaeological data.
Critics argue that anthropological approaches in archaeology are not conducive to the
creation of a socially dynamic past. In contrast, I believe that their potential is considerable.
The models targeted, principally Huffman’s Central Cattle Pattern, obviously represent
socially dynamic relationships. This is clear if we look at lower-level models: Ngubane’s
analysis of Zulu sickness and healing, which reveals fracture lines and tensions within
the homestead, and Hammond-Tooke’s observation that the Nguni and Sotho pollution
systems are variations related to the specifics of marriage and settlement. Ngubane’s analysis
couples neatly with Guy’s identification of the ‘history-making’ principle—the struggle for
the accumulation, creation and control of human productive and reproductive capacity—
that gave Iron Age societies their dynamism. It is an engagement that firmly integrates
systems of symbolism and belief with economy. Throughout this study I focus on the
expression of this dynamic principle in cosmology and material culture.
Consideration of pollution concepts in the Early Iron Age showed that the high
exchange value of women created extensive lateral alliance networks as cattle moved as
bridewealth from one homestead to another. The system worked against a concern for male
agnatic continuity and so generated considerable structural tension within society, which
was expressed in material culture.
My focus on fish remains in Iron Age sites generated an ‘ethnography’ and political
history of fishing where none had existed previously. It established a cultural logic that
explained the avoidance of fish eating in some societies, and its adoption and significance
in others.
The approach combined with Kopytoff ’s frontier model revealed two key findings.
First, the marginal category, amalala, originated at the Early and Late Iron Age interface.
Secondly, the Zulu kingdom emerged from a dynastic shift in a complex of chiefdoms
around the Babanango plateau, with the Zulu leadership usurping Khumalo authority.
An analysis of Nguni rainmaking, and of the record of interaction between huntergatherers
and agriculturists, revealed no evidence that hunter-gatherers made rain for
agriculturists until the late nineteenth century. This work marked their final tragedy, their
loss of independent life as the colonial world closed in about them.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Pietermaritzburg, 2015