The analysis of ceramic material excavated from two neighbouring Sotho-Tswana homesteads located on the South African Highveld

Abstract

Iron Age research has rarely focused on ceramic assemblages and spatial distribution patterns within and between homesteads to investigate intra and inter-site variation. This research aims to identify the ceramic assemblages and explain the distribution patterns of vessels within two neighbouring homesteads: Sun Shadow and Boschoek. This was achieved using a combination of ceramic analysis, statistical analysis, and GIS techniques, to investigate if there were significant differences within, and between the two homesteads. In the morphological comparison, there were no significant differences between the ceramic assemblages, however, there was a significant difference in the distribution of vessels both within and between the two homesteads. These results show that, overall, there was a strong likelihood that the two homesteads were similar in composition. From this, several research avenues can be identified to help us better understand the history of precolonial Gauteng