Changing places, spaces and identity in the Shashe Limpopo region of Limpopo Province, South Africa

[摘要] While the Iron Age sequence of the Shashe-Limpopo region of Limpopo Provincehas been the subject of much research in the past, little is known about the huntergatherersequence of the area. I begin to address this lack through the description ofthree new hunter-gatherer sites: Tshisiku Shelter, Balerno Main Shelter and BalernoShelter 2. I examine how hunter-gatherer spaces, places and identity changed withthe movement of different groups of farmers (including Zhizo, K2 and Mapungubweperiod farmers) into the Shashe-Limpopo region over the last 2000 years. I alsoinvestigate how hunter-gatherer / farmer proximity impacted on interaction, andwhat social structures, boundaries, and constructed identities underlie interaction inthe region.The pre-contact and contact periods are compared in order to determine whetherchanges in the hunter-gatherer sequence were due to the arrival, and continuedpresence, of farmers. Ethnographic and archaeological interaction case studies areused to construct a model of interaction for the Shashe-Limpopo.Based on data from Tshisiku Shelter, Balerno Main Shelter, Balerno Shelters 2 and3, and Little Muck Shelter, a new sequence is proposed for hunter-gathereroccupation in the Shashe-Limpopo region:· An early pre-contact phase (11 120 – 10 890 BC; 6000 – 1220 BC)· A late pre-contact phase (1220 BC - AD 100)· An early contact phase (AD 100 – AD 900)· A late contact phase divided into two periods:- The Zhizo period (AD 900 – AD 1000 / 1200)- The K2 / Mapungubwe period (AD 1000 – AD 1300)Finally, a late second millennium phase of Late Iron Age farmer utilisation ofhunter- gatherer sites occurs in the recent past (AD 1600 – AD 1900).ivMy research suggests that:· A hunter-gatherer presence occurs significantly earlier in the region thaninitially hypothesised.· Differences in farmer social structure and identity play a role in how farmersinteract with hunter-gatherers, and vice versa.· Finally, due to the differences between farmer groups and decreasing spaceon the landscape, a range of hunter-gatherer reactions to the presence offarmers occurred throughout the last two millennia in the Shashe-Limpoporegion.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand