UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

The beginnings of the iron age in southern Africa
At this point it is convenient to note that iron age sites dating from the
first millennium of our era are now known from more southerly areas of
Angola, as at Feti la Choya where the earliest iron age occupation is dated
from the seventh or eighth century. ' s The relationship of this site to the
early iron age industrial complex cannot be determined since no details of
the associated artefacts, beyond the bare fact that iron and pottery were
present, have so far been made available. ' 6 In the extreme north of
Namibia, the site of Kapako has yielded pottery, described in a preliminary
and provisional account as akin to that from Kapwirimbwe, associated with
a radio-carbon date in the late first millennium. ' 7
South of the Kafue, in the fertile plateau regions of the Southern
Province of Zambia, several sites of large early iron age villages have
now been discovered. Individual sites were apparently settled for much
longer than was general elsewhere; the earliest such occupations apparently
took place around the fourth century. This early iron age settlement
seems to have been denser than in most other populations whose
counterparts elsewhere long survived the arrival of agriculture and
metallurgy. ' 8 The material culture of the early iron age Kalundu group
of the Batoka plateau has much in common with that of the Kapwirimbwe
group but the pottery is readily distinguished, primarily by the rarity of
false-relief chevron stamping and of bowls with pronounced internal
thickening of the rim. Cowrie shells indicate contacts with the coastal trade
but glass beads are absent. The lowest levels of the Kalundu site near
Kalomo yielded a large assemblage of animal bones of which less than
two-fifths were of domestic cattle and small stock; hunting evidently
continued to play an important part in the economy. Iron was used for the
manufacture of such objects as razors, arrowheads and probable thumbpiano
keys. Copper fragments were also recovered. 19 On the plateau, the
Kalundu group occupation lasted until the ninth century; 20 in the Kafue
valley around Namwala the early iron age occupations at Basanga and
Mwanamaipa have been dated from between the fifth and the ninth
centuries. 21
The Zambezi valley area around Livingstone is probably the bestexplored
region of southern Africa from the point of view of iron age
archaeology. The early iron age Dambwa group of this area shares features
both with the Kalundu group and with the Gokomere sites in Zimbabwe. 22
15. B. M . Fagan, 1965, pp. 107-16.
16. J. Vansina, 1966.
17. J. E. G. Sutton, 1972, pp. 1-24.
18. For discussions of interaction between early iron age and late stone age populations,
see D. W . Phillipson, 1968a, pp. 191-211; 1969, pp. 24-49; S. F. Miller, 1969, pp. 81-90.
19. B. M . Fagan, 1967.
20. As, for example, at Gundu: B. M. Fagan, 1969b, pp. 149-69.
21. Basanga and Mwanamaimpa were excavated by Dr B. M . Fagan. For the radio-carbon
dates see D. W . Phillipson, 1970b, pp. 1—15.
22. S. G. H. Daniels and D. W . Phillipson, Vol. II.
677