UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Ancient Civilizations of Africa
It has been suggested that, after an initial and little-known phase best
illustrated by the small assemblage of shards from the Situmpa site near
Machili, the main florescence of the Dambwa group may have been
derived from a secondary centre of dispersal of iron age culture situated
south of the Zambezi. 23 At Kamudzulo, dated between the fifth and
seventh centuries, were found traces of sub-rectangular pole-and-iag«
houses. A small piece of imported glass found inside one of these houses
indicates that contact with the coastal trade had begun by the seventh
century. Burial customs of this period are best illustrated at Chundu where
the corpses were interred individually in pits; they were buried in a tightly
contracted posture with the knees drawn up to the chin. Grave-goods
appear to have been deposited in separate pits nearby; these generally
contained pairs of pottery vessels forming a container for the funeral cache,
which at this site invariably included an iron hoe often with the addition
of other objects such as iron or copper bangles, cowrie shells or shell disc
beads. One of these caches also contained two seeds, tentatively identified
as being of squash and a bean. 24 Dambwa group settlements, like those of
the Kalundu group to the north, have yielded osteological evidence for the
herding of domestic cattle as well as sheep and/or goats, but the preponderance
of bones of wild species confirms the continued importance
of hunting. Locally made iron tools included bodkins, knives, hoes and axes,
bangles, and points for spears and arrows. Copper does not occur in the
region and must have been brought in by trade, the two nearest known
sources being in the Kafue Hook region of Zambia and around Wankie
in Zimbabwe. Copper artefacts found on Dambwa group sites include
bangles and trade-bars.
During the eighth century an increased tempo of ceramic typological
change lead to the appearance of the Kalomo pottery tradition which is
now seen as a local development within the Victoria Falls region from the
early iron age Dambwa group pottery. Around the middle of the ninth century
makers of the Kalomo tradition pottery introduced their wares on to
the Batoka plateau and appear rapidly to have displaced the remaining
Kalundu group population there. 25
In the Eastern Province of Zambia the early iron age population appears
to have been established by the third century of our era, but to have been
sparse; the majority of the inhabitants of this area probably retained their
'late stone age' way of life well into the present millennium, until long after
the inception of the later iron age. 26 The pottery of these Kamnama group
sites of eastern Zambia is clearly closely related to that from contemporary
23. This account of the early iron age in the Victoria Falls region is largely based on the
research of Mr J. O. Vogel, whose published accounts include Lusaka, 1971, and others
cited elsewhere.
24. J. O. Vogel, 1969, p. 524; 1972, pp. 583-6.
25. J. O. Vogel, 1970, pp. 77-88.
26. D. W . Phillipson, 1973, pp. 3-24.
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