Book
Late Pleistocene and Holocene hunter-gatherers of the Matopos: an archaeological study of change and continuity in Zimbabwe
Societas Archaeologica Upsaliensis • Uppsala • Published In 1995 • Pages: 284
By: Walker, Nicholas John.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Walker reports on his archaeological findings from the region known as the Matopos in western Zimbabwe. The archaeology encompasses the time period from 15,000 B.P. to 1500 B.P. Only the material that pertains to the Wilton period (10,000 B.P. to 2000 B.P.) was indexed for OCM (Outline of Cultural Materials) codes. Eight sites were excavated and six others had their assemblages re-examined. The main orientation at the start of the field work was to allow Walker to examine the relationship between proposed carrying capacity and expected resource use in the Matopos. This was compared with the actual archaeological findings. Key findings include food resources were based on gathering marula (rather than a wide range of plants) and on hunting a wide range of small animals, at least during the mid Holocene. Group size and population also changed with changes in hunting strategies. Walker believes some of the changes in backed tools (arrows) and beads may indicate a symbolic way to communicate group differences or group boundaries and a way to reinforce social or ritual messages. The archaeological changes that occurred in the Matopos are compared with some of the changes that occurred throughout southern Africa.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Fauna
- Flora
- Bone, horn, and shell technology
- Lithic industries
- General tools
- Visual arts
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Wilton
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry ; 2002
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1975-1982
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 10,000 BP- 2000 BP
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- the Matopos; Zimbabwe
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Nicholas John Walker
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-270)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 95212019
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- South Africa--Antiquities