An Archaeological Investigation of Zhizo/Leokwe Foodways at Schroda and Pont Drift, Limpopo Valley, South Africa

Abstract

Schroda, a Zhizo/Leokwe settlement in the Limpopo Valley, is well-known among archaeologists who study the rise of complex societies in southern Africa. The Limpopo Valley is of particular importance, as it is here that class distinction emerges and political centralization culminates in the formation of the first southern African state – Mapungubwe – in the thirteenth century AD. This project focuses on those communities who settled in the valley three hundred years earlier, during the Zhizo and early K2/Leokwe phases.

Excavated from 1975-1982, Schroda has one of the largest archaeological assemblages in the region. Previous research placed the site at the center of early East African coastal trade networks with the southern African interior, elevating it to economic and socio-political dominance in the region during the tenth century AD. At around AD 1000, Schroda's influence declines due to a shift in regional socio-political dynamics linked to the establishment of a new political center at K2. This dissertation presents an investigation into the continuities and changes in the daily lives of the people at Schroda, following the establishment of K2. More specifically, it explores how these continuities and changes played out in their daily activities related to food provisioning. Given the social nature of all aspects of food provisioning this study moves beyond the purely economic concerns of food and consider the social undertones evident in the physical remains of the activities they once shaped.

The archaeological assemblages from Schroda, and that of the contemporary but smaller settlement Pont Drift, underwent extensive re-assessment as part of this project. The main research focus was on ceramics and animal bones, but I also included the available evidence for botanical remains and features associated with food processing and storage. This approach differs from previous Limpopo Valley subsistence studies in that it incorporates both multiple classes of materials and considers all stages of food provisioning. This more holistic view thus not only considers animal bones, but also the containers in which they were cooked and served. It looks at the resources and objects used to kill animals and process plants and where they were prepared, consumed and discarded. This project synthesizes all of the available information and presents an extensive overview of the major food-related activities at Schroda and Pont Drift.