Abstract:
Livestock were a key social and economic component of agropastoral Middle Iron-Age societies
who occupied Middle Limpopo River valley between during the early second millennium CE.
This period witnessed rapid developments in regional social complexity underscored by an
increased participation in the global trade network operating off the African east coast.
Agropastoral communities draw resilience from the effective management of domesticate stock
which is shaped by a range of decisions regarding the mobility and diet of the animal herds.
These management practices take place against the backdrop of shifting environments, landscape
resources, social networks, and economies.
This dissertation presents the results of stable isotope analysis of carbon and oxygen measured
from the teeth of 35 domesticate and wild herbivores recovered from five archaeological sites in
the hinterland of the Mapungubwe state. The results suggest that cattle and caprines were herded
according to different regimes that may relate to their differing socio-economic roles in Middle
Iron Age Society. Environmental variations and livestock management strategies among
hinterland communities are examined in the rise of complexity that accompanied the
transformation of southern Africa’s first state-level civilisation.
