Livestock management strategies in the 13th Century Mapungubwe Hinterland

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.