Technology and microwear of worked bone from Letaba, an Early Iron Age site in the Limpopo province, South Africa

Abstract

Letaba is a large first millennium AD settlement located within the present-day boundaries of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The site was excavated in three phases starting in the 1970s, with the most recent phase still in progress. The site is of regional significance because of its connections to early Indian Ocean trade networks. A large number of worked bones have been recovered at the site, which could point to either endogenous manufacture, or, as per the more conventional interpretation, exchange with autochthonous hunter-gatherers. In this paper, we present the results of a technological and use-wear study of the ninety-four worked bone artefacts that have been recovered to date. We also consider the use and deposition contexts of the bone artefacts and compare the findings to that of two contemporaneous Early Iron Age settlements in South Africa. Our results show the bone working strategy at Letaba bears closer resemblance to contemporaneous Iron Age sites than it does to Later Stone Age ones, but is also distinct in a number of respects. The results enable a more nuanced understanding of Early Iron Age bone manufacturing practices and the activities in which these objects were used.