Antonites, Alexander2016-12-142016-12-142014Alexander Antonites (2014) Glass beads from Mutamba: patterns of consumption in thirteenth-century southern Africa, Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 49:3, 411-428, DOI: 10.1080/0067270X.2014.959316.0067-270X (print)1945-5534 (online)10.1080/0067270X.2014.959316http://hdl.handle.net/2263/58399Mutamba is a settlement located on the northern slopes of the Soutpansberg in South Africa. Radiocarbon and material culture suggest contemporaneity with regional developments of social complexity primarily concentrated in the Shashe-Limpopo Confluence Area around the important site of Mapungubwe. The spatial location of Mutamba on the apparent political and economic periphery of Mapungubwe means that it is well suited to investigate patterns of distribution between centres of political influence and their larger hinterlands. It is proposed that trade goods followed variable patterns of distribution and consumption shaped by patterns in taste preference. In addition, this study suggests that, far from being deprived of trade goods, hinterland communities actively participated in regional networks of trade and exchange.en© 2014 Taylor and Francis. This is an electronic version of an article published in Azania, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 411-428, 2014. doi : 10.1080/0067270X.2014.959316. Azania is available online at : http://www.tandfonline.comloi/raza20.Glass beadsMapungubweTradePeripheryHinterlandPolitical economySocial complexityPostprint Article