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"Phillipson, D. W"
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Archaeology and Bantu linguistics
The archaeological evidence for the spread and development of the Iron Age in eastern and southern Africa is re-examined, and two distinct streams are recognized in the Early Iron Age Industrial Complex. The inception of the later Iron Age in most of this region is shown to have taken place around the eleventh century A.D., and a marked degree of similarity is noted in the later Iron Age industries from northern Zambia southwards. This picture is compatible in many respects with that of the spread and development of the Bantu languages, particularly as described by C. Ehret. It is suggested, however, that Ehret is mistaken in several important points, notably with regard to chronology and the part played by speakers of Sudanic languages in the spread of Iron Age culture to south-central Africa. In conclusion, archaeological and linguistic evidence is used to produce a provisional outline of the Iron Age history of eastern and southern Africa.
Journal Article
The Chronology of the Iron Age in Bantu Africa
Mrs Barbara Ottaway has proposed that the interquartile range of the radiocarbon dates available for a given industry will provide an estimate of the floruit of that industry. The present paper examines some four hundred radiocarbon dates which have so far been processed from Iron Age sites in Bantu Africa, and concludes that the intersextile range provides a more accurate approximation for the floruit of individual industries than does the interquartile range. This approach permits the presentation of a more precise inter-regional synthesis of Iron Age chronology than has previously been attempted. It is demonstrated that the earliest manifestations of the Early Iron Age Industrial Complex are in East Africa. Further to the south, two distinct streams of the Early Iron Age are recognized: that in the eastern part of the sub-continent had penetrated as far to the south as the Transvaal some centuries before the western stream spread into what is now Zambia. The inception of the later Iron Age, around the eleventh century A.D., is shown to have been at least as rapid as was that of the Early Iron Age. In view of the greater precision which the above methodology imparts to the radiocarbon-based chronology, a brief discussion is presented of the calibrations which dendrochronological studies provide between radiocarbon ages and calendar ages. It is concluded that, for the period of the sub-Saharan African Iron Age, the corrections which are called for are minor in comparison with the standard errors of individual radiocarbon dates; and the application of such calibrations to Iron Age dates is not recommended.
Journal Article
Iron Age History and Archaeology in Zambia
Developments since 1968 in the study of the Zambian Early Iron Age are discussed, with emphasis both on the Lubusi site near Kaoma, which provides the first dated occurrence of Early Iron Age artefacts from western Zambia, and on material from the Eastern Province, which is closely related to contemporary finds from Malawi. Knowledge of the post-Early Iron Age archaeology of Zambia has hitherto been largely restricted to the Southern Province; here, for the first time, an archaeological evaluation of the later Iron Age of other regions has been attempted, and three major pottery traditions are described. In the northern and eastern areas the Luangwa tradition appears to have been established by the eleventh or twelfth century A.D., making a sharp typological break with the preceding Early Iron Age traditions. In the west, the Lungwebungu tradition shows a greater degree of continuity from the Early Iron Age, but in much of the Zambezi valley and adjacent areas it has been supplanted by the sharply-contrasting Linyanti tradition for which a Kololo origin is postulated. The inception of the Luangwa tradition is attributed to the arrival of a new population element ancestral to most of the peoples who inhabit northern and eastern Zambia today, but there is in the archaeological record of this region little discernible trace of later migrations associated with the state-formation process recalled in the extant oral traditions. The implications of these observations for the interpretation of both archaeological data and of oral traditions are discussed and tentative conclusions are proposed concerning the inter-relationship of these two methodologies.
Journal Article
Zambian rock paintings
Zambian rock painting sites are described and evaluated, emphasis being placed on recently discovered material and on evidence for the establishment of regional stylistic sequences. Rare naturalistic paintings, which are concentrated in the northern region, are attributed, like their counterparts elsewhere in southern and central Africa, to the Late Stone Age. The later sequence of schematic styles, between which and the naturalistic paintings some chronological overlap can be demonstrated, is attributed to the Iron Age, and evidence is quoted to link many examples with religious and social ceremonies. The schematic art developed, particularly in the east, into a group of crude white paintings whose execution has continued into recent times.
Journal Article
The Early Iron Age in Zambia—Regional Variants and some Tentative Conclusions
The Early Iron Age people appear to have been responsible for the introduction into Zambia of pot-making, metallurgy and, less certainly, food production. Recent research has greatly increased the known number of Early Iron Age sites in Zambia and a number of regional variants have been defined, based largely on the typology of the associated pottery. Radiocarbon dates suggest that these groups are all to be dated to the first millennium a.d. and that they are contemporary with, and related to, the earliest known Iron Age in Rhodesia and some East African sites. It is suggested that the Early Iron Age people slowly spread into eastern Africa from an area west of Lake Tanganyika during the first few centuries a.d. Some related sites are known from this westerly region. This hypothesis can be compared with Oliver's interpretation of Guthrie's linguistic evidence; but the use of archaeological and linguistic arguments together is impossible until proof is available that the Early Iron Age people spoke Bantu languages.
Journal Article
