Chicumbane Connections: Lower Limpopo Valley During the First Millennium AD

Abstract

The discussion of the transition to farming in southern Africa and the formation of Early Iron Age society, referred to in Mozambican archaeology as the Early Farming Communities (EFC), is complicated by the lack of surveys in key areas of intensive contacts. This article presents the results of excavations at the EFC site Chicumbane in the eastern lower Limpopo Valley, dated 500–800 AD. The variation of ceramic styles in terms of decoration and shape suggests predominantly interior influences (Gokomere and Zhizo facies), but there are also decoration elements similar to what is found on the coast. A wide variety of ceramic technologies were used in terms of clay sources, temper, and ways of building the pot. Here, we reconstruct possible social interactions based on these differences. Together with the other artifact categories, such as slag, metal, and shell beads, the results show some aspects of regional interactions among Early Farming Communities. The combined ceramic analyses suggest a mix of traditions by female potters who, through marriage, moved between regions, bringing new ways of decorating, tempering, and building pots.