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Living on the margin?: The Iron Age communities of Mananzve Hill, Shashi region, South-western Zimbabwe
In conventional reconstructions of the Iron Age archaeology of southern Africa, drylands have long been viewed as marginal landscapes that did not host any significant agropastoral communities in the past. Against this background, this study explores the discourse of dryland marginality in southern...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Archaeology
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613485012090880 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Nyamushosho, Robert Tendai |
| author2 | Chirikure, Shadreck |
| author_browse | Chirikure, Shadreck Nyamushosho, Robert Tendai |
| author_facet | Chirikure, Shadreck Nyamushosho, Robert Tendai |
| author_sort | Nyamushosho, Robert Tendai |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | In conventional reconstructions of the Iron Age archaeology of southern Africa, drylands have long been viewed as marginal landscapes that did not host any significant agropastoral communities in the past. Against this background, this study explores the discourse of dryland marginality in southern Zambezia using the Shashi region as a case study. Archaeological surveys and excavations were conducted to retrieve reliable data for establishing the settlement history and adaptation strategies of Iron Age communities that lived in this landscape. The study was guided by the concepts of vulnerability, adaptation and resilience, as well as landscape archaeology. Results from excavations conducted at Mananzve, one of the surveyed and excavated sites, show that this part of the Shashi region has a long settlement history spanning the Early Iron Age and the Later Iron Age. Analyses of the recovered material culture shows that Iron Age communities that resided at Mananzve adapted various methods of indigenous dryland agriculture to maintain food security. These findings show that adaptation is context-specific and challenge the designation of drylands such as the Shashi region as 'marginal', since that term undermines the adaptive capacity and resilience of Iron Age communities. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/24451 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:36:53.630Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Department of Archaeology |
| publisherStr | Department of Archaeology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/24451 Living on the margin?: The Iron Age communities of Mananzve Hill, Shashi region, South-western Zimbabwe Nyamushosho, Robert Tendai Chirikure, Shadreck Archaeology In conventional reconstructions of the Iron Age archaeology of southern Africa, drylands have long been viewed as marginal landscapes that did not host any significant agropastoral communities in the past. Against this background, this study explores the discourse of dryland marginality in southern Zambezia using the Shashi region as a case study. Archaeological surveys and excavations were conducted to retrieve reliable data for establishing the settlement history and adaptation strategies of Iron Age communities that lived in this landscape. The study was guided by the concepts of vulnerability, adaptation and resilience, as well as landscape archaeology. Results from excavations conducted at Mananzve, one of the surveyed and excavated sites, show that this part of the Shashi region has a long settlement history spanning the Early Iron Age and the Later Iron Age. Analyses of the recovered material culture shows that Iron Age communities that resided at Mananzve adapted various methods of indigenous dryland agriculture to maintain food security. These findings show that adaptation is context-specific and challenge the designation of drylands such as the Shashi region as 'marginal', since that term undermines the adaptive capacity and resilience of Iron Age communities. 2017-06-01T10:09:38Z 2017-06-01T10:09:38Z 2017 Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24451 eng application/pdf Department of Archaeology Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Archaeology Nyamushosho, Robert Tendai Living on the margin?: The Iron Age communities of Mananzve Hill, Shashi region, South-western Zimbabwe |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Living on the margin?: The Iron Age communities of Mananzve Hill, Shashi region, South-western Zimbabwe |
| title_full | Living on the margin?: The Iron Age communities of Mananzve Hill, Shashi region, South-western Zimbabwe |
| title_fullStr | Living on the margin?: The Iron Age communities of Mananzve Hill, Shashi region, South-western Zimbabwe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Living on the margin?: The Iron Age communities of Mananzve Hill, Shashi region, South-western Zimbabwe |
| title_short | Living on the margin?: The Iron Age communities of Mananzve Hill, Shashi region, South-western Zimbabwe |
| title_sort | living on the margin the iron age communities of mananzve hill shashi region south western zimbabwe |
| topic | Archaeology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24451 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nyamushoshoroberttendai livingonthemargintheironagecommunitiesofmananzvehillshashiregionsouthwesternzimbabwe |