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Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe

Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.

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Other Authors: Pikirayi, Innocent
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Pikirayi, Innocent
author_browse Pikirayi, Innocent
author_facet Pikirayi, Innocent
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2012 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/30082
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:28.861Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/30082 Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe Pikirayi, Innocent machiridzalh@msu.ac.zw Machiridza, Lesley H. Material culture Style Identity Ethnicity Agency Social interaction Rozvi Historical archaeology UCTD Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. The desire to attach identities (e.g. ethnic, gender, race, class, nationality etc.) to material culture has always featured at the core of archaeological inquiry. Archaeologists share the view that material culture is an active cultural agent that can reflect complex ideas that operated in the minds of prehistoric agents when carefully examined. These ideas were often shaped by dynamic social interactions and they sometimes manifested through stylistic patterns or material culture variation at archaeological sites. In Zimbabwe, various archaeological identities have been defined but Rozvi identities remain the most problematic. This study, therefore, revisits the Rozvi subject in the light of contemporary ideas on ethnicity, agency and material culture. Rozvi identities are probed from material culture at Khami and Danamombe sites, which are also linked with the Torwa historically, thus historical archaeology largely informs this investigation. Through documentary and fieldwork research results, I found that Rozvi identity construction processes were extremely fluid and sophisticated. Diverse elements of culture (both tangible and intangible) were situationally invoked to mark Rozvi ethnic boundaries. Whilst ceramics at Khami were diverse and complex, Danamombe pottery became more simple, less diverse or homogenous. Polychrome band and panel ware however still occurred at Danamombe, but in very restricted numbers. Perhaps the production and distribution of polychrome wares was controlled by Rozvi elites as part of their ideology and power structures. On the contrary, beads, dry-stone walls, and status symbols became more diversified at Danamombe than at Khami. However, Dhaka structures show no difference between the two research sites, where mundane stylistic differences manifesting at Danamombe, the former Rozvi capital, are perceived as demonstrative of ethnic objectification. Anthropology and Archaeology unrestricted 2013-09-07T17:53:45Z 2013-01-10 2013-09-07T17:53:45Z 2012-09-06 2013-01-10 2012-12-03 Dissertation Machiridza, Lesley H. 2012, Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe, MA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30082 > F12/9/297/ag http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30082 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12032012-170053/ © 2012 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Material culture
Style
Identity
Ethnicity
Agency
Social interaction
Rozvi
Historical archaeology
UCTD
Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe
title Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe
title_full Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe
title_fullStr Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe
title_full_unstemmed Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe
title_short Material culture and dialectics of identity and power : towards a historical archaeology of the Rozvi in South-Western Zimbabwe
title_sort material culture and dialectics of identity and power towards a historical archaeology of the rozvi in south western zimbabwe
topic Material culture
Style
Identity
Ethnicity
Agency
Social interaction
Rozvi
Historical archaeology
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/30082
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12032012-170053/