NEGOTIATING MEANING AND CHANGE IN SPACE AND MATERIAL CULTURE An ethno-archaeological study among semi-nomadic Himba and Herera herders in north-western Namibia By Margaret Jacobsohn Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town July 1995 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. Figure 1.1. An increasingly common sight in Opuwo, Kunene region. A well known postcard by Namibian photographer TONY PUPKEWITZ ,--------------------------------------·---·------------~ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ideas in this thesis originated in numerous stimulating discussions in the 1980s with colleagues in and out of my field: In particular, I thank my supervisor, Andrew B. Smith, Martin Hall, John Parkington, Royden Yates, Lita Webley, Yvonne Brink and Megan Biesele. Many people helped me in various ways during my years of being a nomad in Namibia: These include Molly Green of Cape Town, Rod and Val Lichtman and the Le Roux family of Windhoek. Special thanks are due to my two translators, Shorty Kasaona, and the late Kaupiti Tjipomba, and to Garth Owen-Smith, who shared with me the good and the bad, as well as his deep knowledge of Kunene and its people. Without these three Namibians, there would be no thesis. Field assistance was given by Tina Coombes and Denny Smith. Graphics were done by Belinda Mutti and Tina Coombes. I am grateful for their skills and assistance. Above all, I thank the people of Purros. Okuhepa. The first three years of my field research were partly funded by the University of Cape Town, a 12- month scholarship from the Oppenheimer Institute for African Studies, and the Centre for Science Development (Human Science Research Council) South Africa. I gratefully acknowledge this assistance. In acknowledging the financial assistance of the CSD, it should be pointed out that opinions expressed in this work, or conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not to be attributed to the Centre for Science Development. Margaret Jacobsohn, Wereldsend, Namibia, July 1995 ABSTRACT This contextual archaeological narrative explores the relationship between material culture and social relations, with reference to social, economic, environmental and political changes taking place in Himba and Herero settlements in far north-western Namibia. A starting point is that changes in the organization of space and use of material culture cannot be understood as merely expressing changed social and economic conditions and/or changed value systems. It is necessary to examine how socio-economic conditions and cultural values and ideas work together to transform, produce and maintain cultural representations. By focusing intimately on one semi-nomadic herding community over a five-year period, (where domestic space has to be reconstituted, both physically and conceptually, each time a group relocates,} the study probes how meaning is differentially invested in the spatial order that people build and live in, how the material goods they make, borrow, lend, buy and use recursively come to have and hold meaning, and how and why this meaning changes. In mapping space and material goods at more than 100 wet season and dry season camps and homesteads, a number of discourses are tracked: changing gender relations, changing relations between different generations, people's relationships with natural resources, the spatial relations of former hunter-gatherers now living as herders, as well as material culture conformities and non­ conformities between Himba and Herero households. A key concern is to re-empower social actors, past and present, in the creation of (archaeological) meaning. A number of case studies show that meaning is not inherent in space or material goods; people activate meaning by their strategic interpretations. This has implications for both method and theory in archaeology, as well as for the contemporary research and rural development process in Africa. While challenging assumptions about what is knowable from the past's material remains when such remains are, inevitably, recontextualized in a particular present, the thesis contributes to knowledge about material culture and social change and thus offers a number of research directions which could contribute to a more reflexive, dialogic and socially relevant archaeology. ii CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abstract ............................ ..... .......................................................... ..... .................................... ... ii List of figures iv List of Tables ... .. ... ......... ...................................................... .................. .................................... v CHAPTER 1: A POTTER'S THUMB PRINT ... .. ........ ...... ....... .. ........ ......... ..................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: LOCATING THE PEOPLE OF KAOKO .......... .. .. ................ ........................ ............. 22 CHAPTER 3: BEYOND BUILT SPACE: SOCIO-SPATIAL GEOGRAPHY ... ...... ....... ................. ... 38 CHAPTER 4: SOCIO-SPATIAL RELATIONS .... ... ........... ................................................... ... ........ 61 CHAPTER 5: SEVEN SACRED FIRES: PATTERNS, VALUES AND STRATEGIES 94 CHAPTER 6: AGE AND GENDER RELATIONS UNDER STRESS 126 CHAPTER 7: MATERIAL GOODS IN ACTION .................. .. .... .. .............................. ..... .. ... .. ... ... .... 152 CHAPTER 8: OVER-TURNING THE WORLD .. ... .......................................................................... 172 Bibliography 194 Appendix ...... ... .... ... ... ................ ................. ............ .... ... ....... ............................. ............................ 208 iii LIST OF FIGURES Located after Title Page Figure 1.1 Himba woman shopping in Opuwo Located after Page v Figure 1.2 -Map of north western Namibia Located after Page 21 Figure 2.1 Ondikwa - ceremonial baby carrier Figure 2.2 Ekori - bridal head-dress Located after Page 37 Figure 3.1 Watering stock in a dry river bed Figure 3.2 The different water sources in the Purros range Figure 3.3 Lineage 1 movements over five years Figure 3.4 Lineage 4 movements over five years Figure 3.5 An unconventional Lineage 4 camp compared to a more typical Lineage 3 house Located after Page 93 Figure 4.1 A bride-to-be is adorned with a 'cap' of fat Figure 4.2 Plastic white armbands worn by a woman mixing ochre with fat Figure 4.3 A oHerero patrician Himba homestead recorded by Malan in the 1970s Figure 4.4 A central pole still standing after 20 years Figure 4.5 Herera space - four Purros dwelling interiors Located after Page 125 Figure 5.1 Lineage 1 gardens homestead Figure 5.2 Lineage 1 Okongwe stock camp Figure 5.3 Lineage 1: The first 'courtyard' at Purros Figure 5.4 Lineage 1's Purros homestead Figure 5.5 Lineage 2's Gardens homestead Figure 5.6 Lineage 2's first Purros camp Figure 5.7 Lineage 2's new Purros homestead Figure 5.8 A Lineage 2 pre-drought camp Figure 5.9 A Lineage 3 dry-season base at Okongombesemba Figure 5.10 Lineage 3's Purros homestead over five years Figure 5.11 Re-occupations at Lineage 3's Okozombo camp Figure 5.12 Lineage 3's Epungue wet season camp Figure 5.13 Lineage 3's Khumib camp, occupied in the early 1980s Figure 5.14 Kata's married space: Lineage 3a at Oruharwe Figure 5.15 Lineage 3a dwelling interior at Onyuva Figure 5.16 Lineage 4's second camp at Ochams, showing rock shelter Figure 5.17 Lineage 4 shelter, carved into a Boscia foetida tree iv Figure 5.18 A Lineage 4 cave dwelling, post occupation Figure 5.19 Three Lineage 4 post-wet season camps Figure 5.20 Lineage 4 tree camp Figure 5.21 Lineage 4's new Purros homestead Figure 5.22 A Lineage 4 dwelling interior at Purros Figure 5.23 Interior of Lineage 4 house at Okongombesemba Figure 5.24 -Evolution of a Lineage 6 dry season base at Purros Figure 5.25 A typical Lineage 6 wet season camp Figure 5.26 A Lineage 6 dwelling, post-occupation Figure 5.27 Diagram of a remote homestead in the far north west. Figure 5.28 Illustration of gendered use of space by Lineages 1, 3, 3a and 4 Located after Page 151 Figure 6.1 Women trancing at Purros Figure 6.2 A range of wooden neck pillows Located after Page 171 Figure 7.1 Numbers of purchases and goods bought by Purros women, over four years Figure 7.2 Numbers of purchases and goods bought by Purros men Located after Page 193 Figure 8.1 Diagram of Opuwo dwellings with interior hearths on the left LIST OF TABLES Located on Page 54 Table 3.1 Moves and number of camps per lineage over five years Located on Page 56 Table 3.2 Breakdown of annual moves per lineage Located on Page 157 Table 7.1 Categories of household goods per lineages Located on Page 161 Table 7.2 Numbers of selected items present in lineage dwellings Located on Page 167 Table 7.3 Trade transactions according to age and gender v ANGOLA I 1 I I / 0 1000 km I I I : I ~ • Etanga I ~ •, I I ~: I \ OWAMBO • Opuwo ~\ I \ I () I ., I 0 \ I \ "'fr. \ \ V.). \ I I KAOKOLAND I I I I I I I I I I 1- --- I I , ,.) Rocky Point , N (ETOSHA I : NAT ,..,I I '• ' ............. f \PARK ' I I \ I I ' ... -.. , : \ DAMARALAND ' '.' I I' I I Figure 1 .2. North western Namibia, now known as the Kunene region, showing main study area. CHAPTER 1: A POTTER'S THUMB PRINT "It is the theory which decides what can be observed." Albert Einstein " ... social systems have no purposes, reasons or needs whatsoever; only human individuals do so." Giddens (1979:7) 1.1. INTRODUCTION THIS thesis is based on more than five years of ethno-archaeological research, including two years living with herding communities in north western Namibia. My aim, when I mapped the first of more than 100 Himba and Herera homesteads under a blazing sun at inhospitable Ocha ms on the edge of the Namib Desert, was to explore the nature of the link between social relations and material culture, with particular reference to socio-economic changes currently taking place in the area.