The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University 1 Dissertation presented for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in the Department of Archaeology. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN Population variation within the Iron Age of southern AfricaTown An assessment using dental anthropological and cranio-mandibular metric techniques Cape of Kerryn Ashleigh Warren January 2013 University Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. RR Ackermann Co-supervisor: Dr. Simon Hall 2 Plagiarism Declaration I know the meaning of plagiarism and declare that all of the work in the dissertation (or thesis), save for that which is properly acknowledged, is my own. Signature: Town Cape of University 3 ABSTRACT Evidence for iron smelting, agriculture, elaborate pottery styles and increased sedentism appears abruptly in areas previously inhabited by hunter-gatherers and herders during the Early Iron Age (EIA) of southern Africa from around 250CE. Ceramic evidence connects these (cultural) populations to the second millennium Iron Age sites in eastern Botswana. This material culture differs from second millennium Late Iron Age (LIA) sites in South Africa which are attributed to migrations from east Africa and are connected, via the material culture, to modern Sotho-Tswana and Nguni speakers. Although the material culture of this period is well-studied, there is a gap in correlating Iron Age biological identity with the established cultural identity. Here I presentTown an analysis of metric and non- metric dental and cranial variation to better understand biological relationships among these samples. Specimens from the LIA, EIA and Eastern Botswana are compared with each other, and to specimens from Iron Age Zambian sites, modern Bantu-speakers andCape a historic Ndebele site from the mid- nineteenth century. This research indicates few differencesof between the EIA and LIA groups, although surprisingly a sample from eastern Botswana is more similar to the LIA group than the EIA group. The Iron Age samples are significantly different from the modern sample, while the historic sample lies intermediate to the Iron Age and modern samples, indicating that Iron Age peoples had a pattern of dental and cranio-mandibular variation that differs from what is seen in modern (admixed?) descendants. This researchUniversity has important implications for our understanding of the sub-Saharan African dental complex, showing population differences within this complex (between Khoesan and Iron Age peoples) as well as variation over time (between Iron Age peoples and modern Bantu- speakers). This indicates that, while farmers within the Iron Age of southernmost Africa are generally homogenous, there are important differences between populations in sub-Saharan Africa that reflect complex and differing histories. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe so many people so much for helping me get to this point. First of all, thank you to my supervisor, Becky Ackermann, for being an inspiration and to Simon Hall, my co-supervisor, for your knowledgeable guidance. To Alan Morris, Wendy Black, Lauren Schroeder and Tessa Campbell: thank you for always being willing to help me (and teach me) when otherwise I would have been completely lost. To Judy Sealy: for your wisdom. And to Louisa Hutten and Lynn Cable: for so many little things I see you do every day and for so many more that I take for granted. To Brendon Billings (University of Witwatersrand), Morongwa Mosothwane (University of Botswana), Anja Meyer (UniversityTown of Pretoria), Frank Teichert (Ditsong Museum) and Gavin Whitelaw (Natal Museum): thank you for assisting me in your collections and for making me feel at home and amongstCape friends. Thank you to many others for your friendship, accommodation and aid duringof my travels. A heart-felt thank you to my dad, who never asks when I am going to start working, and my mom, who is always enthusiastic about everything I do. To my brother: who I am so proud of, to my friends andUniversity family in Cape Town: thank you for your laughter and presence. To Bryce: for being so patient and so kind. To my friends and family in PE: thank you for giving me something to look forward to on those rare vacations. To my grandparents: for all the advice and love I could ever need. And a special thank you to the Harry Crossley Foundation, University of Cape Town and NRF for believing in me and making all this possible with your financial support. 5 CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... 4 ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 10 CHAPTER 2: ARCHAEOLOGY AND IDENTITY IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN IRON AGE ......................................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Advent and origins: Cultural and archaeological Identity .............................................Town 17 The Early Iron Age .......................................................................................................... 20 The Middle Iron Age .......................................................................................................Cape 27 The LIA and the origins of Sotho-Tswanaof and Nguni-speakers ...................................... 31 2.3 Linguistics, interactions and genetics ............................................................................ 36 Linguistic identity ............................................................................................................ 36 Farmer interaction ............................................................................................................ 38 Genetic IdentityUniversity ................................................................................................................ 42 2.4 Questions........................................................................................................................ 46 CHAPTER 3: SKELETAL STUDIES OF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN IRON AGE ......... 48 3.1 Human skeletal material and the southern African Iron Age ........................................ 49 Southern African skeletal analysis ................................................................................... 49 Work on archaeological skeletal remains in South Africa ............................................... 52 6 Cranial and mandibular metrics on southern African populations .................................. 55 3.2 Dental Anthropology ..................................................................................................... 58 What is dental anthropology ............................................................................................ 58 Dental anthropology and identity..................................................................................... 59 The use of dental anthropology in southern Africa ......................................................... 62 3.3. The project in context ................................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER 4: MATERIALS AND METHODS ..................................................................... 67 4.1. Cranial, mandibular and dental samples ....................................................................... 67 4.2. Dental non-metric traits ................................................................Town................................ 81 4.3. Dental metrics ............................................................................................................... 85 4.4. 3D scanning and cranial and mandibular metricsCape ................................ ......................... 87 4.5. Dental health and cultural practices ..............................................................................of 94 CHAPTER 5: RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 96 5.1 Non-metric dental description........................................................................................ 97 5.2 Non-metric dental comparisons ................................................................................... 102 Non-metric dentalUniversity comparisons between the Iron Age samples .................................... 102 Non-metric dental comparisons between the Iron Age sample and modern and historical samples ........................................................................................................................... 110 Non-metric dental comparisons between the Iron Age and small sub-set of Wendy Black‘s Khoesan ............................................................................................................ 115 Additional non-metric comparisons (Torus, midline