AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE ZIMBABWE CULTURE CAPITAL OF KHAMI, SOUTH-WESTERN ZIMBABWE TAWANDA MUKWENDE University of Cape Town Supervisor: Associate Professor Shadreck Chirikure Co-Supervisor: Associate Professor Simon Hall Thesis Presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Archaeology University of Cape Town 2016 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. University of Cape Town ABSTRACT This study sought to understand the archaeology of the Zimbabwe Culture capital of Khami through synchronic and diachronic analyses of its material culture. The research employed a number of methodological approaches that included a review of historic documents, surveying and mapping, excavations, museum collection analysis, and artefact studies, in order to collect datasets from various sections of the site, including the walled and the non- walled areas. The main indication is that there is a great deal of similarity in material culture distribution across the whole site. An analysis of objects by stratigraphic sequence exposes continuity and change in local and imported objects. Dry stone-wall architectural data suggests that the site was constructed over a long period, with construction motivated by a number of expansionary factors. The study confirms that Khami began as a fully developed cultural unit, with no developmental trajectory recorded at Mapungubwe or Great Zimbabwe, where earlier ceramic units influenced later ones. Consequently, this study cautiously suggests that Khami represents a continuity with the Woolandale chiefdoms that settled in the south-western parts of the country and in the adjacent areas of Botswana. On the basis of the chronological and material culture evidence, Khami is unlikely to have emerged out of Great Zimbabwe. However, more research is needed to confirm these emergent conclusions, and to better understand the chronological and spatial relationships between not just Woolandale and Khami sites but also Khami and the multiple Khami-type sites scattered across southern Zambezia. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The success of this study owes a great deal to a number of individuals and institutions that contributed in one way or the other to the project. I thank my two supervisors, Associate Professor Shadreck Chirikure and Associate Professor Simon Hall, for the guidance and support offered during the course of this study. Associate Professor Chirikure suggested the topic and provided useful ideas and suggestions that helped in shaping this thesis. He also read several draft chapters and provided useful comments, ideas and direction. I am also grateful to Dr. Foreman Bandama for the intellectual support during the course of my studies and also helping me integrate into the Archaeology Department at UCT. Dr. Bandama also read various drafts of this thesis and provided useful comments, making him my unofficial third supervisor. I acknowledge financial support of the National Research Foundation (NRF) through grants to Associate Professor Shadreck Chirikure’s Metals and Urbanism Project, which helped cover my tuition and research costs for the duration of my studies. The support of my Executive Director, Dr Godfrey Mahachi and Regional Director Dr Moira Fitzpatrick in affording me study leave to undertake studies leading to this thesis is greatly appreciated. They also offered me the relevant research permit that enabled me to excavate at Khami. My fieldwork at Khami benefitted from the support offered by a number of colleagues. Associate Professor Chirikure not only provided critical intellectual guidance and direction towards the project but he also took part in fieldwork activities at Khami. I also thank Dr. Bandama for his contribution and guidance during fieldwork. To my colleagues from the Materials Laboratory - Abigail Moffett, Michelle House, Robert Nyamushosho and Catherine Schenk, I say thank you for all the support and for your contribution during my fieldwork. Dr. Per Fredriksen and Katrine Furu Dyvart from the University of Oslo also participated in the fieldwork at Khami. In particular, I note the support of Associate Professor Simon Hall for his support and for his offering of useful insights during the 2015 fieldwork. I am also grateful to Katrine and Kith Mkwananzi (from the Natural History Museum) for helping me with my faunal analysis. I am indebted to my colleagues from Khami World Heritage Site for ii their contribution towards the success of this project. These include Mr Lonke Nyoni, Obert Mangwana, Maxwell Fumula, Joseph Tasikani and Herp Ncube. These colleagues provided support and the necessary logistics that enabled the smooth running of fieldwork at the site as well as participating in the fieldwork activities. I am also grateful for the encouragement that I have received from Professor Gilbert Pwiti, University of Zimbabwe; Professor Innocent Pikirayi, University of Pretoria and Dr Munyaradzi Manyanga, University of Zimbabwe. Their ideas and tremendous influence on Zimbabwean archaeology over the years have been an important source of inspiration that I will forever cherish. I say thank you to my mother and my late father for the support and guidance that they have offered me over the years. My siblings have also been pillars of strength for me, and I am deeply grateful to them. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 THE ZIMBABWE CULTURE ..................................................................................................... 2 1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ............................................................................................ 9 1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE ......................................................................................................... 10 1.5 PHYSIOGRAPHIC SETTING ................................................................................................... 10 1.5.1 CLIMATE ................................................................................................................................ 11 1.5.2 VEGETATION ........................................................................................................................ 13 1.5.3 GEOLOGY .............................................................................................................................. 14 1.6 BACKGROUND TO ARCHAEOLOGY OF KHAMI .............................................................. 15 1.7 THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK .............................................. 17 1.8 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY ......................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2: APPROACHES TO MATERIAL CULTURE STUDIES IN ARCHAEOLOGY ........ 20 2.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 20 2.2 WHAT IS MATERIAL CULTURE STUDIES? ........................................................................ 20 2.3 MATERIAL CULTURE STUDIES: A REVIEW OF GLOBAL TRENDS .............................. 25 2.4 MATERIAL CULTURE STUDIES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA ................................................ 27 2.5 OBJECTS IN MATERIAL CULTURE STUDIES .................................................................... 32 2.6 APPLICATION OF MATERIAL CULTURE THEORY TO CURRENT STUDY .................. 33 2.7 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................ 36 CHAPTER 3: CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF KHAMI ............... 37 3.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 37 3.2 HISTORICAL SOURCES AND ORAL TRADITIONS ........................................................... 37 3.3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH .......................................................................................... 40 3.3.1 ORIGINS ................................................................................................................................. 41 3.3.2 STONE WALLING AND DHAKA STRUCTURES .............................................................. 43 3.3.3 MATERIAL CULTURE: OBJECTS ....................................................................................... 48 3.3.4 SEQUENCE AND CHRONOLOGY .....................................................................................