Plant use in southern Africa’s Middle Iron Age: the archaeobotany of Mutamba

ABSTRACT

Mutamba is a thirteenth-century settlement located on the Soutpansberg Mountains in northern South Africa with links to the regionally important Mapungubwe polity. This paper provides a detailed report of the range and utilisation of archaeobotanical taxa found at Mutamba. This research provides base-line evidence on the little understood, but significant role of plants in southern African Iron Age society. The analysis of 100 randomly selected samples from domestic features yielded 11 identifiable species and two genera. The results provide evidence for a potential crop package made up of finger millet (Eleusine coracana), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) and mung beans (Vigna radiata). Mutamba also contains the first documented example of Vigna radiata as a crop component in South Africa, the first tangible indication for the occurrence of malted grains used in beer brewing and the first archaeological links between Gossypium herbaceum and cotton spinning, previously based only on ethnographic data.

RÉSUMÉ

Mutamba est un site d’habitat du treizième siècle dans les montagnes de Soutpansberg, dans la partie nord de l’Afrique du Sud. Le site est lié à la politie de Mapungubwe, qui fut importante à l’échelle régionale. Cet article fournit un rapport détaillé sur la gamme et l'utilisation de taxa archéobotaniques recueillis à Mutamba. Cette recherche fournit des données fondamentales sur le rôle peu compris, mais important, des plantes dans la société de l’âge du fer en Afrique australe. L'analyse de 100 échantillons sélectionnés au hasard dans des contextes archéologiques domestiques a permis d’identifier 11 espèces identifiables et deux genres. Les résultats indiquent l’existence potentielle d'un complexe de cultures composé d'éleusine (Eleusine coracana), de sorgho (Sorghum bicolor), de mil (Pennisetum glaucum), de niébé (Vigna unguiculata) et de haricot mung (Vigna radiata). Le site de Mutamba fournit également le premier exemple documenté de Vigna radiata en tant que composante de culture en Afrique du Sud, la première indication tangible de la présence de grains maltés utilisés dans la fabrication de la bière, et les premiers liens archéologiques entre Gossypium herbaceum et la filature du coton, qui reposaient auparavant uniquement sur des données ethnographiques.

KEYWORDS:

• archaeobotany
• South Africa
• Mutamba
• agriculture
• plant use
• Middle Iron Age
• Mapungubwe

Acknowledgements

We should like to thank the anonymous reviewers of this paper and Annie Antonites for their comments and suggestions. AA would also like to acknowledge the contributions and support of the following individuals: Hector and Hazel Kincaid-Smith, Neels Kruger, Chriselle Bruwer and the many student volunteers from Yale University and the University of Pretoria who participated in the Mutamba excavations. BS would like to thank the help and assistance of Dr C. Sievers (University of the Witwatersrand) Prof D.Q. Fuller (Institute of Archaeology, UCL) and Stefano Biagetti (University Pompeu Fabra).

Notes on contributors

Bianca Steyn’s research interests centre on plant utilisation during the Iron Age of southern Africa. In 2019 she completed an Erasmus+ mobility at the Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Pretoria.

Alexander Antonites conducts research on the archaeology of Farming Communities in southern Africa with an emphasis on political landscapes, material culture and economy. He and Ceri Ashley are currently conducting research in the Limpopo River Valley, investigating the diverse social and environmental mosaics of thirteenth-century northern South Africa. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Pretoria.

ORCID

Alexander Antonites http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8831-9638