South African Archaeological Bulletin 68 (197): 63–71, 2013
63
Field and Technical Report
A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON FIELDWORK IN THE NORTHERN
TULI GAME RESERVE, NORTHEASTERN BOTSWANA
TIM FORSSMAN
St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, OX2 6LE, United Kingdom
E-mail: [email protected]
(Received July 2012. Revised February 2013)
INTRODUCTION
There has been a great deal of archaeological research
conducted on the Greater Mapungubwe Landscape, an area
which includes northern South Africa, northeastern Botswana
and southwestern Zimbabwe (Fig. 1). Most of this research has
been conducted on the South African side of the border
(Fouché 1937; Hanisch 1980, 1981a; Eastwood & Cnoops 1999;
Calabrese 2000a,b; Hall & Smith 2000; Huffman 2000, 2007,
2008, 2009; Wood 2000; Kuman et al. 2005; Van Doornum 2005,
2007, 2008; Eastwood & Eastwood 2006; Schoeman 2006;
Kempson 2007; Forssman 2010). Immediately to the north of
the Limpopo River, in Botswana and Zimbabwe, little work has
been conducted even though a number of sites have been
identified (see Huffman 2008). Zimbabwe has seen some
studies focusing on the agricultural sequence (e.g. Robinson
1966; Garlake 1967; Manyanga et al. 2000; Manyanga 2006) and
excavations have been performed at a small number of
LSA sites (e.g. Robinson 1964; Cooke & Simons 1969; Walker &
Thorp 1997; Thorp 2010). The least studied part of this landscape is in Botswana where only a few excavations at agriculturalist homesteads (Van Waarden 1979, 1980; Voigt & Plug
1981; Kinahan et al. 1998; Kinahan 2000; Mosothwane 2011) and
a single LSA excavation (Walker 1994) have been reported. The
Greater Mapungubwe Landscape witnessed significant cultural
changes between AD 900 and 1300 leading to the apparent
disappearance of the indigenous foraging culture (Van
Doornum 2005: 196) and the formation of complex agro-pastoral
state societies (Huffman 2000). In this paper recent findings
from a large project in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve,
Botswana (Fig. 2) are presented in order to demonstrate the
rich archaeology of the region and contribute to our understanding of the local prehistory.
FIG. 1. The Greater Mapungubwe Landscape and sites mentioned in the text.
BACKGROUND
LOCAL ENVIRONMENT
Northern Tuli is a 72 000 ha game reserve most of which is
located between the Motloutse and Shashe Rivers in northeastern
Botswana. Its southern and northeastern boundaries are
the international borders with South Africa and Zimbabwe,
respectively. The area is composed primarily of undulating
basalt ridges except along the Limpopo and Motloutse Rivers
where shear deformation along the Limpopo Mobile Belt (McCarthy & Rubridge 2005: 37) has exposed the underlying
Clarens Sandstone Complex and formed koppies and sandstone ridges (Le Baron et al. 2010). Dense stands of Mopane tree
(Colophospermum mopane) dominate the local vegetation with
vachellia (previously known as acacia) shrubland in floodplains and on disturbed land (Alexander 1984). The northern
basalt zone is only broken by the Pitsani, Njaswe and Mojale
Rivers along which fertile floodplains can be found in certain
areas. Along the river networks are riverine forests comprising
mostly Croton spp., apple-leaf (Lonchocarpus capassa), nyala
FIG. 2. Location of Northern Tuli.
tree (Xanthecercis zambesiaca) and vachellia. The area is characteristically hot and dry with an average maximum temperature
of around 32°C in summer and 22°C during winter (Hanisch
1981b) and an average rainfall of between 320 and 350 mm per
annum (Huffman 2008).
PREVIOUS ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
There have been a number of surveys conducted in Northern
Tuli, but most of these findings remain unpublished. The bulk
of the surveying was performed by Grant Hall during his
employment at the Mashatu Game Reserve. From his work he
produced an unpublished report (G. Hall 2003) in which he
discusses the Mmamagwa complex, 46 agriculturalist homesteads that he was able to identify which include Zhizo, K2,
Mapungubwe, Khami and Venda period sites (Table 1), and a
glass bead assemblage collected from the Mmamagwa complex
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South African Archaeological Bulletin 68 (197): 63–71, 2013
TABLE 1. Chronology of major ceramic facies found in the area.
Ceramic facies
Date (AD)
Reference
Happy Rest
Zhizo
Leokwe
Toutswe
K2
Transitional K2
Mapungubwe
Icon
Khami
Venda (Letaba)
350–600
750–1050
1050–1220
1050–1300
1000–1200
1200–1250
1250–1300
1350–1400
1400–1800
1600 until present
Hanisch 1981a
Calabrese 2000a
Calabrese 2000a
Huffman 2007: 151
Huffman 2007: 279
Huffman 2007: 279
Calabrese 2000b
Huffman 2010
Huffman 2012
Loubser 1991
and analysed by Marilee Wood (2005). There have been two
additional surveys conducted by Ed Eastwood along the
Motloutse River and by Cynthia Mooketsi (2009) in the western
portion of Mashatu near to the Mmamagwa complex.
In addition to the surveys there have been a few excavations. The earliest of these was Van Waarden’s (1979, 1980)
excavations at Leeukop as part of a project sponsored by Trent
University. The site is about 1.6 km northwest of Mmamagwa
and was occupied by agriculturalists during the 19th century
with a possible early 17th century component and may have
been used as a rain-control site. Over 40 pole and daga structures were found along with several middens and a large assemblage of ceramics, beads and a number of human burials.
Commando Kop, which is situated approximately 22 km northeast of Leeukop and along the Pitsani River, was excavated as
part of the same project (Voigt & Plug 1981). The site has a
primary Zhizo occupation with 11 associated human burials
but also has Leopard Kopje ceramics. During the Second AngloBoer War the site was used as a canon station (Huffman 2012)
because of its elevated position on Pitsani Hill overlooking
Bryce’s store 2 km south along the river where an intense battle
occurred in 1899 (Hickman 1972). Fortunately, the temporary
war-time use of Pitsani Hill did not damage the site significantly (Voigt & Plug 1981).
More recently Nick Walker (1994) excavated Tuli Lodge and
Morongwa Mosothwane (2011) Cut Line Rock, both near the
Limpopo River. Mosothwane’s (2011) excavation in 2008 was
limited to the removal of a naturally mummified human body
later found to be a male between the ages of 40 and 60 years.
The remains were removed from a homestead that contains
Khami ceramics and was likely occupied between AD 1400
and 1800. At Tuli Lodge Nick Walker (1994) excavated two 1 ×
1 m squares to a depth of 30 cm and recovered 14 379 lithics
which include 4912 chips (34.16%) and 441 formal tools (4.66%).
He noted a decline of backed pieces relative to scrapers in
upper levels. The assemblage also included Bambata sherds
and what Walker (1994) calls Mapungubwe/Zimbabwe ware as
well as large amounts of copper slag.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Surveying for archaeological sites is the primary phase of
any archaeological work (Tartaron 2003), and the inspection
and identification of sites is an integral step before any excavation (Wandsnider & Camilli 1992). Some scholars have even
suggested that surveying is more important than excavating
(Alcock & Cherry 2004) but it is not without its limitations
(Lewarch & O’Brien 1981; Sullivan et al. 2007), which if not
taken into consideration, have the potential to distort results.
These limitations can include vegetation cover (Foley 1981),
survey procedures (Cherry et al. 1988), substrate type (Shennan
1985), site identification (Fish & Kowalewski 1990; Orton 2007)
and the distance between the surveyor and the artefact as well
as the artefact’s size and colour (Banning et al. 2006). This has
led some researchers to question the quality of data produced
by archaeological surveys (Cowgill 1989) and ask what in fact
these finds actually represent (Wandsnider & Camilli 1992).
Most researchers, however, do agree that many of the issues
surrounding an archaeological survey can be overcome by a
well-structured survey technique (Sampson 1985) and there
are a number of techniques that a surveyor can choose from.
Google Earth has been used to plot stone-walled settlements
and to identify their different architectural styles (Sadr &
Rodier 2012) as well as aerial photography to identify agriculturalist homesteads (Denbow 1984). Chemical analysis of soils
such as phosphate testing (Wells et al. 2000) is also a useful
technique as is the use of test pits (Nance & Ball 1986) to identify
areas of human activity that are not visible on the surface. However, foot surveying is argued as the best technique for any
archaeological survey (Foley 1981; Reid & Segobye 2000). There
are a number of ways that a foot survey can be undertaken and
includes surveying vegetation or geological zones (Sampson
1985; Lane 1996), specific features of the landscape such as
koppies (Forssman 2010) or walking in transects (Bintliff &
Snodgrass 1988).
SURVEY METHOD
Two survey techniques were used in this project: foot and
vehicle surveys. Not all of Northern Tuli was surveyed due to
its size and the project’s time constraints. Only Tuli Safari
Lodge (2143 ha) and Uitspan South (794 ha) were surveyed
completely on foot with the northern portion of Tuli surveyed
in a vehicle. The Mashatu Game Reserve (25 018 ha) was also
surveyed but not in its entirety. Mashatu was divided up into
1 × 1 minute squares using a 1:50 000 topographic map (Fig. 3).
In each square terrain ruggedness (as indicated by the total
length of contour lines), hill ranges, the dominant geology and
soil type, the number of koppies, known sites and possible sites
were recorded. Based on the presence, absence and combination of these attributes certain squares were selected for foot
surveying. The intention was to cover not only areas where
sites were known or expected to occur but also a representative
sample of the different ecological zones. The area around
Mmamagwa was completely surveyed in order to gain a better
understanding of site distribution around this important
farmer site and to test whether there is a greater density of
forager sites from within the last 2000 years around the
Mmamagwa settlement (see Reid & Segobye 2000). Figure 4
presents a map of the foot and vehicle surveys.
FIG. 3. The 1 × 1 minute grid placed over Mashatu also includes Tuli and
Uitspan.
South African Archaeological Bulletin 68 (197): 63–71, 2013
FIG. 4. Foot and vehicle survey tracklogs.
SITE DEFINITION AND RECORDING
Among other reasons, survey data needs to be recorded so
as to inform future decisions on which sites are to be excavated
(Foley 1981). Important information to record includes site
position, the condition of the site and deposit, the approximate
depth of the deposit, a list of artefact types present such as
LSA lithics, ceramics or bead types with an estimate of artefact
density and site size. In parts of Europe, North America and
Africa the concept of a ‘site’ is rejected (Ebert 2001) because
defining sites in areas with a widespread artefact distribution is
not always possible (Krakker et al. 1983). For this reason some
have instead suggested that archaeology needs to be studied
across the landscape (Thomas 1975; Foley 1981). The definition
of a site draws on other debates in archaeology including special purpose sites (Binford 1983) and aggregation and
dispersal camps (Wadley 1989), the discussion of which is
beyond the scope of this paper. Modifying the definition of
Bevan & Conolly (2004) who refer to any accumulation of
artefacts as a site, I consider sites to be any archaeological point
of interest. While this includes what are traditionally accepted
as sites such as agriculturalist homesteads it also includes
discrete artefact accumulations like lithic or ceramic scatters,
isolated finds of stone tools and rock markings such as mankala
gaming boards or grinding hollows. In this survey, a survey
card was developed with the categories GPS coordinates, site
number, substrate, soil depth, erosion, location, habitat type,
natural features, animal and human activity and archaeological
features listed. The list of categories has a corresponding list of
conditions which are numbered to simplify the recording
process. For example, when recording the category soil depth
the conditions and corresponding numbers are: 1 = <5 cm;
2 = 5–20 cm 3 = 20–50 cm; 4 = 50–100 cm and 5 = >100 cm.
Only the number representing the applicable depth measurement is recorded. This technique allows for rapid recording in
the field and a concise, systematic and consistent recording
system easily stored in a digital format and manipulated thereafter.
65
to archaeologists. For example, of the 186 LSA points of interest
30 (16.13%) are at raw material outcrops, which contain a small
number of lithics that are scattered over a large area and mixed
with naturally occurring raw material resources. It is not possible
to say when these lithics were produced and for how long the
site was occupied and conducting a full study may prove difficult because of the lack of deposit, mixing of artefacts with
naturally broken nodules and the wide distribution of the low
density stone tool scatter.
Many of the LSA points of interest are ephemeral or discrete
collections of lithics. Some offered no option for further
enquiry due to a number of reasons, one of which is erosion; a
total of 51 (27.42%) LSA points of interest were subjected to
either extensive or considerable erosion. There are two reasons
why erosion is so prevalent on the landscape. First, the area is
covered with aeolian sand, possibly a mantle of the eastern
palaeo-Kalahari (Le Baron et al. 2010). When flooding is experienced, to which the area is prone (Plug 2000), alluvial action
results in the removal of the deposit and formation of erosional
gullies. Second, the region was used for intensified local cattle
ranching during the early part of the 20th century (Mazonde
1987) contributing to localised land degradation. Both of
the factors have contributed to the eroded landscape. At
32 (17.20%) LSA points of interest, however, no erosion was
recorded and the sites appear to be in primary context. Such
ephemeral scatters are often overlooked by archaeologists
(Orton 2007) and archaeological projects should include them
as they may provide us with valuable information on shortterm camps.
One might expect that there would be a concentration of
LSA points of interest (including rock art sites) near to major
agriculturalist centres such as has been found elsewhere in
Botswana (Reid & Segobye 2000). Figure 5 shows the location of
the Leokwe Hill and Mmamagwa agriculturalist centres with
a 3 km radius buffer zone around each site and the known
LSA points of interest, rock art sites and excavations carried out
on the landscape. The density of LSA points around
Mmamagwa is 1.17/km² (n = 33) and 1.03/km² (n = 29) at
Leokwe Hill. In the area of Nldulamithi Kraal and Shawu
Camp, two sites excavated in this project, the LSA density is
2.76/km² (n =78) in the same sized buffer zone. It is clear that
there is a large amount of forager sites around the agriculturalist
centres but their contemporaneity with the agriculturalist
centres is unknown.
FINDINGS
SURVEY RESULTS
The survey revealed 428 archaeological points of interest.
From the findings some interesting points can be made and are
summarised below.
LSA POINTS OF INTEREST
LSA artefacts are abundant in Northern Tuli and they are
found in a range of contexts. However, most are of little interest
FIG. 5. LSA point density around Leokwe Hill and Mmamagwa within a 3 km
radius: B2, Balerno Shelter 2; B3, Balerno Shelter 3; BMS, Balerno Main Shelter; DS, Dzombo Shelter; JS, João Shelter; KC, Kambaku Camp; LMS, Little
Muck Shelter; MS, Mafunyane Shelter; and SC, Shawu Camp.
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South African Archaeological Bulletin 68 (197): 63–71, 2013
A number of LSA lithic scatters were also found within
agriculturalist homesteads (n = 32; 17.20%) but without
excavations their association cannot be determined. Similar
occurrences have been found in other parts of southern Africa
where the LSA material was associated with the agriculturalist
homestead; for example, in Madikwe in the North West Province (S. Hall 2000), near Gaborone at Magagarape (Walker
1994), at Msuluzi in KwaZulu-Natal (Maggs 1980) and at
Baobab, a Zhizo settlement in northern South Africa (Calabrese
2005: 84). It has been suggested that foragers moved into
agriculturalist homesteads possibly through marriage (S. Hall
2000), labour relations or assimilation (Wadley 1996). The same
shift occurring on the Greater Mapungubwe Landscape might
explain the apparent disappearance of the foraging record in
rockshelter sites around AD 1300 (Van Doornum 2005: 196).
There are historical accounts of foragers living with farmers or
in permanent homesteads that might indicate assimilation had
occurred by the mid to late 1800s (see Elton 1872; Dornan 1917).
In order to test whether foragers assimilated into farmer society,
excavations need to be conducted at homesteads where lithics
occur.
IRON AGE SETTLEMENTS
The so-called Iron Age of northern South Africa has been
well-studied (for a review see Huffman 2007). In the 2229A map
zone, over 1150 agriculturalist sites have been identified
through surveys carried out by Tom Huffman and his students
(Huffman 2012). Almost all of these sites are found in South
Africa with 46 located in Northern Tuli. An additional 78 agriculturalist homesteads, defined by the presence of a single or
several kraals, were identified during the survey for this project.
In addition, 13 homesteads of those identified by G. Hall and
Huffman were revisited either because they were located in the
square being surveyed or found during the vehicle survey.
Therefore, 91 homesteads were visited during the survey and a
total of 124 homesteads have been identified on Mashatu, Tuli
and Uitspan. At some of the homesteads diagnostic ceramic
sherds or glass beads were found and it was possible to identify
in which period the site was occupied (Table 2). The homesteads are situated across the entire survey zone (Fig. 6) and
there does not seem to be a difference in the location of sites
from the Middle (AD 900–1300) and Late Iron Age (AD 1300
onwards; Fig. 7) periods.
Of particular interest are the larger sites in the survey zone
such as the Mmamagwa complex. This large political centre has
Zhizo, K2, Mapungubwe, Khami and Venda ceramics present
as well as glass beads from the respective periods (see Wood
2005). However it has not been studied in detail and little can be
said about the site other than to give a basic description. Two
main ridges occur at the Mmamagwa complex and between
FIG. 6. The distribution of agriculturalist homesteads in the survey zone.
Ovals demarcate homestead clusters
them are a number of kraals. A seasonal stream has eroded
through the occupation revealing middens, ceramics, beads
and human burials (all recorded while surveying the area and
by G. Hall 2003).The main palace is on the eastern koppie and
terracing is found at its southeastern base and near to the hilltop in this same area. On top of the hill is an area with grain bin
foundations and a number of grinding stones and at the back or
the western edge of the koppie there are at least 15 cupules in
the bedrock. The hill has various terraced areas as well as extensive walling with loopholes. Another large walled complex is
located approximately 2.15 km south of Mmamagwa on top of
a koppie. Only undiagnostic ceramics were found here during
the survey along with a Bohemian glass bead which was
produced in the 19th century AD (Wood 2005).
A number of homestead clusters were also identified during
the survey and in different parts of the research area (Fig. 7).
North of the Pont Drift border a cluster of eight sites with Icon
and Khami ceramics were identified and one with Transitional
K2 (TK2) sherds. At one of the Khami sites walling was found
on a natural terrace south of the main kraal, which may demarcate a girls’ initiation zone (see Huffman 1984). Further north
near to Ndlulamithi Kraal are three agriculturalist homestead
clusters, situated on the edge of the Mojale and Pitsani River
floodplains, and another is located northwest of the
Mmamagwa complex along the Motloutse River. The reason
why homestead clusters exist and whether all of the settlements within the cluster are contemporaneous are unknown at
this stage and should be the focus of future research.
TABLE 2. Agricultural homesteads identified based on ceramics and glass
beads.
Period
Zhizo
Leokwe
K2
Transitional K2
Mapungubwe
Icon
Khami
Venda
Unknown
Total
Iron Age settlements
7
2
10
3
6
1
30
2
63
124
FIG. 7. Middle and Later Iron Age homesteads identified during the survey.
Circles demarcate homestead clusters.
South African Archaeological Bulletin 68 (197): 63–71, 2013
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FIG. 8. Rock art sites in Northern Tuli: Bushman, herder and farmer sites.
BUSHMAN AND KHOEKHOE ROCK ART
Eastwood and colleagues (e.g. Eastwood & Cnoops 1999;
Eastwood & Eastwood 2006) have identified more than
150 Bushman rock art sites between the Mapungubwe eastern
boundary and the confluence of the Motloutse and Limpopo
Rivers. In Northern Tuli, however, only eight sites have been
identified with an additional two so-called Khoekhoen herder
art sites (Fig. 8) and 25 locations with engraved markings which
include mankala boards, grooves, cupules or hollows. The
Tuli Block as a whole, which includes Northern Tuli, lacks the
density of Bushman rock art sites found in South Africa even
though there are many paintable rock surfaces present (Walker
2009). A cursory investigation of the size of the paintable zone
shows that in South Africa, the portion of the sandstone koppie
belt that has been surveyed extends for 40.41 km along the
Limpopo River and 9.43 km inland, covering approximately
381.01 km2. The sandstone koppie belt within Northern Tuli is
less extensive, covering an area of about 71.76 km2 (24.16 km by
2.97 km). Therefore, in South Africa there is approximately a
rock art site every 2.54 km2 (total = 150) and one every 8.97 km2
(total = 8) in Northern Tuli. It is clear that even though Northern
Tuli has a smaller area where paintable surfaces occur it has a
lower density of rock art sites. The relative lack of sites may
indicate cultural differences existing across the Limpopo River,
but even so, it would not exclude the possibility of cross-border
trade, the sharing of ideas, migration and conflict (cf. Flynn
1997).
FIG. 9. A so-called Khoekhoe herder apron motif painted behind Dzombo
Shelter.
The Bushman rock art tradition in Northern Tuli is similar
to rock art in northern South Africa and Zimbabwe (Walker
2009; see Eastwood & Eastwood 2006 for an overview).There is
also so-called Khoekhoen herder art on the Greater Mapungubwe Landscape (see Eastwood & Smith 2005). Notably,
herder art differs in the way images are produced and in the
content; all are finger painted and are outlined geometric
images (Smith & Ouzman 2004) many of which may represent
aprons or loin cloths (Eastwood & Smith 2005). There are two
known sites in Northern Tuli which have so-called herder
images. One site, JB Shelter, is located behind Dzombo Shelter
and has paintings similar to what has been identified elsewhere as aprons (Fig. 9). The only other recording of fingerpainted art is at Cut Line Rock and although not mentioned
in Mosothwane’s (2011) report it was identified during the
survey along with a nearby panel of Bushman rock art. A
further analysis of this is beyond the scope of this paper.
EXCAVATIONS
Six excavated sites produced archaeological materials. Each
excavation is briefly described below and Table 3 is a summary
of the findings at each site.
Dzombo Shelter (Fig. 10) is situated about 600 m west of the
Mmamagwa complex. It is a fairly large (h: 3 m; d: 10 m; w: 8 m)
north-facing rockshelter and was excavated because of its deep
deposit (Fig. 11). Two areas of the site were excavated: inside
TABLE 3. A brief summary of the excavated assemblage at each site: DS, Dzombo Shelter; JS, João Shelter; SC, Shawu Camp; MS, Mafunyane Shelter;
KC, Kambaku Camp and NK, Ndlulamithi Kraal.
DS
MS
JS
NK
KC
SC
Chips
Chunks
Cores
Flakes
Broken flakes
Formal tools
Other
6210
814
128
738
3108
509
17
3391
411
82
347
1867
207
44
3351
454
88
257
1961
138
268
240
44
2
1
22
2
11
66
58
8
25
121
19
48
299
197
33
19
49
17
179
Total
11524
6349
6517
322
345
793
199
13
28
3
1037
80
372
24
559
45
0
0
1117
396
604
0
87
150
0
13
3
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
237
17
1
0
Plain ceramics
Diagnostic ceramics
Total
212
Organic beads
Glass beads
Metal beads
86
20
0
Total
106
31
50
3
1
54
68
South African Archaeological Bulletin 68 (197): 63–71, 2013
FIG. 10. Dzombo Shelter. Black shapes represent boulders.
FIG. 12. João Shelter.
the rock shelter two 1 × 1 m squares were dug (trench 1) and a
large artefact assemblage was recovered, and three squares
were excavated in the outside living area (trench 2). Although
no radiocarbon dates are currently available, the sequence of
decorated ceramics and glass beads appears to be consistent
with the dated sequence at farmer sites: in the upper levels
Leopard’s Kopje ceramics, Mapungubwe oblates and K2 beads
were found with Zhizo ceramics and glass beads below these.
The data recovered from the site are comparable to Van Doornum’s (2005) findings in South Africa: the lithic assemblage is
dominated by crypto-crystalline (CCS) materials with a high
frequency of formal tools (4.16%) and there are few ceramic
sherds and glass beads present.
The highest density of artefacts came from Mafunyane
Shelter (n = 595 lithics/13 l bucket), which elsewhere may be
named Tuli Lodge (the distinction was made since it was not
certain that the shelters were the same because Walker ’s [1994]
report has no GPS coordinates for the site). On the surface a
large assemblage containing lithics, ceramics and a variety of
beads was recorded and excavations inside the rockshelter
produced a large array of lithic artefacts including backed
bladelets, segments, scrapers and a variety of cores. In total a
sample of over 6000 lithics was collected in three 50 × 50 cm
squares. Also found were glass beads, various organic beads,
ceramics, copper items and a portion of a figurine. Of interest is
the substantial amount of iron and copper slag found in the
deposit.
In excavations at João Shelter (Fig. 12) a fairly large assemblage of over 6500 lithics (n = 53 lithics/13l bucket) was recovered from seven 1 × 1 m squares. The rockshelter itself, where
four of the squares were excavated, is relatively shallow (h:
5 m; d: 4 m; w: 18 m) and is situated along a portion of a large
ridge (h: 14 m; l: 55 m) less than 300 m southeast of the
Mmamagwa complex. Immediately outside the rockshelter is
an agriculturalist homestead with K2 decorated ceramics
and K2, Mapungubwe, Indo-Pacific and European glass beads.
At the site there are also at least three grainbin foundations,
three possible human burials, a midden and stone-walling
inside the rockshelter and along the koppie ridge next to the
midden (trench 4). There is also a fine-lined painting of a kudu
at the site and an indeterminate antelope. Most of the lithics
(n = 5405) came from inside the rockshelter and are dominated
by CCS materials but a lithic assemblage dominated by quartz
came from two squares placed in the homestead at a grainbin
foundation (trench 2) and in the midden (trench 4). Charcoal
samples have been selected for radiocarbon dating to establish
a chronology for the rockshelter and homestead.
Ndlulamithi Kraal was excavated to pursue the notion that
foragers may have been living within farmer homesteads. At
the site K2 and Leokwe decorated pottery was found, and
scattered on the surface was an LSA lithic assemblage which
included small and medium scrapers. The lithics were found in
the kraal and particularly in the northern portion of the homestead near the koppie edge where trench 3 is located (Fig. 13).
The site also has a possible second kraal (l: 12 m) that is slightly
smaller than the upper kraal (l: 18 m; see Huffman 2009). The
excavation revealed additional K2 and Leokwe decorated
sherds and ostrich eggshell, bone, land snail, glass and copper
beads. No diagnostic LSA artefacts were found in the excavation. However, at Kambaku Camp, a homestead with K2 and
Khami decorated ceramics, a small diagnostic LSA assemblage
was recovered from behind the hut zone where a single 1 ×1 m
square was excavated, and from within the kraal in which three
1 × 1 m squares were dug. Like Dzombo and João Shelter,
Kambaku Camp is in the southwestern sandstone belt not
FIG. 11. The stratigraphy from trench 1 inside Dzombo Shelter.
South African Archaeological Bulletin 68 (197): 63–71, 2013
69
larly Pete le Roux, Andrei Snyman, Quentin Fraser-Jones,
Francois du Toit, Abraham Ramonwana and Piet van
Rensberg. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their input as well as Karim Sadr and Jill Kinahan for their help with
editing and Wendy Voorvelt for the maps and section drawing.
All errors are my own.
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FIG. 13. Ndlulamithi Kraal.
far from the Limpopo River (500 m southeast) and the
Mmamagwa complex (3 km west). The formal component of
the lithic assemblage was relatively high (6.81%) when
compared to Dzombo Shelter (4.16%) and Shawu Camp
(3.44%) as well as other local excavations (also see Van
Doornum 2007, 2008). Of great interest is the relatively late
age estimate of the site and with radiocarbon dates it will be
possible to associate the lithic assemblage with either the K2 or
Khami occupation of the homestead.
The smallest excavated site where a single 1.5 × 1 m square
was dug is Shawu Camp. The site is located on top of a koppie
in the northern basalt zone in Mashatu. The koppie is
surrounded by a massive CCS outcrop, composed mostly of
agate, and over 90% of the lithic assemblage is made using
CCS materials. The excavated assemblage is fairly small, with
less than 1000 artefacts (n = 97 lithics/13l bucket), and no ceramics
or organic material were found.
SUMMARY
This paper has presented an interim report of an archaeological survey in Northern Tuli, Botswana, near Mapungubwe,
K2 and Schroda, as well as excavated LSA sites such as Balerno
Main and Little Muck Shelter. The final results will help us
better understand and interpret the archaeological record on
the Greater Mapungubwe Landscape. Future studies will
expand on the LSA and agricultural sequence in the Northern
Tuli and address questions of rock art authorship and variability
on both sides of the Limpopo River, incorporating this information into the broader archaeological framework for the region.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the Palaeontological Scientific Trust
and its Scatterlings of Africa programmes for financial support
and the Mashatu Game Reserve for lodging. All members of
Northern Tuli must be thanked for their assistance and particu-
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