Great Zimbabwe

The Iron Age of South Central Africa

Joseph O. Vogel

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781135506735
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

First Published in 1994. This research guide was written as a comprehensive, though by no means exhaustive, survey of the literature pertinent to studying the indigenous complex societies of south central Africa. Although the paramount focus of the compilation was the archaeology of Great Zimbabwe, the author has drawn from a broad geographical area and a wider period of time than that usually associated with Zimbabwean culture in order to demonstrate the cultural background for the growth of monumental trading towns in south central Africa.

Surveys of Chronology and Synthesis

Since the 1960s, the Journal of African History has published review articles, listing the current crop of radiocarbon dates. The series was begun by B. M. Fagan, continuing under different authors since. In the beginning, these articles simply listed new dates with a brief introduction and some remarks by the various investigators. As the volume of research increased over the years, the relevance of these lists changed, and in recent years they have been introduced by more extensive survey articles, addressing a broader review of problem and chronology. The following sample reproduces some titles, which seem particularly germane to the archaeology of south central Africa. One article by Phillipson addresses the general problem of explaining the distribution of C-14 determinations in the subcontinent.

1016. Maggs, T. M. O'C. "Some Recent Radiocarbon Dates from Eastern and Southern Africa," Journal of African History 18 (1977): 161-91.
Compilation of radiocarbon dates from current field investigations, arranged geographically by cultural horizon.

1017. Maggs, T. M. O'C, and G. Whitelaw. "A Review of Recent Archaeological Research of Food-producing Communities in Southern Africa." Journal of African History 32 (1991): 3-24.
Summary review of current archaeological research on food-producing societies in the subcontinent south of the Zambezi. Including research on pastoralist as well as farming economies.

1018. Mgomezulu, G. C. Y. "Recent Archaeological Research and Radiocarbon Dates from East Africa." Journal of African History 22 (1981): 435-56.
Summary arti...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Series Editor's Preface
• Preface
• INTRODUCTION
• SOME REPORTS OF ARAB AND PORTUGUESE CONTACTS
• BIBLIOGRAPHIES
• GUIDE BOOKS AND TRAVELLERS' ACCOUNTS
• A GENERAL HISTORY OF GREAT ZIMBABWE
• SYMPOSIA, CONFERENCES AND MULTI-AUTHORED COMPENDIA
• ORIGINS, TECHNOLOGY AND SPREAD OF AGRICULTURE
• SOME TRADITIONAL HISTORY AND PRACTICES
• REGIONAL SYNTHESES IN SOUTH CENTRAL AFRICA
• HISTORIES OF EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH
• THE SEARCH FOR OPHIR—1860-1890
• EXPLORING THE ANCIENT RUINS—1890-1914
• SYSTEMATIC EXCAVATIONS—1905-1945
• SURVEYING, SYSTEMATIZING AND SYNTHESIZING
• THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SYNTHESES
• ANCIENT STONE KRAALS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
• THE AGRICULTURAL TERRACES OF EASTERN AFRICA
• ARCHAEOLOGICAL OBSERVATION OF FUNERARY PRACTICE
• TRADITIONAL CRAFTS AND TECHNOLOGIES
• TRADE
• THE IRON AGE IN SOUTH EAST AFRICA
• SAN AND BANTU CONTACTS
• SURVEYS OF CHRONOLOGY AND SYNTHESIS