The Archaeology of Southern Africa

by Peter Mitchell FSA

Overview

Southern Africa has one of the longest histories of occupation by modern humans and their ancestors anywhere in the world: over three million years. Research in Southern Africa is central to many key debates in contemporary archaeology, including hominid origins, the origins of anatomically modern humans and modern forms of behavior, and the development of ethnographically informed perspectives for understanding its rich heritage of rock art. This is the first attempt at a synthesis of the sub-continent's past in over forty years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521633079
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/14/2002
Series:	Cambridge World Archaeology
Pages:	532
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 1.14(d)

About the Author

Peter Mitchell is Lecturer in African Prehistory at the University of Oxford, and Tutor and a Fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Frameworks; 3. Origins; 4. Modern humans, modern behaviour?; 5. Living through the late Pleistocene; 6. From the Pleistocene into the Holocene: social and ecological models of cultural change; 7. Hunting, gathering and intensifying: Holocene foragers in Southern Africa; 8. History from the rocks, ethnography from the desert; 9. Taking stock: the introduction and impact of pastoralism; 10. Early farming communities; 11. The Zimbabwe tradition; 12. Later farming communities of southernmost Africa; 13. The archaeology of colonialism; 14. Southern African archaeology today.

Editorial Reviews

"...this book is at the cutting edge of archaeological analysis today. ...a long overdue and much needed volume. It is not only comprehensive in its coverage of the archaeological data, but is very sophisticated in its use of theory. ...a fundamental reference work for anyone interested in African prehistory and history, and will be an excellent textbook for courses on African archaeology." International Journal of African Historical Studies

"Although archaeologists are his intended audience, his broad sweep will introduce any reader to these most essential elements of the human narrative. Recommended." Choice

From the Publisher