The Iron Age sequence around a Limpopo River floodplain on Basinghall Farm, Tuli Block, Botswana, during the second millennium AD

Abstract

The study encompasses the reconstruction of the Iron Age sequence around the Limpopo River floodplain on Basinghall Farm during the second millennium AD. A survey uncovered 75 Iron Age sites, including three Moritsane and ten Toutswe facies sites for the Middle Iron Age and two Early Moloko, 16 Middle Moloko (Letsibogo facies) and 43 Late Moloko grain bin platform sites for the Late Iron Age. The local settlement sequence, which is based primarily on a ceramic analysis of surficial and excavated collections, is corroborated by radiocarbon dates, a glass bead sequence and comparative data from previous studies. The borders of the Toutswe chiefdom are shown to have extended 100 km to the south, while the Eiland sequence is refined to include an Eiland, a Moritsane and a redefined Broadhurst facies. New light is also shed on the local Moloko sequence and its correlation with historical Tswana groups in south-eastern Botswana.