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Farmers, Kings, and Traders

The People of Southern Africa, 200-1860

In this overview of the origins and development of black societies in southern Africa, Martin Hall reconstructs the region’s past by throughly examining both the archaeological and the historical records. Beginning with the gradual southward movement of the earliest farmers nearly two thousand years ago, Hall tracks the emergence of precolonial states such as Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe. Farmers, Kings, and Traders concludes with the devastating effects of colonialism.

Through a close reading of the accounts of early travelers, colonialists, archaeologists, and historians, Hall places in context the often contradictory histories that have been written of this region. The result is an illuminating look at how ideas about the past have themselves changed over time.

176 pages | 7 x 9.5 | © 1990

African Studies

Archaeology

History: African History

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
1. Farmers, kings and traders in southern Africa
2. Changing views: from barbarous tribes to Iron Age traditions
3. Origins: unwrapping the Iron Age package
4. Pioneers
5. Taking stock
6. The nature of society
7. Toutswe, Mapungubwe and the East coast trade
8. From desert to ocean: the Zimbabwe achievement
9. Great Zimbabwe
10. Kings and conquistadores, merchants and markets
11. Warriors, adventurers and slaves
12. Transformations in southern Africa
References
Index
Acknowledgements

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