Zambezian Entanglements in the South Central African Iron Age

Objective

ZAMBEZI introduces a radical new precolonial history of an African region in the Middle Zambezi Valley. The project explores the site of Ingombe Ilede in Zambia and its regional setting, using a nested methodology offering three levels of innovation: (1) deep understanding of a crucial but under-explored site; (2) pioneering methodologies offering unique detail on human settlement and mobility; and (3) a transformative view of the African past derived from an exploration of diversity and contingency. Rescue excavations at Ingombe Ilede in 1960 captured attention due to the discovery of rich burials suggesting the existence of a wealthy elite; the materials illuminate resource networks from the Copperbelt to the eastern African coast. The richest period was contemporary with 15th/16th century Portuguese colonial intrusion, and thus Ingombe Ilede has a story to tell that encompasses the socio-economic landscape of the precolonial Zambezi, as well as the emergence of a local elite during a moment of global encounter. Building on the expertise of the PI in constructing human-scale archaeological histories through combined methods, the project will apply an ambitious methodology combining established techniques and new technologies to create detailed life histories and diachronic understandings of settlement and society. The project will produce a microhistory with the capacity to transform our understanding of macro-histories of this region, highlighting emergent cultural forms that stem from mobility and encounter. Detailed, human-level stories about African societies are urgently needed, as the building blocks of our explorations of the global past. ZAMBEZI offers a unique opportunity to tell a new story about the African past, beyond narratives of migration or the emergence of single central places, focusing rather on the histories of local societies and economies, craft producers, and the way they forged forms of power and status on the eve of colonial expansion.