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MYTHS, GENDER, BIRDS, BEADS: A READING OF IRON AGE HILL SITES IN INTERIOR SOUTHERN AFRICA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2014

Edwin N. Wilmsen
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Abstract

Homologous origin myths concerning the Tsodilo Hills in north-western Botswana, Polombwe hill at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika in Zambia and Kaphiri-Ntiwa hill in northern Malawi are examined. Parallels are drawn between the myths, where, in the process of creation, a primal pair in undifferentiated space and time passes through a series of liminal states, thereby bringing structure to the landscape and legitimacy to society in Iron Age Central and Southern Africa. These myths narrate the instituting of social legitimacy in their respective societies based on a resolution of the inherent contradiction between the concepts of authority and power, lineage and land. The structure of rights to possession of land is examined, and the text considers the role of sumptuary goods such as glass beads and metonymic signifiers such as birds within this structure. This study examines the prominence of hilltops as the residence of paranormal power and its association with human authority, and relates this to the archaeological interpretation of the Iron Age site Nqoma (Tsodilo Hills); this is compared with Bosutswe (eastern Botswana), Mapungubwe (Shashe-Limpopo basin), and the Shona Mwari myth recorded by Frobenius as used by Huffman in his analysis of Great Zimbabwe.

Résumé

Cet article examine les mythes d'origine homologues concernant les collines de Tsodilo dans le nord-ouest du Botswana, la colline de Polombwe à la pointe sud du lac Tanganyika en Zambie et la colline de Kaphiri-Ntiwa dans le nord du Malawi. Il établit des parallèles entre ces mythes, avec au sein de leur processus de création un espace-temps primitif indifférencié traversant une série d’états liminaux, conférant par là-même une structure au paysage et une légitimité à la société de l’âge du Fer en Afrique centrale et australe. Ces mythes narrent le processus d'institution de la légitimité sociale dans leurs sociétés respectives, basé sur une résolution de la contradiction inhérente entre les concepts d'autorité et de pouvoir, de lignage et de terre. L'article étudie la structure des droits à posséder des terres, et s'interroge sur le rôle des objets somptueux comme les perles de verre, et des signes métonymiques comme les oiseaux, dans cette structure. Cette étude examine l'importance des collines en tant que résidence du pouvoir paranormal et son association avec l'autorité humaine, et fait la relation avec l'interprétation archéologique du site de Nqoma (collines de Tsodilo) qui remonte à l’âge du Fer; elle fait ensuite la comparaison avec Bosutswe (dans l'est du Botswana), Mapungubwe (bassin du Shashe-Limpopo) et le mythe de Shona Mwari rapporté par Frobenius et utilisé par Huffman dans son analyse du Grand Zimbabwe.

Type
Historical perspectives
Information
Africa , Volume 84 , Issue 3 , August 2014 , pp. 398 - 423
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2014 

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