Handbook of the Iron Age, The Archaeology of Pre-Colonial Farming Societies In Southern Africa.

University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, hardcover, introduction, concepts and topics (part one), cultural history units (part two), Pre-Colonial History (part three), appendix, references, index, illustrations, tables, 504 pages, condition: very good

This detailed handbook to the Iron Age covers the last 2 000 years in Southern Africa. The first part outlines essential topics such as settlement organisation, stonewalled patterns, ritual residues, long-distance trade and ancient mining. Part Two presents a comprehensive culture-history sequence through ceramic analyses, showing distributions, stylistic types and characteristic pieces. Part Three reviews and updates the main debates about black prehistory, including migration versus diffusion, the role of cattle, the origins of Mapungubwe, the rise and fall of Great Zimbabwe and the archaeology of Venda, Sotho-Tswana and Nguni speakers. Handbook to the Iron Age is an abundantly illustrated study that is accessible to a wide range of people interested in African prehistory ( from the back cover).

The author has held the Chair of Archaeology at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa since 1977.

'This is the long-awaited text that provides an excellent overview of the archaeology of Southern African farming communities by one of the region's most distinguished Iron Age Scholars.' Peter Mitchell, University of Oxford.