The history of southern Africa is a story of many changes that took place over a long period of time.

Great changes took place in the farming societies in the Limpopo River Valley from 900 AD. Southern African farming communities became bigger and more organised. In this topic you will find out about some of these changes and how they affected the culture at places called K2, Schroda, Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe.

The Limpopo River Basin lies on the border of present day Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. K2, Schroda and Mapungubwe were situated a short distance from there.

Settlement in the Limpopo Valley before Mapungubwe: K2 and Schroda

In the early first millennium, African farmers had settled in small villages over parts of southern Africa. The first millennium is the year 1 to the year 1000 AD. Each village had a few hundred people, and did not depend on other villages. A group of villages sometimes formed part of a larger village ruled by a chief. In these villages, some people were more important than other people. Older people were more important than younger people. The social hierarchy was based on age. Men had more power than women. The social hierarchy was also based on gender.

Villages were able to produce almost everything they needed. They were subsistence farmers. This period of our history is sometimes called the Late Iron Age. Farmers kept cattle, sheep and goats. They grew crops like melons, sorghum, millet and pumpkins. Early African farmers produced iron for tools, weapons and ornaments. You learnt about these Early Iron Age farmers in Grade 5.

Between 900 AD and 1300 AD, farming communities became more complex. This means they became bigger and more organised. Societies became more complicated in the way they were ruled.

K2 and Schroda

K2 and Schroda are archaeological sites in the Limpopo River Valley. Both sites were settlements of African farming communities before Mapungubwe. The settlement at Mapungubwe began about 800 years ago. At this time, traders on the east African coast wanted ivory. 

In about 900 AD, farmers settled at K2 and Schroda. Large herds of elephants lived in the area. Farmers at K2 and Schroda started to take part in the ivory trade. Men hunted wild elephants and exchanged the ivory tusks for things like glass beads from the East.

This trade changed the way the societies at K2 and Schroda were organised. They were no longer only subsistence farmers. They began to import and export trade items.

The archaeologists who work on these sites say that people at K2 and Schroda used some ivory to make jewellery. But most of it was exchanged for large amounts of glass beads which came from the East African coast.

The settlements became bigger. Many farmers from K2 and Schroda moved to Mapungubwe Hill. 

How do we find out about how people lived long ago?

African farmers at K2, Schroda and Mapungubwe did not have writing. Their history was passed from generation to generation through stories. Today, we use information from archaeologists to find out how these people lived long ago.

Archaeologists study how people lived in the past. They look for remains of buildings as well as human and animal bones. They look for objects left behind by people who lived in the past. The objects people made in the past are called artefacts. Pots, tools and jewellery are examples of artefacts. The artefacts that people made, kept or threw away can tell us a lot about how people lived and what they valued.

It is not always easy to understand what the artefacts mean. Often artefacts are broken and the buildings that used to exist are in ruins. Archaeologists study what has been left behind and try and work out how people lived in the past. Artefacts made from stone or metal survive. Artefacts made from materials, such as straw or wood, decay, fall apart and fade away through time. Archaeology is only able to uncover a small part of what people used in the past. 

The pots below were found on Mapungubwe Hill. They are real artefacts. 

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