Abstract

The spatial distribution and association of artifacts and features provides a basic form of evidence for identifying patterns of artifact use. Archaeologists working on southern African Early Iron Age (250-1100 AD) societies commonly assign unusual objects ritual functions and attribute the discard patterns of certain objects to ritual activity. Rarely are these objects integrated into discussions of broader patterns of production, use and disposal at sites. Thus, alternative explanations of their function and disposal have been overlooked. A spatial analysis of ceramic data from the site of Ndondondwane in South Africa is presented to examine these hypotheses. Results indicate that the use and discard of ritual objects may be attributed to factors other than ritual ones, and that ceramic sculpture may be better interpreted within the sociocultural context of iron smelting. Based on these new data, models of continuity and change in the later prehistory of southern Africa are reexamined.