Pollution Concepts and Marriage for the Southern African Iron Age
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5840504 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gavin Whitelaw (0000-0003-1638-7222, University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 203-225 |
| Publication date | 2013-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0959774313000279 |
| OpenAlex | W2018529987 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
This article draws on the ethnography of South African Bantu speakers to model an archaeologically useful relationship between pollution beliefs and marriage. Typically, pollution beliefs intensify with more complex marital alliances, first with the increasing significance of relations between wives and their cattle-linked siblings, and then with a shift towards a preference for cousin marriage. The article applies the model to the Early Iron Age ( ad 650-1050) record and concludes that Early Iron Age agriculturists practised non-kin marriage, but that a high bridewealth, and possibly hypogamous marriage, generated considerable structural tension in Early Iron Age society
Bantu languages · Cousin · Iron Age · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
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The Rhino Early Iron Age site, Thabazimbi, South Africa
| Citations per year | 0.64 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2024 (10) |
| Highly cited | No |