Material Knowledges Thermodynamic Spaces and the Moloko Sequence of the Late Iron Age (AD 1300-1840) in Southern Africa

The two key themes in this work are 1) the meeting between knowledges about the material world, and 2) the intimate relationships between people and their material surroundings we find in the social dynamics of households. The approach consists of three comparative field studies of present-day contexts conducted among eastern Bantu-speakers in Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa, in addition to an archaeological synthesis of the sequence known as 'Moloko', belonging to the Late Iron Age (AD 1300-1840) in southern Africa. While located within the discipline of archaeology, the approach draws on insights from anthropology, history, sociology and philosophy.