The stylistic origin of Bambata and the spread of mixed farming in southern Africa

Abstract

Bambata pottery, and its role in the spread of food production, requires two explanations. The style probably originated somewhere in Angola, among farming communities which belonged to the KALUNDU TRADITION, but it first spread into south-eastern Africa with hunter-gatherer groups at about AD 200. Only later, at about AD 350, were the Bantu-speaking, mixed farming communities, responsible for the style, present in eastern Botswana and western Zimbabwe.

To cite this article: Huffman, T. N. 2005. The stylistic origin of Bambata and the spread of mixed farming in southern Africa. Southern African Humanities 17: 57-79.