Salvage excavations on Greefswald: Leokwe commoners and K2 cattle

Abstract

The relationship between Leokwe and Leopard's Kopje people represents the first known ethnic interaction in precolonial southern Africa. As the subordinate partner, Leokwe had roles befitting their 'first people' status. Salvage excavations at the Leokwe Main Rest Camp uncovered 'extra' cattle kraals, while Leokwe faunal assemblages there and elsewhere contain high percentages of low-status cattle bones. Thus, Leokwe herdsmen were probably tending the cattle of K2 elite. Two sites on Schroda and one on Little Muck suggest that Leokwe people were also ritual specialists: they appear to have been involved with rites of passage and rainmaking. Evidently, the ethnic distinction of Leokwe people disappeared as Mapungubwe became a state under a sacred leader.