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Cooking, Serving, and Storage: Ceramic Vessel Function and Use Contexts at Schroda

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Abstract

Foods and foodways are closely connected to social processes and activities. The functions of ceramic vessels in transporting, storing, processing, and serving food are tied to these social processes. Vessel functions can thus provide direct evidence of social activities. This article presents the results of a functional analysis of ceramic vessels from Schroda, a tenth- to eleventh-century farming settlement located in the middle Limpopo Valley, South Africa. Physical attributes such as vessel form, size, surface treatment, and sooting are considered in conjunction with ethnographic sources and comparative archaeological data to identify vessel functions and how these might relate to different activity areas across the site. Continuity and change in vessel use between the site’s Zhizo- and Leokwe-phase deposits are also discussed.

Résumé

Les aliments et les habitudes alimentaires sont étroitement liés aux processus et aux activités sociaux. Les fonctions des récipients en céramique dans le transport, le stockage, la transformation et le service des aliments les lient à ces mêmes processus sociaux. Les fonctions des navires peut ainsi fournir une preuve directe des activités sociales. Cet article présente les résultats d’une analyse fonctionnelle des récipients en céramique de Schroda, une colonie agricole du dixième au onzième siècle située dans la vallée du Limpopo, en Afrique du Sud. Les attributs physiques tels que la forme, la taille, le traitement de surface et la suie des navires sont pris en compte conjointement avec des sources ethnographiques et des données archéologiques comparatives afin d'identifier de manière provisoire l'utilisation des navires et leurs relations éventuelles avec différentes zones d'activité du site. La continuité et le changement d’utilisation de navires entre les gisements de phases Zhizo et Leokwe sur le site sont également étudiés.

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Acknowledgments

The management and staff of the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History in Pretoria provided access to and assistance with the Schroda collection. Rod McIntosh, Anne Underhill, William Honeychurch, Alexander Antonites, and Steve Victor gave feedback and assistance during various stages of the project. Thanks also to the two reviewers whose suggestions improved the article and will benefit future research.

Funding

The project was financially supported by the Augusta Hazard Research Fund and Michael Coe Research Fund of the Yale University Council on Archaeological Studies, and a J. F. Enders Research Grant and the G.W. Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy, both at Yale University.

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  1. The Heritage Foundation, Pretoria, South Africa

    Annie R. Antonites

  2. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Annie R. Antonites

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Antonites, A.R. Cooking, Serving, and Storage: Ceramic Vessel Function and Use Contexts at Schroda. Afr Archaeol Rev 37, 251–270 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-020-09378-7

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