Original Research - Special Collection: Celebrating Cultural Heritage within National Parks

Geochemical characterisation of archaeological sites in Mapungubwe National Park, South Africa

Bongumenzi S. Nxumalo, Federica Sulas, Innocent Pikirayi
Koedoe | Vol 66, No 2 | a1793 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v66i2.1793 | © 2024 Bongumenzi S. Nxumalo, Federica Sulas, Innocent Pikirayi | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 28 September 2023 | Published: 30 August 2024

About the author(s)

Bongumenzi S. Nxumalo, Department of Anthropology, Archaeology and Development Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; and, Department of History, Faculty of History, Northwestern University, Evanston, United States
Federica Sulas, Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
Innocent Pikirayi, Department of Anthropology, Archaeology and Development Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Research projects in the Shashe-Limpopo Basin have witnessed significant developments in the use of conceptual frameworks and multidisciplinary approaches such as electrochemical and geochemical sequencing. Accordingly, there is now data to question the widely accepted model for the evolution of Mapungubwe State (AD 1200–1300) which argues that favourable and unfavourable regional climatic weather conditions (wet and dry) lead to the rise and decline of the State. Floodplain agropastoral activities in the middle Limpopo Valley are a widely assumed hypothesis, despite the general absence of relevant chemical signatures and archaeobotanical data. This article discusses soil sequences and chemical analyses (Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy and Redox Potential) to provide a palaeoenvironmental record of water regimes in relation to Mapungubwe. Findings confirm that geochemical techniques can be used to model or predict aquifer behaviour and the occurrence of groundwater. And, as such, highlighting the need for conservation planners to carefully consider integrative scientific tools to improve conservation practices of archaeological heritage and overexploitation of groundwater resources. Although more data is required, the results obtained allows researchers to begin reframing questions concerned with the links between changing water regimes and social changes, in this case relating to the decline of Mapungubwe. The understanding is important for the management and conservation of the Mapungubwe World Heritage site and surrounding landscape.

Keywords

Shashe-Limpopo Basin; middle Limpopo Valley; geochemistry; electrochemistry; Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy.

Sustainable Development Goal

Goal 13: Climate action

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