Marothodi: The Historical Archaeology of an African Capital

Deep in the heart of southern Africa, the ruins of a colossal stone walled town bear silent testimony to an African way of life almost forgotten … Undisturbed since it was abandoned nearly two centuries ago, Marothodi was the royal capital of a Tlokwa chiefdom, the metal-producing ancestors of a community still living in South Africa and Botswana. Using an interdisciplinary combination of archaeology, history, ethnography and oral tradition, the remarkable legacy of Marothodi and its people can now be explored. Filled with the results of recent research and over 170 maps, plans, photographs and illustrations, this book introduces the historical archaeology of one of the great Iron Age Tswana towns of South Africa, and tells a fascinating story of pre-colonial African achievement.