Early State Formation in Southern Africa: A Reappraisal

This review draws on the latest insights from archaeology, history, and scientific analyses of archaeological materials to offer a critical reappraisal of the state of the field in southern African early state formation. Combined insights from recent radiocarbon chronologies, ceramic typologies, settlement pattern data, and craft production remnants strongly signal the synchronous emergence of early states at several widely dispersed sites on the broader landscape. This shifts the conversation away from the conventionally domineering polities like Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe toward peers like Mapela, Bosutswe, Mutamba, Chumnungwa, and Shangano, among others. Historically marginalized groups such as hunter-gatherers were also dynamic participants in state formation. We integrate these results to argue for a multicentric model in which state formation flows from interacting regional polities instead of a single core.