Happy Trails: The social and economic movement of domestic animals in the Early Iron Age of South Africa
AIA Society Event: Western Michigan (Grand Rapids)
Friday, October 22, 2010 - 6:00pm
Location:
262 Lake Huron Hall, GVSU Allendale
1 Campus Drive
Allendale, MI 49401
United States
Please join us on Friday at 6 pm for an exciting archaeological lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Arnold (Department of Anthropology, Grand Valley State University). The talk, titled "Happy Trails: The social and economic movement of domestic animals in the Early Iron Age of South Africa", will take place at 6 pm Friday in 178 Lake Ontario Hall on the GVSU Allendale campus. The talk is sponsored by our local chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America. Professor Arnold will discuss "domestic herds (cattle, sheep and goats) and their implications for the development of social complexity in the Early Iron Age (EIA, i.e. 1st millennium AD) of the Thukela River Valley. The control of productive grazing areas through the movement of domestic stock, primarily cattle, into key areas has been highlighted as a major factor in the economic and political development of chiefdoms in South Africa. It was hypothesized that this movement of cattle could be traced through stable isotope analyses, which identified certain animals whose presence reflected social, economic and political exchanges into the valley. Ethnographic study indicates the importance of these exchanges and the resulting obligations and linkages between people."
Contact:
Melissa Morison
morisonm@gvsu.edu
