Representations of the female form: Human clay figurines from K2 and Mapungubwe, in the Limpopo valley, South Africa.

The poster presentation consists of colour photographs of the human clay figurines excavated at K2 and Mapungubwe Hill archaeological sites in the Limpopo valley in the northern part of South Africa. These archaeological sites define the middle part of southern Africa’s Iron Age, dated AD 1000 and AD 1300 and are situated on the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo Rivers, bordering Zimbabwe in the north and Botswana on the west. These sites, which provide archaeological evidence associated with the development of pre-colonial chiefdoms and states in southern Africa, have yielded human and animal clay figurines (Fouché 1937, Gardner 1963, Huffman 2005, Meyer 1998). This study was conducted on the seventy four accessioned human clay figurine fragments in the collection from these archaeological sites which is housed in the Mapungubwe Museum, at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The figurines were classified typologically, described and various interpretations were investigated (Ucko 1968, Humphreys 2005). The collection contains 3 restored “complete” figurines while the remainder consist of fragmented body parts. Although the figurines are fragmented, it was possible to identify gender from the broken parts. Forty one of the fragments were identified as female and these torso fragments are decorated in dots and or incisions around the prominent navel or along the spine of the fragment. Steatopygous buttocks and breasts are depicted on the majority of the female fragments with some even displaying genitalia. A single male figurine was identified. These figurines are valuable clues in the interpretation of ceremonies, rites of passage and daily lives of Iron Age communities in southern Africa.