Ceramic discard and the use of space at Early Iron Age Ndondondwane, South Africa

There are few methods of ceramic analysis in accumulations research that can help distinguish discrete depositional areas and evaluate previous interpretations of activity organization at archaeological sites. This paper introduces a quantitative method of ceramic analysis that evaluates whether the fragmentation and functional variation of ceramic objects distinguish depositional areas resulting from different accumulation activities at early farming sites. Applied to the analysis of ceramics from the 9th–10th century A.D. site of Ndondondwane in South Africa, this study tests previous functional interpretations of the site and provides more detailed and dynamic ones for the activities contributing to the development of spatially and temporally discrete archaeological deposits during the main occupation of the settlement. This approach to the study of ceramic discard at Ndondondwane illustrates both a method as well as important caveats based on site formation and accumulations research that must be considered in attempts to interpret variation in the spatial organization of activities in past farming settlements in tropical Africa.