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In'gombe Ilede
In'gombe Ilede is an archaeological site situated on the left  bank of Lusitu River in the southern part of Zambia. The site is named after a baobab tree found at the site that resembles a sleeping cow. It has a 2.433 meters in depth of Iron Age midden and located about 50km downstream of the Kariba Dam. The place was uncovered in 1960 as part of a rescue operation instituted by the Northern Rhodesia Government Water Department that was constructing a water tank for a newly established village for people displaced from the Lower Zambezi valley following construction of the Kariba Dam. In'gombe Ilede is one of the most important sites for understanding ancient inland trade networks in south-central Africa. Its central positioning made it conduit for various trade goods from different inland routes in south-central Africa at different points in the past.

Excavation
The site was investigated in 1960 by J.H. Chaplin, an inspector for the Northern Rhodesia Commission for Preservation of National and Historical Monuments and Relics. Chaplin carried out an investigation of the pit, located on the western side of the sit. The pit contained archaeological items such as copper bangles, copper crosses, copper currency rods and a gold beaded necklace. This area was later named burial 1. The second discovery at the site consisted of burial 2 and 3 on the south end of the site, excavated by J.H. Chaplin and B. W. Anderson around the tank area. The burial contained iron tools that lay at the feet of the human remain.

The government extended the tank area a bit further, and the extension further yielded two more human remains. Further excavations were in 1962 when the water Department decided to include another water tank on the western side of the original tank to maximize the water supply in the area around In'gombe Ilede. This extension led to the discovery of 30 human remains which comprised of 22 infants. These graves contained very few goods. The pottery found in association with the graves was linked to the earlier graves found at In'gombe Ilede.

Dating
The earlier dates at In'gombe Ilede placed the site's occupation from the seventh century to the eleventh century. The dates were based on charcoal samples obtained from the badly disturbed context excavated by Chaplin in 1960. These dates were revised after Fagan and Philipsons trial excavation in 1968 near the earlier excavated rich burials, which placed the site to about the fourteenth century. However, recent examination of the site using chemical analysis of glass beads obtained from burial 3 and 8 has situated the site from mid fifteenth to mid seventeenth centuries. On the hand, burials 1, 2, 4, 10

Social Stratification
The marking of the social status of the people of In'gombe llede based on the contents of the burials. There was a clear indication of a presence of hierarchy at In'gombe Ilede. For example, burial 8 contained a flanged iron gong, a tradition symbol of chieftainship that resembled those found among the 19th century Soli People of the eastern part of Zambia. Other graves contained tools for metal  craftsmen for drawing  and hammering copper wire. These materials belonged to high-status individuals. The graves that did not contain grave goods were considered as belonging to low-status individuals.

Trade
In'gombe Iledes central location gave it the best position as a transit point for the inland trade routes from Great Zimbabwe, Copperbelt  and Katanga to the Indian Ocean coast .Items of trade brought to the inland from the Indian east coast included; glass beads, shell beads, cowries beads and cloth, while items that were removed  from the Indian east coast included; ivory, slaves, salt and gold. This central positioning of In'gombe Ilede also created  a similar advantage  for traders  coming from Katanga and Copperbelt who were trading in copper in form of copper ingots with In'gombe. In'gombe become a focal point where items of trade were exchanged from various directions in south-central Africa. It facilitated the transaction in copper from the Katanga region, Copperbelt and Hurungwe with the Indian east coast.

Glass beads
Trading in ancient glass beads in south-central Africa has a long antiquity that goes back to as early as the eighth to seventeenth centuries. However, they only arrived at In'gombe  around the mid fifteenth and mid seventeenth centuries Chemical analysis done on the In'gombe  beads using  Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer  shows that the glass beads at In'gombe Ilede belong to the Khami series from the Indian ocean trade zone and possibly  found themselves at  In'gombe Ilede through the Indian Ocean  trade  The beads found at In'gombe Ilede have been differentiated from other beads found in south-central Africa like Mapungubwe using trace elements found in the beads. Khami beads, for example, contain mineral-soda-alumina. The chemical analysis has helped situate some previously undated burials at In'gombe Ilede. The following at some of the burials that contained the Khami series beads; 3,8,10,25 and 31. Some burials at In'gombe Ilede contained beads that were connected to northwestern Zimbabwe chemically, like burials; 1,2,4 and 10. These contained the trace element Plant ash (v-Na-Al). These beads had an early date, which pushed the occupation of Ingombe Ilede to a much later date of fourteenth century. Other sites that situate In'gombe Ilede chronologically are; Mankhamba in Malawi dating to mid-sixteenth and early seventeenth and Hlamba Mlonga in east Zimbabwe, dating from the tenth to the fifteenth century. Another site that situates In'gombe Ilede chronologically is Isamu Pati, located 300Km from the In'gombe Ilede site. The site contained the Khami beads series dated about thirteenth to fourteen centuries .These dates obtained from the different types of beads found at Ingombe Ilede shows that the sites had different occupation period that spanned from thirteenth to seventeenth centuries.

Copper
Copper was another major trade item at Ingombe Ilede. Copper came from various regions through the inland routes in south-central Africa. The copper was differentiated according to their shape, which has been a good indicator of chronology of sites were these copper crosses have been found. For example, Copper ingots from the copperbelt were similar in shape with those that came from the Katanga region; both were flanged and have been dated to the fourteenth century. On the other hand, the Copper crosses from Hurungwe were dated to the sixteenth century. These copper crosses shared a similar shape with those from the Copperbelt and Katanga region, which shows that trade in copper  among these inland sites continued from the fourteenth century up to the sixteenth century. Great Zimbabwe had a different form of the copper ingots- unflaged  and they were dated to a much more earlier period. The dates obtained for the copper crosses from associated materials throws them back to thirteenth century. Despite copper being the primary trade item in south-central trade, the people at In'gombe Ilede used copper to manufacture domestic ornaments such as, the copper bracelets, found in most of the rich burials at the site. The manufacture of copper bracelets is evident in wire drawing tools and a bundle of fine wire for making copper bracelets discovered in some of the rich burials at In'gombe Ilede.

Textiles
Cloth at In'gombe Ilede consists of two types; the locally made which was coarse and the imported cloth which was finely woven and is thought to be of Indian  origin.The Coarse cloth contained some patterns which were neatly woven into the fabric. Spindle whorls made from broken pieces of pottery and perforated with a sharp metal object were discovered at the site to support a local production of coarse cloth.

Crafts
The site also produced a wide variety of ceramic sherds that were differentiated according to size, color and decorations. There was no evidence of methods used to manufacture pottery at the site.However, tools suggesting production of pottery were found at the site such as pebble tools used for burnishing the surfaces of the vessels before firing. Also present at the site were mussels used for smoothing the walls of the pottery during shaping stage. The clay for the pottery was probably obtained from the Lusitu River. The clay used for making pottery contained traces of mica.The pottery was probably burned in an open area owning to uneven coloring found on the surfaces of pottery found at In'gombe Ilede. The pottery at In'gombe Ilede played an important role of situating the chronology of burials at the site. The pottery was placed in different classes based on decoration and shape of the vessels. These attributed acted as time markers which helped researchers to situate In'gombe Ilede Chronologically. For example the ceramics from earliest level at in'gombe are believed to belong to Kalomo culture dated between seventh to eleventh centuries, while the ceramics from the transitional level are believed to belong to Kangila culture dated between the eighth to twelfth centuries and the ceramics from the latest levels are linked to the historic Tonga people of Gwembe valley in southern part of Zambia.

Botanical Remains
Evidence of food production was found at the site in form of charred sorghum and millet seeds. Also found at the site was indirect evidence of food production such as a leaf impression of sorghum on a pot sherd from burial 3. In addition hoes and axes were found in the burials that pointed to food production at the site. The hoes and axes found in the burials were differentiated from those used  for agriculture by the amount of wear on the surfaces of the tools. The hoes used for agriculture were heavily worn out compared to those that were used as ceremonial objects.

Faunal Remains
There was minimal evidence present at the site to indicate domestication of animals. Among the few pieces of evidence found at the site was a fragmented ox mandible with maxilla and horns. The rest of the faunal materials belong to wild animals, which ranged in from small animals like rats to big animals like elephants, with the latter being hunted for ivory and possibly for meat.