Randi Haaland
Researcher with a global interest in archaeology. Work spanning from Mali in W-Africa til Nepal in the Indian sub-continent. Research themes: Nile Valley seen a longterm perspective from the Mesolithic to the Meiotic period. Ethnographic work focused on iron production and pottery making, seen in a gender perspective
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Papers by Randi Haaland
changing cuisine in Sudanese Nubia from the 5th millennium BC until the
collapse of the Meroitic state during the 4th century AD. The argument is based
on an anthropological interpretation of archaeological remains from this period.
In the fifth millennium BC we find elaboration and increased variation in
material items related to serving and consumption of food and drinks. I argue
that this variation in material inventory is causally related to increased social
differentiation. Elaborated food-related items are seen as indication of social
display and ritual feasting undertaken by a social elite. Domesticated cattle played
a crucial role in this elite formation. Comparative ethnographic material shows
that differences in possession of cattle are a general characteristic of pastoral
communities. Such differences are generally used as a means of creating patronclient
relations through cattle transactions. Furthermore cattle have natural
attributes that lend themselves to metaphoric and metonymic associations; they
can serve as symbols of power, as well as motherly nurturance and support.
Symbolic uses of cattle are manifested in increased ceremonial use of cattle during
the 5th millennium BC. The importance of cattle culminates during the Kerma
period with
of the Sudan, lasting from the fourth century BCE to the fourth century CE. In the early
phase from the ninth century BCE, the seat of power was in the north at Napata.
Influences from Egypt clearly dominated symbolic expressions of royal power in this
early phase, but over time, elements linked to different cultural traditions occurred.
Here, I explore the possibility that some of these new elements (e.g. the lion god
Apedemak and elephant imagery) may be related to interactions across the Indian
Ocean involving trade, migrations of craft specialists and the diffusion of ideas.
the symbolism of iron, iron making, blacksmiths and iron
products. Iron may symbolise hardness, darkness and evil;
iron smelting is stated to be analogous to giving birth; the
blacksmith’s role in material transformations (ore to iron) is
claimed to be a metaphoric model for social transformations,
rites of passage; the forging of artefacts in the smithy is said
to constitute a model for conceptualisation of the divine creation
of the universe; iron spears and arrows are described as
symbols of penetration, masculinity, virility and power; and
iron hoes have been reported to symbolise the fertility of the
earth and the female principle etc.
changing cuisine in Sudanese Nubia from the 5th millennium BC until the
collapse of the Meroitic state during the 4th century AD. The argument is based
on an anthropological interpretation of archaeological remains from this period.
In the fifth millennium BC we find elaboration and increased variation in
material items related to serving and consumption of food and drinks. I argue
that this variation in material inventory is causally related to increased social
differentiation. Elaborated food-related items are seen as indication of social
display and ritual feasting undertaken by a social elite. Domesticated cattle played
a crucial role in this elite formation. Comparative ethnographic material shows
that differences in possession of cattle are a general characteristic of pastoral
communities. Such differences are generally used as a means of creating patronclient
relations through cattle transactions. Furthermore cattle have natural
attributes that lend themselves to metaphoric and metonymic associations; they
can serve as symbols of power, as well as motherly nurturance and support.
Symbolic uses of cattle are manifested in increased ceremonial use of cattle during
the 5th millennium BC. The importance of cattle culminates during the Kerma
period with
of the Sudan, lasting from the fourth century BCE to the fourth century CE. In the early
phase from the ninth century BCE, the seat of power was in the north at Napata.
Influences from Egypt clearly dominated symbolic expressions of royal power in this
early phase, but over time, elements linked to different cultural traditions occurred.
Here, I explore the possibility that some of these new elements (e.g. the lion god
Apedemak and elephant imagery) may be related to interactions across the Indian
Ocean involving trade, migrations of craft specialists and the diffusion of ideas.
the symbolism of iron, iron making, blacksmiths and iron
products. Iron may symbolise hardness, darkness and evil;
iron smelting is stated to be analogous to giving birth; the
blacksmith’s role in material transformations (ore to iron) is
claimed to be a metaphoric model for social transformations,
rites of passage; the forging of artefacts in the smithy is said
to constitute a model for conceptualisation of the divine creation
of the universe; iron spears and arrows are described as
symbols of penetration, masculinity, virility and power; and
iron hoes have been reported to symbolise the fertility of the
earth and the female principle etc.
E a r ly Fa r m i ng societies along t h e N il e
Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology