Imagining rain-places: Rain-control and changing ritual landscapes in the Shashe-Limpopo Confluence Area, South Africa

The Shashe-Limpopo Confluence Area (SLCA) has archaeological places associated with rain-control. In the K2 period (AD 1000 to AD 1220) rain-control sites were mostly located on the plateau, away from the valley farming settlements and thus in 'nature'. Hunter-gatherers initially participated in K2 rain-control on the hills and formed an important ideological part of SLCA K2 period rain-control. As a new, more centre-focused ideology developed, rain-control hills were slowly removed from 'nature'. Once rain-control had been centralized on Mapungubwe hill it came under control of the Mapungubwe ruling elite. People making non-Mapungubwe ceramics, however, continued to use the hills formerly associated with K2 rain-control. This suggests a non-uniform identity and implies that the Mapungubwe centre did not establish complete ideological hegemony.