page_title: Lydenburg heads
section_title: Speculative purpose
hierarchical_section_title: Lydenburg heads / Speculative purpose
caption_attribution_description: English: Fragments of domestic pottery from the site with similar decoration to the Lydenburg heads
context_page_description: The Lydenburg Heads refer to seven terracotta heads that were discovered in association with other pottery artefacts in Lydenburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa. They are among the oldest known African Iron Age artworks from below the equator. Other artefacts found in association with these heads include ceramic vessels, iron and copper beads, and bone fragments. Charcoal associated with the heads was radiocarbon dated, and this relative dating technique places these artefacts and the site at around 1410 BP, which constitutes one of the earliest dates for an Iron Age settlement in South Africa. The heads are hollow with thin clay strips added to create facial details. The skill and thought that went into the designs suggest that they were valued products of a well organized and settled community.
context_section_description: The current speculation surrounding the Lydenburg Heads is that they may have been created to serve ritualistic and or ceremonial purposes including initiation rights. The two larger specimens could have been worn by a small individual such as young man. If so, these heads may represent a significant point in a boy's life such as becoming a man, or ceremonial purposes like memorialising an ancestor. The five smaller heads have holes in their sides which some archaeologists suggest may have been used to connected them to something at the time of their use. The marks across the foreheads and between the eyes are postulated to represent scarification marks, a widely practice behaviour in Africa.  However, no evidence of scarification is seen practised within the modern descendants of those who manufactured the heads. Researchers suggest that the heads may not have been just disposed of but purposely buried, or destroyed at the conclusion of a specified ceremony, which may indicate their significance.  These heads may be a result of ceremonial ritual or aggrandizement of significant ancestors.   The heads show charicteristics of several different groups throughout the continent including; The Bantu, The Ndebele, and The Bini.
caption: Fragments of domestic pottery from the site with similar decoration to the Lydenburg heads
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