Chapter 2. Stone by stone: Women's quotidian farm labor and the construction of the Khutwaneng farmscape in Bokoni, South Africa

Abstract

The ruins of stone-walled towns, villages, and homesteads mark the residential nodes of Bokoni, a polity that thrived in northeastern South Africa from the late 15th to the early 19th century and extended over about 30 000 km². These residential structures are generally observable on aerial photographs and satellite imagery, but with a few exceptions, the terraced gardens and fields are less visible. Lidar data from one of Bokoni's towns—Khutwaneng—has made finding the fields easier. In this 17th to early 19th-century town, all homesteads have adjacent terraced gardens or fields, irrespective of whether they are well-established or newly built. Lidar imagery of terraces that were being built in newly established homesteads supports the view that most terraces grew over time and were the result of quotidian actions by farmers. The pervasiveness of terraces throughout the town suggests that urban farming was an entrenched component of Bokoni's urban life. In southern Africa, daily farming duties were historically performed by women, and it is likely that this was also the case in Bokoni. Understanding the terraces as the product of women's quotidian labor allows for reflection on the role that women and their actions as farmers played in shaping the Khutwaneng farmscape, and it in shaping them.