Zambia is one of the most important states in modern Africa. Besides being a major exporter of copper, it plays a crucial frontier role in relations between black Africa and South Africa. This book draws together the results of recent research in a comprehensive survey of economic and social change, from the Stone Age to the completion of the Tamzam Railway. Dr Roberts has placed the Zambian past in a new perspective by combining evidence from archeology, anthropology and oral traditions, as well as written records. Pre-colonial history is revealed as much more than a mere amalgam of stones, bones, potsherds and stories of tribal migrations. Instead, such themes as the rise of chieftain ship and the expansion of trade are related to changes in patterns of settlement and production since the Early Iron Age.In tracing the origins of Zambia's present societies, Roberts focuses on the broad similarities and contrasts in language, religious belief and social institutions that underlie the confusing variety of pre-colonial kingdoms and chiefdoms. Here, as elsewhere, he draws upon unpublished research to provide a new picture not just of the area that is now Zambia but of the whole Savannah region of central Africa. The last three chapters relate the rise of African nationalism to the growth of modern industry on the Copper belt and to the major problems faced by Zambia since independence in 1964.
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