New Research Grant Awarded for Deep History of the Limpopo
- Dr Eddington “Eddy” Maseya is an environmental historian whose research examines the intersections of pre-colonial state formation, trade networks, mobility, and natural resource use in southern Africa. Funded by the Graduate School’s Lisa Maskell Scholarship, he completed his PhD in History under the supervision of Professor Sandra Swart, exploring the history of human–elephant coexistence in southeast Zimbabwe, between 1965 and 2020.
Dr Maseya has just been awarded the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust grant to research the Deep History of the Limpopo–Save Basin in collaboration with Professor Tim Forssman. The project investigates the histories of pre-colonial states and archaeological landscapes, including Thulamela in South Africa and the Malilangwe archaeological complex in Zimbabwe. It examines how regional and Indian Ocean trade networks shaped processes of state formation and trade over the last millennium. Reconstructing the long-term history of ivory trade routes and their relationship with changing political and ecological landscapes, his work explores how these traces linger in the present. Through this multidisciplinary approach, his research contributes to broader debates on the agency of pre-colonial African states, the longue durée of trade in southern Africa, and the historical foundations of contemporary conservation challenges.
Dr Eddington “Eddy” Maseya
Dr Eddington Maseya with Professor Sandra Swart