An attempt to use archaeological materials to investigate the colonization of southeastern Africa during the period 1500 to 1900. Perry demonstrates the usefulness of archaeology in bypassing the biases of the ethnohistorical and documentary record and generating a more comprehensive understanding of history. Special attention is paid to the period of state formation in Swaziland and a critique of the `Settler Model', which the author finds to be invalid.

Southern Africa and the Archaeology of Impact.- The Mfecane/Difaqane Problem from the Documentary Record.- Archaeological Correlates of the Settler Model.- Previous Archaeological Research.- Using Archaeology to Study the Processes of the Mfecane/Difaqane.- Toward an Archaeology of Impact.