ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book indicates that the Lovedu interlocking munywalo exchanges and social structure can be traced to Karanga models; that the Lovedu have rejected the pattern of the wedding feast and wedding gifts which comes from the west. It shows that Lovedu legal arrangements are the resultant of composite forces; that the smeller-out and the cult of spirit possession come from the Shangana-Tonga and Thovolo. Effective European contact with the tribes of the lowveld began only in the decade 1880–1890. The iconoclastic effect of Christianity may be illustrated in a few other spheres of culture. The book describes Lovedu culture as it is to-day, touching but cursorily upon the changes that have occurred or the trends that are apparent in some groups of people. It shows the interpenetration in the pre-European period has effected far greater institutional changes than in the European period.
