ABSTRACT
Few ethnic terms enjoy a wider popularity today than the term Luba. Millions of people call themselves Luba in Central Africa. There are many symbolic connections between leadership and iron forging in Central Africa. The analysis of archaeological pottery from the Upemba Depression shows that the main technique used today by Luba potters in Lenge, Kabongo, Kabonbwe, and Nkulu Majiba has been in use in the Upemba area during the Kabambian and the Kisalian. In regard to Kabambian pottery, surface treatments have obliterated most traces of primary shaping. Pottery-shaping techniques constitute an important element of material culture, because they require an apprenticeship, the interaction between two persons, to be mastered. Although a very dynamic group demographically, economically and politically in today's Congo, the Luba Kasai have been the subject of much less research than their Katanga counterparts.
