Abstract
Among the Zambezi Goba a clear picture has emerged with respect to the social significance of marriage prestations and the interesting changes that have been occurring. Before the turn of the century there were no cattle in most of the middle Zambezi valley. Following Colson and Scudder, I will call the Goba homeland along the Zambezi the lower Gwembe (Colson 1971:8-9). Raids were sometimes made on herds on the northern and southern highlands of present-day Zambia and Zimbabwe, but in the valley cattle succumbed to tsetse and were not used in marriage transactions. At that time the sequence of marriage prestations was simpler than it is today: an opening gift of love tokens (nhumbi) signaled a more or less casual engagement, depending upon approval by the girl's parents; if they approved, this was followed by a variable probationary period of bride service and sanctioned cohabitation in the
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