3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Historical development of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum’s archaeological archive: the case of the Michael Moon collection(2022) Munzhedzi, Mudzunga F.Museums are defined as institutions where treasures of humankind are stored. These treasures include memories of people of the world, their cultures, dreams and hopes, most commonly as represented by material culture. This dissertation considers one aspect of the archaeological archive at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, the contribution made by amateur archaeologist Michael (Mike) A. Moon. Most of his collection comes from sites exposed by and then lost to development beyond the view of professional archaeologists. The collection covers much of the vast range of human endeavour in south-eastern Africa and constitutes a valuable addition to our knowledge base of the past in KwaZulu-Natal. The archaeological usefulness of the collection relates to its ‘co-production’ through Moon’s dialogue with professional archaeologists over many years. I examine the Mike Moon collection by looking into detail of the individual artefacts so that I would be able to learn more about their archaeological value as I analysed them. My analysis of the Moon collection is supplemented by the interviews I conducted with Mike Moon before he died in January 2021. Additional interviews were conducted with two professional archaeologists who had an opportunity to work with Mike Moon on occasional basis, Aron Mazel and Tim Maggs, an officer from the provincial heritage resources authority, Amafa, Celeste Rossouw, and a close friend, Jennifer Gregory. My study engages the discussion with a focus on the key findings of my analysis of the Mike Moon collection housed at the Museum as well as the interviews with him and four respondents. It also touches on Moon’s private collection housed at his house, which he acquired through various methods over the years. I conclude with the discussion on how others perceive amateur archaeology as well as how amateur archaeologists feel following mixed treatment experiences by professionals.Item Sound and musical instruments in the Holocene archaeological record of South Africa(2020) Kumbani, JoshuaThis thesis provides the first evidence of music-related and sound producing artefacts from the last 10000 years in southern Africa. An inventory of artefacts from southern Africa, including an ivory trumpet, whistles, iron gongs or bells, thumb piano keys or lamellophone keys and rock gongs, show that such artefacts are very rare. This is due to poor preservation of instruments that are frequently made of organic material that rarely survive in the archaeological record. Actualistic studies and microscopic analysis have indicated that two Holocene dual holed bone implements, from Klasies River main site and Matjes River, could have been used as spinning disks, artefacts that produce a whirring sound when spun in front of the body. This approach further identified the first archaeological bullroarer from southern Africa, a bone implement previously interpreted as a pendant from Wilton layers at Matjes River. Sounds recorded from replicas of the bullroarer indicate sound qualities and frequencies similar to other bullroarers from the ethnographic and archaeological record. Bone tubes or pipes that could have been used as flutes or whistles also come from these layers from Matjes River. Rock art images of musical bow players from the Maloti Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal and in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa are discussed and compared to ethnographic and contemporary musical bow playing. Depictions of flute playing from the Klein Karoo as well as the Cederberg are presented and linked to possible similar activities from the South African ethnographic record. It is clear that there is great potential to further music archaeological research in South Africa and the southern African region. This multidisciplinary research into the archaeological evidence for sound and musical expressions from southern Africa adds new knowledge and data to enrich to enrich our understanding of Holocene social practicesItem Social and physical factors influencing the use and consumption of European fabric by nineteenth century indigenous societies in the old Transvaal(2012-03-15) Dymond, Scarlett MirandaIn 1854 friction over labour practices, land appropriation and inland trade routes led to the simultaneous murder of three groups of Dutch settlers, or Trekkers by the Kekana Ndebele. The Trekkers mounted a retaliatory attack on the Kekana, who retreated into Historic Cave, Limpopo Province. Although the cave had been well stocked prior to the attack, the Kekana were decimated and this event later became known as the Siege of Makapan. Excavations from 2001 uncovered a unique cache of European fabric preserved by the unusually dry conditions in the cave. Within the fluid social and political landscape of the internal frontier of nineteenth century northern Transvaal, European clothing and fabric was a valuable resource that served different functions. Contemporary records from traders, travellers and missionaries indicate that, as a high status item, clothing and fabric was often restricted to elites, was subject to social mores and could be used to signal changing religious or political affiliations. Certain groups, or individuals, also invested fabric with unusual properties. No entire garments were recovered from Historic Cave but some of the fragmentary fabric remains that were revealed indicate their possible use as ritual objects endowed with supernatural qualities. The unique find from Historic Cave allows an opportunity of comparing archaeological remains with historical documents to understand more about fabric use at this time.Item The unidentified long bone fragments from the middle stone age Still Bay layers at Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, South Africa(2012-03-07) Reynard, Jerome PeterThe aim of this investigation was to explore the relationship between the unidentified and identified fauna from the Still Bay period at Blombos Cave between ca. 77 and 72 ka. The size, breakage patterns and surface modifications of unidentified long bone fragments from the M1 and upper M2 phases were analysed. The results of the analyses were then compared to a sample of faunal remains identified by Klein (Henshilwood et al. 2001b) and Thompson (2008) from the Still Bay layers at Blombos Cave. The length of each fragment was measured to ascertain the degree of fragmentation of the assemblage. Long bone fragments generally become slightly shorter with increasing depth. This may be because smaller fauna are relatively more prevalent in the deeper layers. Cortical thickness of the bone fragments was measured and grouped into small, medium and large categories. These categories were correlated to Brain‟s (1974a) bovid size classes to investigate whether the unidentified faunal remains mimic the identified bone sample in terms of animal size. While small-sized fauna dominate the identified archaeofaunal assemblages at Blombos Cave, the cortical thickness of unidentified long bone fragments suggest that medium-sized fauna was more common. The breakage pattern of each fragment was assessed, indicating that the majority of specimens exhibited spiral fractures. Burning is more common in the unidentified faunal sample than in the identified sample and may have resulted in the relatively low frequencies of cut-marked and percussion-marked fragments. Polished bone fragments may also be a consequence of burning, abrasion or compaction, though its prevalence in the upper M2 with formal bone tools suggests that it was the result of human activities. Higher bone fragment densities in the upper layers at Blombos Cave suggests that changes in human occupation and faunal density patterns during the Still Bay at Blombos Cave may relate to environmental conditions.Item Understanding the socio-political status of Leokwe society during the Middle Iron Age in the Shashe-Limpopo Basin through a landscape approach(2009-05-22T07:39:04Z) Du Piesanie, JustineCalabrese (2005) identified two distinct ceramics styles in the Shashe- Limpopo basin at the same time – Leokwe and K2. This is the first record of ethnicity in the Iron Age of southern Africa. With this identification come new avenues for research. How these groups interacted, and their relative status through time is the focus of my research. According to Calabrese, some Leokwe groups maintained a higher, or at least equal status on initial contact with K2, before K2 became the dominant political group. He bases this claim on the identification of what he terms ‘Elite Symbolic Objects’ at sites, such as Castle Rock. Using GIS, it is clear that the locale of sites differ within the landscape. Specifically, locations vary through time on the escarpment and floodplain and their relationship to primary and secondary resources. This variation suggests that access to resources was controlled, and this implication influences ones assessment of the relative status of K2 and Leokwe groups. Additionally, new excavations at Castle Rock call into question the validity of ‘elite symbolic objects’ in determining status.Item Engraved rocks at Boomplaats farm: farmer settlement rock engravings of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa(2009-01-15T08:35:57Z) Mbewe, RichardABSTRACT The Rock Art of southern Africa represents the single most informative surviving artifact of the social and symbolic lives of many hunter-gatherers, herders, farmers and settlers who have lived and marked our land. Unlike many other forms of archaeology, rock art has always been in the public domain and of late has become a defining element of social identity. Farmer settlement engravings based on concentric circles joined by meandering lines are particularly intriguing images in southern African Iron Age rock art tradition. This study focuses on a large engraved Iron Age site on the farm Boomplaats 29 JT in Lydenburg District, Mpumalanga province, republic of South Africa. This site contains a variety of engravings ranging from concentric circles, animal motifs, drilled holes, spread-eagle designs and a Mhele/ Morabaraba game board. Although the general characteristics and overall distribution of this art are known, the issue of authorship of this art is till unknown. This research, therefore, goes deeper into both the historical and archaeological evidence from Mpumalanga province to investigate and ascertain the authors of these engravings. This study hopes to advance our knowledge of this art by focusing on the specific issue of authorship, and examining the relationship between the engravings and settlement ruins in the area.Item An analysis of the Micromammal assemblage from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal.(2006-11-14T10:42:27Z) Glenny, Wayne JohnThe analysis of micromammal remains from the MSA deposits at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, constitutes the first in-depth study of the micromammal assemblage at this site. This study highlights the usefulness of taphonomic analyses and micromammal assemblages in the reconstruction of past environments. Little digestive etching suggests that Tyto alba, Tyto capensis and Asio capensis, are the most likely nocturnal raptors responsible for the accumulation of the assemblage. The environmental information from the Sibudu micromammal assemblage showed similarities with other proxy site data from charcoal, seed and macrofaunal analyses. These studies indicate that the immediate environment around Sibudu Cave was very similar at 53.4 ± 3.2 kyr (OSL) and 35.2 ± 1.8 kyr (OSL), consisting of a complex mosaic environment, dominated by open savannah grassland with a small woodland and riverine element.