An archaeological study of the two-hundred-year-old raised structures in southern Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

This study was first and foremost a descriptive study of the so-called enigmatic raised structures found within the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve and the neighbouring farm. The study also aimed to determine whether the raised structures could possibly be called ‘grain bin bases’, ‘grave markers’, ‘cairns’ or ‘monuments’. The study followed a quantitative methodology which involved field surveys and an exploratory GIS study of the LiDAR data by using the following variables: slope, aspect, ruggedness, elevation, viewshed area and the number of other raised structures visible from each raised structure. It is difficult to ascertain the precise function of these structures using the methods applied in this study, however, the structures do fulfil the characteristics of monumental architecture. This ties in with other research which detailed that the Group II stone walling within the Suikerbosrand area was built by the most politically stratified groups which occupied the region during the Late Iron Age.

Keywords: GIS, LiDAR, Suikerbosrand, Group II stonewalling, Raised structures, monumental architecture