This PhD thesis addresses southern African archaeology, emphasizing the importance of considering geoarchaeological context when using archaeological remains to support hypotheses. It focuses on... Show moreThis PhD thesis addresses southern African archaeology, emphasizing the importance of considering geoarchaeological context when using archaeological remains to support hypotheses. It focuses on Umhlatuzana and Umbeli Belli rockshelters, conducting a comprehensive stratigraphic analysis for a deep understanding of their depositional history and archaeological context.Umhlatuzana's stratigraphic sequence reveals primary, unaltered depositional micro-layering throughout, challenging assumptions of sediment movement. Bioturbation features are present but do not significantly impact lithic assemblages.Umbeli Belli rockshelter shows intense percolating water activity, causing poor preservation of organic remains. Different geogenic processes and pulsed occupations form varying artifact densities and sterile zones, but overall, the archaeological context remains secure with minimal bioturbation.This research highlights the need for taphonomic studies to understand the visibility, invisibility, or absence of specific proxies in the archaeological record. In-depth geoarchaeological analysis contributes to assessing archaeological record completeness and revealing remnants affected by post-depositional processes.In conclusion, this study underscores the importance of geoarchaeological research in elucidating site formation processes and archaeological visibility, especially in challenging preservation conditions, like Umhlatuzana and Umbeli Belli rockshelters, providing valuable insights into southern African archaeology. Show less
The Khoisan of the Cape are widely considered virtually extinct as a distinct collective following their decimation, dispossession and assimilation into the mixed-race group ‘coloured’ during... Show moreThe Khoisan of the Cape are widely considered virtually extinct as a distinct collective following their decimation, dispossession and assimilation into the mixed-race group ‘coloured’ during colonialism and apartheid. However, since the democratic transition of 1994, increasing numbers of ‘Khoisan revivalists’ are rejecting their coloured identity and engaging in activism as indigenous people. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Cape Town, this book takes an unprecedented bottom-up approach. Centring emic perspectives, it scrutinizes Khoisan revivalism’s origins and explores the diverse ways Khoisan revivalists engage with the past to articulate a sense of indigeneity and stake political claims. Show less
Bureaucrats of Liberation narrates the history of the Southern Africa Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of... Show moreBureaucrats of Liberation narrates the history of the Southern Africa Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. Between 1963 and 1994, the Southern Africa Project connected lawyers from Namibia, South Africa, and the United States. Within the Project’s network, activist lawyers exchanged funding resources, provided logistical support for political trials, and mediated new voting and governmental systems. Show less
The first of its kind, this volume collects more than seventy South African women’s voices, from 1652 until today. We share the joys and sorrows of these women through their entertaining, sometimes... Show moreThe first of its kind, this volume collects more than seventy South African women’s voices, from 1652 until today. We share the joys and sorrows of these women through their entertaining, sometimes disturbing texts. A testament to a significant segment of the linguistic and cultural history of the country, they speak in Dutch, then in different varieties of Afrikaans. The printing press arrived late at the Cape, and when it finally did, it took another century before the first publications by women appeared. Initially their writing bore a strong biblical influence, but gradually, as women began to have access to better educational opportunities, they began to produce literature of world stature in Afrikaans. Through this literature, we can see women’s perspectives on the tumultuous history of South Africa from colonisation to democracy as it unfolded. Show less
We explore if taxonomic analysis of archaeological mollusc assemblages can be used to reconstruct Late Pleistocene (MIS 5–3) coastal environments at Klasies River in South Africa. To obtain a... Show moreWe explore if taxonomic analysis of archaeological mollusc assemblages can be used to reconstruct Late Pleistocene (MIS 5–3) coastal environments at Klasies River in South Africa. To obtain a balanced reconstruction, we analyse the large molluscs separately from the so-called incidentals, the small mollusc species. Based on modern mollusc habitat preferences and tolerances we identify four different eco-profiles to help characterise sea surface temperatures and the character of the shore: temperature profile; geographical distribution; substrate; wave interaction. We hypothesise that changes in the Klasies River mollusc community/eco-profiles can be linked to global glacial and interglacial events and we define several testable assumptions. We found that in response to global warming and cooling events, the Klasies River mollusc communities change slightly, yet significantly. Other sources of marine environmental data confirm that average sea surface temperatures gradually decreased, but probably remained within the modern southern east coast range of variation. It appears that coastal sea surface temperatures of the warm Agulhas current were not particularly depressed during the occupation sequence. The character of the coastal topography does change more apparently during the occupation sequence of the sites and with it the mollusc assemblages: from an interglacial rocky shore in the Klasies and two Mossel Bay phases to a more glacial sandy environment during the Howiesons Poort and the MSA III. In conclusion, the temperature tolerance levels of many Klasies River mollusc species are too broad to reflect small changes in sea surface temperatures. However, in conjunction with other eco-profiles and environmental proxies, such as substrate requirements and oxygen isotopes, the temperature approximations are useful, particularly when evaluating large scale sea surface temperature fluctuations. For the characterisation of the shore and substrate we found the eco-profile approach very useful. Show less
Hertog, T.N. den; Jong, M. de; Ham, A.J. van der; Hinton, D.; Reis, R. 2016
Current political negotiations in South Africa which explore the possibility of pre-1913 land claims and the recognition of Khoisan traditional authorities have spurred the growth of the "Khoisan... Show moreCurrent political negotiations in South Africa which explore the possibility of pre-1913 land claims and the recognition of Khoisan traditional authorities have spurred the growth of the "Khoisan revival": the phenomenon of people identifying as Khoisan and asserting indigenous rights. Based on fieldwork conducted in Cape Town in 2014 and 2015, this paper discusses the motivations and strategies of several Khoisan activists. After outlining the political context of the Khoisan revival, I show how activists make claims and demands through the use of popular imagery and a global indigenous rights discourse. While producing valuable insights, this "strategic essentialist" approach inadequately addresses motivations for claiming land. Based on a discussion of several case studies, I argue that claiming land functions not so much as a means of procuring physical or economic spaces, but as a way for activists to express grievances regarding coloured identity, history and healing. This symbolic interpretation prompts the reconceptualisation of land claims within the restitution paradigm and policy negotiations. Show less
The article explores theoretically the juxtaposition of local stories about landscape with institutional arrangements and exclusionary practices around a conservation area in South Africa. The... Show moreThe article explores theoretically the juxtaposition of local stories about landscape with institutional arrangements and exclusionary practices around a conservation area in South Africa. The Masebe Nature Reserve is used as a case study. The article argues that the institutional arrangements in which the nature reserve is currently positioned are too static, and consequently exclusionary, in their demarcation of boundaries. This stifles local communities’ sense of belonging to these landscapes. Hence, they strongly resent and feel alienated by the nature reserve. Their opposition and alienation often manifests in poaching. The empirical material is based on how local people living adjacent to the Masebe Nature Reserve have historically named and interpreted the area’s impressive sandstone mountains, in the process creating a sense of belonging. Juxtaposing this mostly tranquil cultural reading of the landscape to the institutional practices of boundary demarcation gives the analysis an immediate critical edge regarding issues of social justice Show less
