Showing 7 results

Archival Descriptions
Amafa / Heritage KwaZulu Natali - provincial heritage conservation agency (AMAFA) Series
Print preview View:

FHYA selection from Davies Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using material provided by eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management, 2018: In 1978 Oliver excavated material at uMgungundlovu. Amafa houses 5 cardboard boxes of this material. It was during these excavations that the bulk of the material excavated from Dingane’s floor was reputed to have been collected and this quite clearly constitutes the material now stored at the KZN Museum. The Amafa Pietermaritzburg material consists of some ‘metal remnants, faunal materials (teeth and bone), clay pipes, wooden remains, shells, ear plugs, earthenware, European glass and porcelain’. This material appeared to have been accessioned by Amafa Pietermaritzburg in 1978 and 1983. The FHYA arranged this material into 1978 and 1983 ‘subseries’ in which ‘files’ containing digital ‘items’ which consist of the boxes and their contents.]

FHYA selection from Parkington, Cronin and Poggenpoel Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using material provided by eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management, 2018: In 1974 and 1975 members of the Archaeology Department of the University of Cape Town (UCT), led by Parkington, Mike Cronin, Cedric Poggenpoel, and Heinz Ruther, a survey specialist, explored the size and layout of the site and excavated. Parkington noted to the FHYA that his primary interest in the site related to the organisation of space. They were further assisted by Jeremy Baskin, John Wright, Chrissie Sievers, Simon Hall, Polly Scott and Frank Silberbauer. In 1975 advice was also provided by Martin Hall and Tim Maggs. During these fieldwork periods, permanent datum points were established over an area of the hillside that probably contained the whole site. Some 184 daga floors were plotted and recorded photogrammetrically, and 36 were excavated as individual units. One half of the pit in the Bheje area was also excavated. Amafa Pietermaritzburg holds 40 large cardboard boxes of artefacts excavated in 1974 and 1975. This material includes thousands of fragments of diagnostic and adiagnostic pottery sherds; also, some beads; and a small quantity of fragments of adiagnostic teeth and bones. The KwaZulu-Natal Museum houses most of the Parkington and Cronin material from these excavations. The FHYA arranged this material into 1974 and 1975 ‘subseries’ in which ‘files’ containing digital ‘items’ which consist of the boxes and their contents.]

FHYA selection from Rawlinson Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using material provided by eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management, 2018: In 1986 and 1987, Rob Rawlinson excavated at the uMgungundlovu site. In 1986 Rawlinson was employed as at the University of Zululand and secured research funding through the National Monuments Council to conduct his ancillary excavations at the site, under Franz Roodt’s excavation permit. Rawlinson transferred to Rhodes University in the early 1990’s and subsequently died in a motor accident. His collection of excavated material was later discovered at the University of Zululand and was returned to Amafa Pietermaritzburg post 2000. Rawlinson’s material is listed within the Amafa Register, where it is outlined as an integral part of the Roodt collection, even though Rawlinson’s excavation was entirely independent of Roodt’s work. Rawlinson’s excavation work took place around the uMgungundlovu lower entrance area and included hut floors and a refuse dump near to the lower entrance of the site. The FHYA arranged this material into 1986 and 1987 ‘subseries’ in which ‘files’ containing digital ‘items’ which consist of the boxes and their contents.]

FHYA selection from Roodt and Rawlinson Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using material provided by eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management, 2018: In 1986 and 1987 Rob Rawlinson excavated at the uMgungundlovu site. In 1986 Rawlinson was employed as at the University of Zululand and secured research funding through the National Monuments Council to conduct his ancillary excavations at the site, under Franz Roodt’s excavation permit. His collection of excavated material first housed at the University of Zululand and was returned to Amafa post 2000. Between 1983 and 1994 Frans Roodt excavated at the uMgungundlovu under the auspices of the Natal Provincial Museums Service. These excavations focused on the hut floors from the Bheje areas as well as the isigodlo and the eastern side of uMgungundlovu. This material is housed at Amafa. Rawlinson’s material is listed within the Amafa Register, where it is outlined as an integral part of the Roodt collection, even though Rawlinson’s excavation was entirely independent of Roodt’s work. Rawlinson’s excavation work took place around the Umgungundlovu lower entrance area and included hut floors and a refuse dump near to the lower entrance of the site. Note that the FHYA is not sure which material belongs to Roodt’s excavations and which belongs to Rawlinson’s excavations at this time. The FHYA arranged this material into 1986 and 1987 ‘subseries’ in which ‘files’ containing digital ‘items’ which consist of the boxes and their contents.]

FHYA selection from Roodt Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using material provided by eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management, 2018: Between 1983 and 1994 Frans Roodt excavated at the uMgungundlovu under the auspices of the Natal Provincial Museums Service. These excavations focused on the hut floors from the Bheje areas as well as the isigodlo and the eastern side of uMgungundlovu. eThembeni notes that they are unable to explain exactly which part of uMgungundlovu was excavated on each of Roodt’s field seasons, although this might be able to be done by cross-referencing the trench numbers in the Amafa Collections Register with excavation plan maps and sequencing data. Roodt’s most notable success whilst working at uMgungundlovu arrived in the form of the very important discovery of King Dingane’s hut, with its six-sided star shaped hearth, found within the isigodlo. Roodt’s work at Umgungundlovu was also supported through the work of archaeologist, Hester Lewis, who worked on site with Roodt for several years. Roodt did not excavate in 1984 and 1993. The 1984 excavations were probably postponed as a result of the proposed use of the site for the filming of the SABC Shaka Zulu series. The excavation work done in 1983 was financed by SABC and focused on determining the size and location of the huts in the isigodlo area so that the film series crew could reconstruct a portion of this area. Roodt’s material is housed in AMAFA. Roodt was also employed as the curator of the uMgungundlovu site and the associated museum that was planned for development. The FHYA arranged the Roodt excavation material into 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1994 ‘subseries’ in which ‘files’ containing digital ‘items’ which consist of the boxes and their contents.]