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Archival Descriptions
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FHYA collation of items pertinent to the testimonies of individual interlocutors from six published volumes of the James Stuart Archive

[Source - Carolyn Hamilton for FHYA, 2019: Series contains 6 subseries arranged by date of published volume. Each subseries contains files named by interlocutor and comprise: a placeholder for photocopies of James Stuart's handwritten notes of his conversations, with handwritten annotations by John Wright; the version published in an edited volume by Colin de B. Webb and John Wright; a placeholder for a Hyperlinked Archival Research Tool; the Killie Campbell African Library's James Stuart Papers inventory; and John Wright's summary of the James Stuart Papers.]

FHYA collation of Series 10, The Collection of Father Franz Mayr: Zulu Recordings 1908 - sound recordings and associated material

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2018, using the CD booklet “Series 10 The Collection of Father Franz Mayr: Zulu Recordings 1908” and information provided by Gerda Lechleitner via email correspondence in 2016: The wide range of informants recorded by Mayr included young schoolgirls, an old "traditional" healer, non-Christian Zulu people, and Zulus who had already accepted Christianity and European customs (at least formally)

Mayr’s recordings were originally made with an Edison recorder on wax cylinders. This collection originally comprised of 50 recordings made by Mayr. However, the recordings listed in the first catalogue of the collection as Ph 1795A, Ph 1799A-1799B, and Ph 1800, no longer exist. Although these phonograms are missing from the Phonogrammarchiv, their original documentation still exists.

A book about Mayr, written by Clemens Gütl (Gütl, Clemens. ‘Adieu ihr lieben Schwarzen’: Gesammelte Schriften des Tiroler Afrikamissionare Franz Mayr (1865-1914). Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 2004), prompted the Phonogrammarchiv to publish the Franz Mayr Collection in 2006.

Mayr’s original notes regarding the recordings were sporadic – in some cases he gave very few details about the interlocutor, while in other cases he was quite meticulous. In the case of interlocutors without a first or family name, or interlocutors with isiZulu names, this usually meant that the interlocutor had not converted to Christianity, where European-style names indicated an interlocutor who had converted to Christianity. Mayr had a wide range of interlocutors from the Natal area. Mayr stated that, with the exception of Ph 1773 [CD 2: 23] and Ph 1775 [CD 2: 24], which contain recordings in isiBhaca, considered by Mayr to be a dialect of siSwati, the recordings all document samples of isiZulu. Lechleitner notes that one should be cautious of sociohistorical context when approaching Mayr’s protocols. Importantly, modern research shows that the isiZulu spoken in Natal during Mayr’s stay was a specific dialect called the ‘Lala dialect’ or the ‘Tekeza language’.

The Mayr protocols are published on a data CD as digital images. They are divided into a protocol header and a free text section. The header contains standardised information such as: personal data of the phonographee, location and date of the recording, a brief summary of contents, technical details, as well as the phonographer’s name (and profession). The free text section contains texts, sometimes also translations and musical notations. Among these there may also be transliterations, unpublished or already published elsewhere, sometimes in historical transcriptions. Occasionally, one will also find texts which have not been recorded (e.g. additional verses of songs).

The series is arranged in 2 subseries for Disc 1 and Disc 2, and further laid out so that each song and the associated original protocols, transcriptions, and accompanying booklet is housed in a separate file.]

FHYA collation of the Father Franz Mayr Collection

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2018, using material provided by Kevin Carney-Thompson: The plant matter and accompanying material (labels and catalogue cards) were photographed together in a single image by the Herbarium. They have been presented by the FHYA as single digital items within files.The material is gathered together on the FHYA website as a ‘series’ named the ‘Father Franz Mayr Collection’. Alongside the scanned and barcoded Mayr ethnobotanical specimens, the Herbarium also includes a 10cm scale bar and a colour reference grid, photographed together with it's accompanying label, catalogue card, 10cm scale bar and a colour reference grid.]

FHYA James Stuart archival research tool

[Source - Debra Pryor for FHYA, 2019: File contains a circumscribed version of an Archival Research Tool which was made by the FHYA team in 2018. They made a digital copy of John Wright’s set of hand-annotated photocopies of the notes of James Stuart’s conversations and linked them to the published text across all six volumes of James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples. The Killie Campbell Africana Library (KCAL), which holds the original handwritten notes, has given permission for the photocopies and research tool pertinent to only one interlocutor, Socwatsha kaPhaphu, to be made available online.]

FHYA selection from Brenthurst Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using materials provided by Nessa Leibhammer, 2018: The FHYA selection of the items within the Brenthurst Collection was made by Nessa Leibhammer, who curated the Traditional Collections from 1994 to 1996, and then again from 2005 to 2013. This selection currently contains 16 items, and their associated material, which Leibhammer identified as probably dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and as coming from the FHYA target area of KwaZulu-Natal and immediately adjacent regions.]

FHYA selection from Brodie Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using materials provided by Nessa Leibhammer, 2018: The Johannesburg Art Gallery purchased 532 pieces, predominantly beadwork, from Mordechai Brodie in the latter part of 1994. This selection comprises 1 item, and associated material, which Leibhammer identified as probably dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and as coming from the FHYA target area of KwaZulu-Natal and immediately adjacent regions. Leibhammer further selected this item because there was an image of the object readily available.]

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 Davies Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2018, using material provided by eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management: In 1978 Oliver Davies joined the winter school run by Martin Hall in conjunction with the University of Cape Town archaeology department, and excavated material at uMgungundlovu. Davies was granted a permit, per/1/45 for reconnaissance work in KwaZulu Natal and East Griqualand on the 30 March 1977. This permit lapsed 31 March 1980. This permit is related to further permits obtained by Davies, all under the same permit number. Davies's excavated material includes 21 boxes of diagnostic and adiagnostic pottery sherds; 53 boxes of unanalysed, waste and diagnostic bone and teeth; 3 boxes of analysed beads with the analysis cards; 1 box of hut floor fragments; 2 boxes of carbon and seeds from all layers of the excavation; and also 2 boxes of metal and waste stone, iron remains, polished stones, dagga pipes, copper and brass bangle remains, slag, grindstones, glass, china and porcelain. Another 2 boxes held at KZNM are catalogued as being part of the 1978 excavations but have been stored under a different shelf number, ‘1978/141 and 1978/143’. These consist of pottery, china, bone and teeth, wire, steel, seeds, iron, beads, dung and a stone chopper with LSA core fragments. There is no record of what is held within Box number ‘1978/142’. Equally, 1978/144 and 1978/145 are attributed to uMgungundlovu-Dingaanstadt but there is ‘no material’ relating to either of these boxes. At KZNM, a further 2 boxes of material taken from Trench 3 have been documented under Box numbers ‘1978/146’ and ‘1978/147’. These are another mixed assemblage consisting of ‘pottery, bone, stone (flake), beads, seeds and a tooth’. A final Box numbered ‘1978/136’ has 2 choppers and an LSA core ‘taken from the Dingaanstadt area’. eThembeni was tasked with photographing the contents of a randomly chosen single sorting tray for each type of undiagnostic and diagnostic material, and for each field season. The FHYA has not endeavoured to check precisely how eThembeni interpreted this specification. The FHYA arranged this material into a 1978 ‘subseries’ in which ‘files’ containing digital ‘items’ which consist of the boxes and their contents.]

FHYA selection from Hall Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2018, using material provided by Gavin Whitelaw and eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management: In 1975 Martin Hall, an ethno-archaeologist, who was completing his PhD at the University of Cambridge and who worked at the Natal Museum from 1975 to 1980, excavated Midden 3 as a part of a pilot project. Hall was granted a permit, per/1/156, “for excavation and removal of archaeological material from archaeological sites in the Umfolosi catchment river area, Zululand, for purposes of study and preservation”. It was granted 10 November 1975, and lapsed 30 Nov 1978. In 1978 Hall ran a winter school at the uMgungundlovu site (this winter school was probably run in conjunction with the UCT archaeology department). Martin Hall was granted a permit, per/1/183, “for excavation and removal of archaeological material from Mgungundlovu or the purposes of research”. It was granted 14 February 1978, and lapsed 28 February 1981. Martin Hall’s material is housed in the KZNM in boxes 75/139/002, 75/139/020, 75/139/021 and 78/132/1-82. This material includes 21 boxes of diagnostic and adiagnostic Zulu pottery sherds; 53 boxes of unanalysed, waste and diagnostic bone and teeth; 3 boxes of analysed beads with the analysis cards; 1 box of hut floor fragments; 2 boxes of carbon and seeds from all layers of the excavation; and also 2 boxes of metal and waste stone, iron remains, polished stones, dagga pipes, copper and brass bangle remains, slag, grindstones, glass, china and porcelain. Some of the material that has been incorporated into Hall's accessioned boxes of material were excavated by Tim Maggs in 1973, most notably the isicoco polisher, or polishing stone, housed in box 75/139/021. The KZNM has used the museum’s index cards to produce a succinct digital record of the contents of the boxes excavated by Martin Hall in 1975 and in 1978. This is located within the KZNM’s Asset Register. eThembeni was tasked with photographing the contents of a randomly chosen single sorting tray for each type of undiagnostic and diagnostic material, and for each field season. The FHYA has not endeavoured to check precisely how eThembeni interpreted this specification. The FHYA arranged this material into 1975 and 1978 ‘subseries’ in which ‘files’ sit. These files contain digital ‘items’ which consist of the boxes and their contents.]

FHYA selection from Horstmann Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using materials provided by Nessa Leibhammer, 2018: In 1992, Udo Horstmann sold 26 objects from southern African to the Johannesburg Art Gallery, donating a further 67 items as part of the transaction. A few years later, he further donated a number of other items to JAG. The FHYA selection of the items within the Horstmann Collection was made by Nessa Leibhammer, who curated the Traditional Collections from 1994 to 1996, and then again from 2005 to 2013. This selection contains 8 items, and their associated material, which Leibhammer identified as probably dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and as coming from the FHYA target area of KwaZulu-Natal and immediately adjacent regions. Leibhammer further selected items within these criteria for which images were readily available.]

FHYA selection from Jaques Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using materials provided by Nessa Leibhammer, 2018: In 1987, the Johannesburg Art Gallery purchased a selection of 114 items from Reverend A. A. Jaques’ headrest collection. The FHYA selection of the items within the Jaques Collection was made by Nessa Leibhammer, who curated the Traditional Collections from 1994 to 1996, and then again from 2005 to 2013. This selection comprises 1 item, and associated material, which Leibhammer identified as probably dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and as coming from the FHYA target area of KwaZulu-Natal and immediately adjacent regions. Leibhammer further selected this item because there was an image of the object readily available.]

FHYA selection from Karner Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using materials provided by Nessa Leibhammer, 2018: The FHYA selection from the Karner Collection comprises 1 item, and associated material, which Leibhammer identified as probably dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and as coming from the FHYA target area of KwaZulu-Natal and immediately adjacent regions. Leibhammer further selected this item because there was an image of the object readily available.]

FHYA selection from Maggs Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2018, using material provided by eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management and material provided through personal communication with Gavin Whitelaw: Following a visit to uMgungundlovu with George Chadwick, who worked at the Natal Education Department and was a National Monuments Council representative for a number of years, Oliver Davies created a Natal Museum archaeological site record for the site. He recorded the owner of the site as the National Monuments Commission. Davies wrote in his site record that “[a] number of huts have recently been uncovered, of a regular pattern: beaten clay floors which is fairly well preserved; clay hearth with raised rim, preserved in many cases; in one or two cases the sockets of the posts which formed the hut-walls. Also, several depressions which are thought to be collapsed grain-silos, and an area where slag and fragments of copper have been found, probably the site of the workshops. Some low banks with bone-fragments in the earth, thought to be middens.” The phrasing of Davies’s report suggests that Chadwick had already exposed hut floors on the site in 1971 through a process of shovel-clearing. Gavin Whitelaw contends that Chadwick might have asked Davies to accompany him to the site to view the progress of this shovel-clearing work. By 1973, Chadwick and E. Wally Hyde, a National Monuments Council Honorary Officer, were shovel clearing on the brewery hut in the isigodlo at uMgungundlovu. Whitelaw suggests that Chadwick asked Tim Maggs, at the time newly appointed to the Natal Museum, to view the shovel-clearing action taking place on the site. Maggs intervened to curb this action. Maggs then conducted a preliminary survey of the Royal iKhanda area along with George Chadwick. 1973. A National Monuments Council communication dated 1 November 1973 incorporates a report from George Chadwick in which he states that in July 1973 he and Maggs had uncovered several floors, collected pottery and beads, and surveyed in detail the floors already uncovered. Two floors were notable: the brewery hut (labelled as Hut 11 in Parkington and Cronin’s 1979 article ‘The Size and Layout of Mgungundlovu 1829-1838’) and the weapon storage hut (probably the hut labelled as Hut 23 in Parkington and Cronin’s 1979 article ‘The Size and Layout of Mgungundlovu 1829-1838’). The physical work was apparently undertaken largely by Hyde and his labour team. The material from this preliminary survey and the curbed shovel clearing was excavated and collected in 1973, but is housed with Martin Hall’s material from his 1975 excavation at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum as a result of a curatorial decision on the part of the museum. eThembeni was tasked with photographing the contents of a randomly chosen single sorting tray for each type of undiagnostic and diagnostic material, and for each field season. The FHYA has not endeavoured to check precisely how eThembeni interpreted this specification. The FHYA arranged this material external to the Hall material into a Maggs series and further 1973 subseries, in which ‘files’ sit. These files contain digital ‘items’ which consist of the boxes and their contents.]

FHYA selection from Maritz Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA using materials provided by Nessa Leibhammer, 2018: The core of what would become the Maritz Collection at JAG was assembled by Jonathan Lowen in London. This was then purchased by Nicholas Maritz who added further items to it before selling the collection, which he classified as ‘Northern Nguni’, to the JAG in 2013. The Maritz Collection is housed within Traditional Collections in JAG. The FHYA selection of the items within the Maritz Collection was made by Nessa Leibhammer, who curated the Traditional Collections from 1994 to 1996, and then again from 2005 to 2013. This selection contains 62 items, and their associated material, which Leibhammer identified as probably dating to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and as coming from the FHYA target area of KwaZulu-Natal and immediately adjacent regions. Leibhammer further selected items within these criteria for which images were readily available.]

FHYA selection from Mayr Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2018, using material provided by Kevin Carnie-Thompson and Benny Bytebier, and KZNM materials: Reverend Father Franz Mayr was an Austrian missionary and collector active in southern Africa at the turn of the twentieth century. While living in southern Africa, Mayr was a proficient collector, amassing a wide range of different items, including examples of local medicinal plants, minerals, animals and ethnological artefacts, such as tools, household items, beadwork clothing and weapons, as well as recordings of local music. He collected a substantial quantity of material objects – including items such as local beadwork and household goods – at the request of Dr Ernest Warren, director of the Natal Government Museum. Mayr wrote several educational and religious books, including isiZulu language manuals and scholarly articles on aspects of what was regarded as ‘Zulu’ culture related to his collections. The articles were published in the European journal ‘Anthropos’ and the ‘Annals of the Natal Government Museum’. His publications allow for the gleaning of additional contextual information pertaining to the recordings and collected material. The FHYA selected items identified as definitely having been collected by Mayr, as identified by Nessa Leibhammer, Linda Ireland, Rosemary Lombard, Gavin Whitelaw, and Thingahangwi Tshivhase.]

FHYA selection from Parkington, Cronin and Poggenpoel Series

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2018, using material provided by eThembeni Cultural Heritage Management and material provided through personal communication with Gavin Whitelaw: 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. The excavations included clay floors in the isigodlo area, part of the isigodlo midden, hut floors from the Bheje, and hut floors associated with the warrior quarters. During these fieldwork periods, permanent datum points were established over an area of the hillside. 184 daga floors were plotted and recorded photogrammetrically, and 36 daga floors were excavated as individual units. One half of the pit in the Bheje area was also excavated. The material from the excavations is housed with Martin Hall’s material from his 1975 excavation at the KwaZulu-Natal Musuem as a result of a curatorial decision on the part of the museum. eThembeni was tasked with photographing the contents of a randomly chosen single sorting tray for each type of undiagnostic and diagnostic material, and for each field season. The FHYA has not endeavoured to check precisely how eThembeni interpreted this specification. The FHYA arranged this material external to the Hall material into a Parkington and Cronin series, in which a 1974-1975 subseries containing ‘files’ sits. These files contain 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.]

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