Department
of Archaeology
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This Department aims to conduct scientific investigations of the lifestyles and customs of the early inhabitants of the Free State Province, South Africa. Artefacts and information in context are collected through systematic research and controlled excavations. Details of these materials are recorded, preserved, curated and studied, and information on the finds is made available to the general public by way of displays, talks and publications. Staff Head of Department: Zoë Henderson (BA Hons, MA (Stell.); M.Phil. (Cantab); Ph.D. (Cantab)) Research Assistant: Sharon Holt (BA Hons (Pret.)) Field Assistant: Vacant |
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Brief history The archaeological collection of the National Museum dates back to just after the establishment of the Museum in 1877, when members of the public started to donate interesting objects and curios for display. This was supplemented by the random collecting of stone artefacts by newly employed staff members. There also seems to have been a tendency to distribute objects or artefact assemblages from collections or type sites from other areas to different museums in the country and overseas. This resulted in the distribution of material from sites at Machemma, Mapungubwe, Smithfield and others to various museums, including the National Museum, Bloemfontein. Archaeology as a subject remained in its infancy for quite some time in South Africa. Museum staff members were mostly well trained in other subjects, but poorly qualified in archaeology. People were initially less specialised, while expressing a wider perspective on science in general. They were less subject-based and more museum-orientated, and although each person had his/her own particular interests, they were mostly able to transfer easily between different subjects. The Department of Archaeology was formally established in 1957, when Dr J.T. Louw, a trained Anthropologist, was appointed to take responsibility for the collections in Anthropology, Ethnology and Archaeology. It took another ten years, however, before the first university-trained archaeologist was appointed. The profession started to develop in the Free State only when C.Garth Sampson was appointed to do the Stone Age research in the Orange River basin. At about the same time, T.M. Maggs started his elaborate research on the Iron Age of the Free State (1965-67). The Department of Archeology showed some rapid development when a succession of trained archaeologists was appointed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. To date the National Museum is still the only institution that employs trained people to do archaeological research on the Stone Age Rock Art, Iron Age and colonial background of the Free State. With the setting of guidelines and an official policy on collecting, acquisition and preservation, and with set research priorities, archaeological research within the Museum context now seems to be firmly established. |
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Last updated 8 September 2005