Archives of Times Past

Justine Wintjes, Himal Ramji, Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu, Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu, Muchaparara Musemwa, Fred Morton, Hlonipha Mokoena, Grant McNulty, Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi, Lize Kriel, Rachel King, Amanda Esterhuysen, Jan Boeyens, Geoffrey Blundell, Helen Ludlow, Mbongiseni Buthelezi, John Wright, Cynthia Kros

Description

This volume critically examines sources of evidence and material from the archive that historically have been used to tell southern Africa’s pre-colonial story.

Archives of Times Past explores particular sources of evidence on southern Africa’s time before the colonial era. It gathers recent ideas about archives and archiving from scholars in southern Africa and elsewhere, focusing on the question: ‘How do we know, or think we know, what happened in the times before European colonialism?’

The essays by well-known historians, archaeologists and researchers engage these questions from a range of perspectives and in illuminating ways. Written from personal experience, they capture how these experts encountered their archives of knowledge beyond the textbook.

The essays are written at a time when public discussion about the history of southern Africa before the colonial era is taking place more openly than at any other time in the last hundred years They will appeal to students, academics, educationists, teachers, archivists, and heritage, museum practitioners and the general public.

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Editorial Note

Map



Part I First Thoughts about the Archive

Chapter 1 Exploring the Archive of the Times before Colonialism — Cynthia Kros, John Wright, Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Helen Ludlow

Chapter 2 A Young Woman’s Journey of Discovery — Cynthia Kros and John Wright

Chapter 3 Where Are the Deep Conversations about the Past? — Cynthia Kros and John Wright

Chapter 4 ‘Ask the Old People’; ‘Ask the Professors’ — Cynthia Kros and John Wright



Part II Commentaries and Conversations

Chapter 5 Notes on a Kholwa Writer’s Life: Magema Fuze — Hlonipha Mokoena

Chapter 6 An Archive in an Old Tin Trunk — Rachel King

Chapter 7 Making ‘Tribal Histories’: The Work of Paul-Lenert Breutz — Fred Morton and Jan Boeyens

Chapter 8 Conversations with Sekibakiba Lekgoathi — Sekibakiba Lekgoathi, Cynthia Kros and John Wright

Chapter 9 Unpacking Olden Times — John Wright



Part III Becoming Explorers

Chapter 10 From ‘Nature Study’ to ‘Nature’s Archives’: My Journey into Environmental History — Muchaparara Musemwa

Chapter 11 Nervously Entering the World of Carl Hoffmann and His Interlocutors — Lize Kriel

Chapter 12 Dreams and Destinies: Stepping into the World of Archaeology — Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu

Chapter 13 Life with the James Stuart Archive — John Wright



Part IV Engaging with Archaeology and Rock Art

Chapter 14 Digging Historic Cave: An Archaeological and Historical Quest — Amanda Esterhuysen

Chapter 15 Storm Shelter: Rediscovering an Archive of Rock Art — Geoffrey Blundell

Chapter 16 A Lion’s Life: Tracking the Biography of an Archaeological

Artefact — Justine Wintjes



Part V Conflicting Opinions

Chapter 17 A Neglected Archive – and an Academic Pact — Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu

Chapter 18 Mapungubwe Imagined — Himal Ramji

Chapter 19 Mkhize Historians Dispute the Past — Grant McNulty



Part VI Further Thoughts

Chapter 20 Making Journeys into the Archive — Cynthia Kros

Chapter 21 The Archive in Pictures: Visual Essay — Justine Wintjes



Glossary

Contributors

Index

Sujets

• Museum Studies
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• África
• Museology
• General officer
• History of Africa
• General
• Africa
• ART

Informations

• Publié par: WITS University Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776147304
• Langue: English

Extrait

ARCHIVES OF TIMES PAST
ARCHIVES OF TIMES PAST
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA S DEEP HISTORY
Edited By Cynthia Kros, John Wright, Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Helen Ludlow
Published in South Africa by:
Wits University Press
1 Jan Smuts Avenue
Johannesburg 2001
www.witspress.co.za
Compilation Cynthia Kros, John Wright, Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Helen Ludlow 2022
Chapters Individual contributors 2022
Published edition Wits University Press 2022
Images and figures Copyright holders
First published 2022
http://dx.doi.org.10.18772/22022027274
978-1-77614-727-4 (Paperback)
978-1-77614-728-1 (Hardback)
978-1-77614-729-8 (Web PDF)
978-1-77614-730-4 (EPUB)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher, except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, Act 98 of 1978.
All images remain the property of the copyright holders. The publishers gratefully acknowledge the publishers, institutions and individuals referenced in captions for the use of images. Every effort has been made to locate the original copyright holders of the images reproduced here; please contact Wits University Press in case of any omissions or errors.
The financial assistance of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) towards this publication is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and those arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NIHSS.

Project manager: Elaine Williams
Copyeditor: Lisa Compton
Proofreader: Lee Smith
Indexer: Marlene Burger
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CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
EDITORIAL NOTE
MAP
PART I FIRST THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ARCHIVE
CHAPTER 1 Exploring the Archive of the Times before Colonialism - Cynthia Kros, John Wright, Mbongiseni Buthelezi and Helen Ludlow
CHAPTER 2 A Young Woman s Journey of Discovery - Cynthia Kros and John Wright
CHAPTER 3 Where Are the Deep Conversations about the Past? - Cynthia Kros and John Wright
CHAPTER 4 Ask the Old People ; Ask the Professors - Cynthia Kros and John Wright
PART II COMMENTARIES AND CONVERSATIONS
CHAPTER 5 Notes on a Kholwa Writer s Life: Magema Fuze - Hlonipha Mokoena
CHAPTER 6 An Archive in an Old Tin Trunk - Rachel King
CHAPTER 7 Making Tribal Histories : The Work of Paul-Lenert Breutz - Fred Morton and Jan Boeyens
CHAPTER 8 Conversations with Sekibakiba Lekgoathi - Sekibakiba Lekgoathi, Cynthia Kros and John Wright
CHAPTER 9 Unpacking Olden Times - John Wright
PART III BECOMING EXPLORERS
CHAPTER 10 From Nature Study to Nature s Archives : My Journey into Environmental History - Muchaparara Musemwa
CHAPTER 11 Nervously Entering the World of Carl Hoffmann and His Interlocutors - Lize Kriel
CHAPTER 12 Dreams and Destinies: Stepping into the World of Archaeology - Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu
CHAPTER 13 Life with the James Stuart Archive - John Wright
PART IV ENGAGING WITH ARCHAEOLOGY AND ROCK ART
CHAPTER 14 Digging Historic Cave: An Archaeological and Historical Quest - Amanda Esterhuysen
CHAPTER 15 Storm Shelter: Rediscovering an Archive of Rock Art - Geoffrey Blundell
CHAPTER 16 A Lion s Life: Tracking the Biography of an Archaeological Artefact - Justine Wintjes
PART V CONFLICTING OPINIONS
CHAPTER 17 A Neglected Archive - and an Academic Pact - Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu
CHAPTER 18 Mapungubwe Imagined - Himal Ramji
CHAPTER 19 Mkhize Historians Dispute the Past - Grant McNulty
PART VI FURTHER THOUGHTS
CHAPTER 20 Making Journeys into the Archive - Cynthia Kros
CHAPTER 21 The Archive in Pictures: A Visual Essay - Justine Wintjes

GLOSSARY
CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1: Archival documents in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum Library. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2020.)
Figure 2: A map cupboard in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum Library. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2020.)
Figure 3: An aisle in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum Library. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2021.)
Figure 4: Three files from the D.F. Ellenberger Collection. (Courtesy of Morija Museum and Archives; photographs by Rachel King, 2015, 2018.)
Figure 5: A letter held in the archives of the Rock Art Research Institute, with an enclosed photograph of the lion rock painting. (Courtesy of the Rock Art Research Institute, Wits University, and the African Rock Art Digital Archive (www.sarada.co.za), document ref. VRL-LST-003.)
Figure 6: Some of the publications responding to Julian Cobbing’s 1988 Journal of African History paper, ‘The Mfecane as Alibi: Thoughts on Dithakong and Mbolompo’. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2021.)
Figure 7: Copies of The Black People and Whence They Came , the translation into English of Magema Magwaza Fuze’s Abantu Abamnyama Lapa Bavela Ngakona (1922), on the shelves of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum Library. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2020.)
Figure 8: A gourd beer vessel. (Photograph by Chiara Singh, 2021.)
Figure 9: Missionary Carl Hoffmann in conversation with a party of men in the Wolkberg area, Limpopo Province, c. 1920 (Courtesy of the Berlin Mission Archive. Retrieved from the Hoffmann Collection of Cultural Knowledge online (resource ID 496), https://rs.cms.hu-berlin.de/hoffmanncollection/?r=496, last accessed 15 April 2021, and used under Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0.)
Figure 10: Paul den Hoed tracing rock paintings at Storm Shelter, Maclear district, Eastern Cape. Storm Shelter is the subject of chapter 15 by rock art researcher Geoffrey Blundell. (Courtesy of the Rock Art Research Institute and the African Rock Art Digital Archive. Photograph by Geoffrey Blundell.)
Figure 11: Archaeologists Mudzunga Munzhedzi and Phumulani Madonda at the Early Iron Age site of Ntshekane, KwaZulu-Natal. (Photograph by Larry Owens, 2017.)
Figure 12: Project assistant Chiara Singh photographing an unusual wooden container recorded as a ‘tobacco jar’ (object no. 170) from the anthropology collection of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2021.)
Figure 13: KwaZulu-Natal Museum. (Photograph by Mudzunga Munzhedzi, 2019.)
Figure 14: The Cave House at Masitise, Lesotho, where missionary David-Frédéric Ellenberger once lived. (Photograph by Gavin Whitelaw, 2015.)
Figure 15: Marange Community Museum, Zimbabwe. (Photograph by Patricia Chipangura, 2018.)
Figure 16: Ghilraen Laue and Dimakatso Tlhaoele, of the Department of Human Sciences at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, going through a suitcase of old documents bequeathed by Patricia Vinnicombe to the museum. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2020.)
Figure 17: A nineteenth-century ‘Kalanga’ pot acquired by the KwaZulu-Natal Museum (object no. 8237.36). (Photograph by Thomas Huffman, 2018.)
Figure 18: Missionary Carl Hoffmann in conversation with Pastor Moses Rakoma, c. 1920. (Courtesy of the Berlin Mission Archive. Retrieved from the Hoffmann Collection of Cultural Knowledge online (resource ID 534), https://rs.cms.hu-berlin.de/hoffmanncollection/?r=534, last accessed 15 April 2021, and used under Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0.)
Figure 19: Annotated photocopy in the possession of historian John Wright, from Thununu kaNonjiya’s testimony in the James Stuart Papers (Campbell Collections of the University of KwaZulu-Natal), next to the published version of this testimony in The James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples (Vol. 6). (Photograph by John Wright, 2020.)
Figure 20: Mqayikana kaYenge of the abakwaMpumuza clan, an interlocutor of colonial magistrate James Stuart, photographed in Pietermaritzburg in 1916. (Courtesy of the Campbell Collections of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, James Stuart Papers, archive ref. D37-109.)
Figure 21: View from a rock shelter in the Kho’Khobe valley, Quthing, Lesotho, with doctoral student Anton Coetzee and rock art custodian Telang Sekotlo. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2019.)
Figure 22: Rock art custodian Masikhanda Maphalala and historian Jeff Guy discussing a painted rock panel, uMhwabane shelter, KwaZulu-Natal. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2010.)
Figure 23: Rock engraving of a rhinoceros at Wildebeest Kuil, Northern Cape. (Photograph by Justine Wintjes, 2019.)
Figure 24: Archaeologist Bruce Fordyce tracing rock paintings on a field trip with rock art expert David Lewis-Williams, Harrismith area, eastern Free State. Rock art is discussed in chapters 15 and 16. (Photograph by Gavin Whitelaw, 1982.)
Figure 25: A sandstone block with a painting of a lion on it, removed from uMhwabane shelter (eBusingatha) in 1946–1947. (Courtesy of the Rock Art Research Institute, Wits University (object no. RP-2005-039). Photographs by Justine Wintjes, 2010.)
Figure 26: Images related to Storm Shelter available from the African Rock Art Digital Archive (www.sarada.co.za).
Figure 27: Aron Mazel and team excavating at Maqonqo shelter, Mzinyathi valley, KwaZulu-Natal. (Courtesy of Aron Mazel. Photographer unrecorded, 1993.)
Figure 28: Ntombifuthi Mkhize and Clare Cresswell sieving and sorting excavated materials at KwaThwaleyakhe shelter, KwaZulu-Natal. (Photograph by Aron Mazel, 1989.)
Figure 29: Aron Mazel and Jonathan Kaplan examining materials from Umhlatuzana shelter, KwaZulu-Natal, in the archaeology workroom at the Natal Museum. (Photograph by Tim Maggs or Val Ward, 1985/6.)
Figure 30: Tim Maggs, Val Ward, Aron Mazel and Gugu Mthethwa examining pottery at the Natal Museum. (Photographer unrecorded; possibly Stan Bright, mid-1980s.)
Figure 31: Carved wooden pipe in the KwaZulu-Natal Museum collected in then Bechuanaland and acquired over 100 years ago (object no. 1588). (Photograph by Mudzunga Munzhedzi, 2019.)
Figure 32: Card catalogue in the anthropology collect