The aim of our project is to systematically apply archaeology and scientific methods, in combination with Indigenous Knowledge to investigate the changing approach to farming, food processing, plant use and consumption in NE South Africa in the last 2000 years. South Africa as a semi-arid country is even more affected by recent climate change than other parts of the world. Reconstructing past climate change and resilience strategies used could help guide future response mechanisms. Understanding the sustainability of past farming systems is crucial to inform present day attempts to mitigate climate change in semi-arid landscapes, e.g. using pre-colonial terracing techniques could be a reliable method to avoid erosion and increase soil moisture and nutrient availability. Yet crop and livestock farming remains understudied in this region. Our objective is to study how crop and livestock farming, food procurement and preparation changed during the last 2000 years, and to assess how farming impacted the landscape. We will also study if farmers responded to climate change, and if it is possible to differentiate between human impact and climate change since both interfere with the natural vegetation in often similar ways.
We have a multidisciplinary team from Witwatersrand and Turin and a multi-method approach including the use of remote sensing, GIS, botanical surveys, mapping of erosion features and farming terraces, palynology and phytolith analysis to generate new understandings on how humans have affected/managed vegetation and landscapes in NE South Africa. Excavations will be carried out at the Komati-Ligwa River area, the first geometric rock art site to be excavated, crucial since sites with geometric rock art have been linked to the presence of pastoralists whose early history in eastern South Africa is poorly understood. Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMs) will be used to taxonomically identify animal remains and Organic Residue Analysis (ORA) will be applied to provide insights on food cooked and consumed. Importantly, interviews will be carried out with successful farmers to inform on, farming methods, past yields, challenges they faced, cooking and potting practices.
Funded by
National Research Foundation South Africa; African Origins Platform
Principal Investigator
- Prof. Alex Schoeman, University of Witwatersrand
Co-Investigators & collaborators
Dr Cynthianne Spiteri (University of Turin), Prof. Beatrice Demarchi (University of Turin), Dr Mary Evans (University of Witwatersrand), Dr Frank Neumann (University of Witwatersrand), Dr Stephan Woodborne (iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences), Dr Emuobosa Orijemie (University of Ibadan), Dr Cletah Shoko (University of Witwatersrand), Dr Zubair Jinnah (University of Witwatersrand), Ms Julia Becher (University of York), Prof. Dominic Stratford (University of Witwatersrand), Dr Tanya Hattingh (University of Witwatersrand), Dr Christine Sievers (University of Witwatersrand), Mr Tshimangadzo Nemaheni (University of Mpumalanga).
