9 the state of science in south africa
A R C H A E O L O G Y A N D P A L A E O A N T H R O P O L O G Y
nated by Stone Age foragers to the more ing had been under Burkitt and Haddon at
complex societies of the last two millennia. Cambridge and this enabled him to intro-
Research like that of Cronin has provided duce the latest ideas and methods to South
us with solid evidence to refute mythology. Africa. He began by re-examining the stone
From amateur roots at the beginning of the tool collections assembled by Péringuey
20
th
century, South African archaeology has and sorted them in a typology based on the
developed into a professional discipline relative African sequence rather than the
that has not only shed light on the his-
European standards. His collaborator in this
tory of the region but has also broken new
project was Clarence ‘Peter’ van Riet Lowe,
ground in methodology, placing South Afri-
an engineer working in the Orange Free
can archaeology firmly on the world stage.
State, now known as the Free State prov-
Archaeological and palaeoanthropological
ince, who also had archaeological interests.
discoveries uncovered by South African re-
Together they published The Stone Age Cul-
search have helped Africa achieve dignity
tures of South Africa in 1929, and the termi-
and self-respect as part of the African Ren-
nology that they chose (Later, Middle and
aissance
4
.
Earlier Stone Ages) is still with us today.
9.1 Archaeological roots
The careers of these two men were quite
different. Goodwin was in a teaching post
and trained several students who were to
A
rchaeological investigations in South
have great impact in later years. Van Riet
Africa first began in the late 19
th
cen-
Lowe became director of the Bureau of Ar-
tury. Louis Péringuey, an entomolo-
chaeology (later known as the Archaeologi-
gist at the South African Museum in Cape
cal Survey) when it was created in 1935. The
Town, with an archaeological interest, did
collections of the bureau were kept at the
some preliminary work on stone tools, but
University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in
without the ability to date any of the re-
Johannesburg and van Riet Lowe was given
mains he was unable to compile any mean-
a joint appointment with the university at a
ingful chronology. Archaeological explora-
professorial level. Although he did not train
tion at this time was very much the realm of
students, he employed several of Good-
amateurs and informally trained profession- win’s students at the bureau. Amongst
als like Péringuey, but research on South Goodwin’s students was Berry Malan, who
Africa’s past took a more systematic turn took over the directorship of the Archaeo-
with the appointment of AJH Goodwin to logical Survey on van Riet Lowe’s death and
the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1923 eventually moved to Cape Town when the
as a research assistant in the department of Historical Monuments Commission (HMC,
ethnology. Goodwin’s archaeological train- later the National Monuments Council) was
4 A Pan-Africanist policy initiated by President Thabo Mbeki which hopes to instil pride in being African.
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