MONUMENTALIZATION OF PLACE
Short history of the
indigenous peoples of South
Africa
(Hull 1981)
Stone age people probably
evolved into the Khoisan
ethnic stock. The San (Bushmen) were hunters and
gatherers. They moved around in small groups, hunting
and collecting plants,
insects and honey. They did
not domesticate animals or
grow crops, except
marijuana. The Khoikhoi were kept sheep and cattle,
which became the basis of
wealth, pride and social
status. Neither the Khoi nor
San were sedentary
cultivators or
ironworkers. Little or no hierarchy
existed in the San
groupings, but "the historically
known Khoikhoi of the
western subcontinent clearly had
a form of social
organisation which can be seen as an
example of a chiefdom. These chiefdoms were often
ranked, with some owing
allegiance to more powerful
groups. But chiefs only held power by consent of
their councils." (Hall
1987)
Probably between 180-333
A.D., small parties of
Bantu-speaking Iron Age
peoples, originating between
East and Northwest
sub-Saharan Africa, filtered
southward; bringing with
them the ability to make
tools and weapons from iron
ores, and sometimes
superior breeds of
cattle. Their population rapidly
expanded - excavations
suggest their reaching the
Zululand coast by the fourth
century. Conflicts with
the resident Khoisan tribes
were inevitable, and the
Khoisan were easy prey. There is; however, evidence
of a degree of cultural
fusion and interaction. The
Khoi prevailed in the
religious and linguistic spheres
as invokers of rain and as
purveyors of the click
languages. The San found it more difficult to
co-exist and many fled or
were driven off into the
inhospitable Kalahari
Desert.
The Bantus developed into
two distinctive cultures -
the Sotho-Tswana in the
interior and the Nguni along
the eastern coastlands. They were organised into
autonomous and politically
organised chieftains and
introduced settled
agriculture to produce food. With
the resulting accumulation
of wealth (in the form of
cattle) came the
establishment of a hierarchy that
placed individual chieftains
within a wider framework
of allegiance. Individual villages were economically
self-sufficient - timber,
thatch and clay for pots
were readily available from
the enviroment - yet
"there is evidence for
early economic specialisation,
suggesting that some
communities were making a living
by bartering from other
villages." (Hall 1987) This
created even larger
opportunities for increased
economic power.
Chiefship was hereditary,
but the chiefs were "leaders
among equals". However, as the wealth of a society is
systematically directed to,
and retained by, a ruling
group in the chiefdom
becomes a state, and the leaders
of such a state become part
of a distinct economic and
political class. (Hall, 1987: 75)
At Mapungubwe, the hierarchy
is for the first time
visually expressed - the
ruling class occupied the
summit of the hill
overlooking the rest of the
settlement. A commercial element of considerable
significance is evident;
firstly with the east coast,
and indirectly with other
states on the far sides of
the Indian Ocean. (Hall,
1987: 78)
By 1250, the political and
economic power of
Mapungubwe started waning;
presumably as a result of
overgrazing and the
subsequent reduction in livestock
productivity. Linked to this factor are shifts in the
international trade patterns
that enabled communities
on the Zimbabwe plateau to
capture vital markets from
Mapungubwe. (Hall,
1987:102) Hence, migration took
place northwards to the
madzimbahwes which were
usually elevated on hilltops
and often consisted of
stretches of walling
connecting boulders and other
natural features to form an
enclosed space, containing
sometimes only a few
mud-and-plaster houses. (Hall,
1987: 92) The walls served to set those living
inside the dzimbahwe aside
from the majority of the
population, who lived in
small villages that fell
under the domain of the
regional centres. Great
Zimbabwe, the monumental
centre of the madzimbahwes,
reached its zenith by the
15th century.
The persistence of Great
Zimbabwe and the rural
madzimbahwe as places of
importance indicates that the
ruling class "held the
means to prevent the desertion
of their subjects and the
fission of their realms."
(Hall 1987:94) Archaeologically, the most obvious of
these was the monumental
architecture. According to
Garlake, the walls were
clearly not built for defence
and would have been of
little value for that purpose -
they were rather a statement
of the power of the
ruling class and their
ability to control labour.
(Hall 1987:94) "They
are therefore essentially a
political
statement." (Hall 1987:110)
Huffman
suggested that the hilltop
locations further
accentuated this
symbolism. (Hall 1987:94) Other
symbols of power were the
stone monoliths, which
Huffman argued to be symbols
of authority - the "horns
of the ruler", who
could defend his people with his
spear as a bull defends his
herd with his horns. (Hall
1987: 94)
The collapse of Great
Zimbabwe by the end of the 15th
century can possibly be
ascribed to the exhaustion of
the gold deposits, which had
provided the ruling class
with the wealth that was
crucial to their political
power. (Hall 1987: 118) Also, it is likely that the
"network of regional
centres had become too wide and
the power of the central
authority too thinly spread
to prevent the tendencies
towards fission which are
endemic to state
organisations." (Hall 1987: 118)
Political power passed to
new states on the northern
and south-western margins of
the high plateau. (Hall
1987: 117)
The Karanga - a group of
leading families dominated by
the Mutapa dynasty - built
up control of the northern
centres, while a southern
state - Torwa - was
established on the southern
margins of the Zimbabwe
plateau with the capital on
the banks of the Khami
River. (Monomotapa refers to
the ruler of Mutapa.) The
distinctive architecture of
Khami and subsequent
centres consists of house
platforms and low,
free-standing walls, often
intricately decorated with
chequered and herringbone
patterns. At Khami, like at
Great Zimbabwe, a central
group of buildings with
stone walls mark the court
and residences of the
important members of
society. At the centre of the
town is the "Hill
Ruin", which has "three platforms,
built one above the other in
an imposing tiered
structure above cliffs that
fall away to the Khami
River." (Hall 1987:
119)
Portuguese expansion inland
along Zambezi - first half
C16 - renegades moved away
from coast and participated
in trade as middlemen. Permanent settlements
established under
surveillance of local chiefs. Formed
alliances with rulers on
Zimbabwe Plateau. Portuguese
Crown granted land titles,
renegades became
landholders and war-lords. Did not remove established
chiefs, but imposed new set
of political institutions.
Parasitic system - drawing profit from population
while holding subjects of
the estate to a closed
market in imported
commodities. Dependent on large
armies of slaves, who
collected tribute from the
estate's population,
provided protection etc. Islamic
communities on East Coast
also demanded slaves. (Hall
1987: 132…)
A !Xõ burial (Khoisan)
A burial witnessed in 1974
took place as follows: The
man responsible for the
burial selected a shady site
and the men present dug a
rectangular pit, oriented
north-south with a burial
chamber in the eastern wall.
The deceased's body, wrapped in a blanket, was
lowered horizontally and
placed on its side in the
chamber with the head on a
pillow and facing west.
The grave was then covered
with grass and branches and
two vertical poles were
erected to mark the grave.
Each person present filed
past the grave and threw
sand into it. A third pole was placed horizontally
between the two vertical
ones. Finally, branches were
placed over the grave and
the men who had performed
the burial sat to say a
short prayer and departed,
flicking their hands in the
air. The !Kung burial
practices are similar, but
they surround the entire
area of the grave with a
thornbush fence. (Barnard )
Stone cairns (Khoikhoi)
Reference is made to the
custom of placing stones over
graves in an effort to
protect the bodies from hyenas
and other scavengers. Stow attributes these cairns
(heaps of stone) to the
"Bushmen" - i.e. Khoisan - but
they are now believed to be
of Khoikhoi origin. In
time, the heaps of stone
became associated with the
memory of the deceased and
the belief arose that the
spirits of the dead could be
either propitiated or
offended by the manner in
which passers-by treated
these stone cairns. It became every passer-by's
imperative duty to make some
addition to the sacred
heap in order to secure
prosperity for himself and his
family. Even later it was considered that it was
necessary to make an
offering to the cairns to
propitiate the favour of the
departed kinsman. Thus,
every passer-by would add a
stone or branch to the
sacred heap. Sparrman in his travels met such cairns
near the Fish River. - -
They were from three to
four and a half feet high
and the bases measured six
to ten feet in
diameter. They lay at intervals of ten
to two hundred feet, but
always between two particular
points of the compass; hence
in straight lines, and
these always running
parallel to one another. (Stow
1910)
Driekopseiland
Site is in the Riet River,
close to Hope Town. This
site, with more than 3600
engravings, is the second
largest in South
Africa. It is unique in that 90 % of
the representations consist
of geometric designs. The
density exceeds 2/square
meter over vast areas, which
is exceptional. The engravings are found on two
andesite surfaces that form
the channel floor of the
Riet River. Engravings could only be executed when
river ran directly over
bedrock, probably ca.
2500-2200 B.P. or after 1300
B.P. Concentrations of
engravings more related to
availability of exposed
rock than to deliberate
choice. Concentrations mainly
found on relatively high and
convex surfaces, or ones
that rise gently in a
downstream direction.
Place was also known as
Blaauwbank and Bloem's
Homestead. Bloem was a chief of the Korana - a
herder-nomadic people who
moved along the Riet- ,
Vaal- and Orange
Rivers. Driekopseiland may have been
used as a winter
habitation. (Fock 1989)
.
Early Venda settlements -
the Dzata Ruins
The Venda reached the
Limpopo Valley around 1750 A.D.
All the early Venda sites
have a main stonewalled
enclosure for the chief,
usually on a koppie (hill),
with the habitation area of
his people adjoining. The
history of the old village
at Dzata is still preserved
in the Venda tribal
traditions. (Walton 1956)
Dzata is an irregular
enclosure bounded by a perimeter
wall of rubble foundations
and lengths of stone wall.
The centre of the chief's
kraal (camp/enclosure) is an
open space surrounded by
short lengths of curved wall.
These walls have a central niche as a seat for the
chief, and monoliths along
the top which served as
backrests for the headmen
during council. Like all
the other walls, the cores
of these walls are built of
local rubble, but the facing
stones are quite
different and have no
counterpart in the vicinity.
According to tradition,
Karanga people carried the
stones from Vembe, north of
the Limpopo, as a tribute
to Chief Thoho-ya-Ndou, who
wished to demonstrate his
power by making the Karanga
carry the stones over such
a distance. Oberholster speculates that the stones
were carried to Dzata in
payment of tax. (Oberholster
1972.)
Thulamela
A South African National
Heritage site near 5the
border of SA, Zimbabwe and
Mozambique, in Northern
part of Kruger National
Park. Thought to be an
offshoot of the Great Zimbabwe
culture. Archaeologist
Sidney Miller and his team
started reconstruction of
fallen walls. Stone walls thought to show high status
of royal family, demarcate
living areas and provide
privacy.
From middens (rubbish
dumps), gold jewellery, Iron-Age
implements, ceramic pot
sherds, glass beads, spinning
whorls and a piece of
Chinese porcelain were
unearthed, confirming
hypothesis that gold, iron and
other metals were smelted at
Thulamela by a
technologically advanced
community who in some way had
access to the Trade with the
Far East. Two graves
were discovered inside the
Royal enclosure, one
containing the remains of a
man bedecked in gold
jewellery, the other the
remains of a tall woman
buried in the foetal
position and wearing a golden
bracelet. Nicknamed "King Ingwe" and
"Queen Losha"
Cross/padrão erected by
Bartolomeu Dias - Kwaaihoek,
Alexandria, near Grahamstown
Bartolomeu Dias left
Portugal in August 1487 with two
small vessels in search of a
naval route around the
southern tip of Africa to
India. In January 1488 he
was unknowingly carried
around the Cape by storms and
only sighted land again in
the vicinity of Mosselbay.
He continued his expedition
past Algoabay (now Port
Elizabeth) until his
unwilling crew forced him to turn
around. On the way back, he planted the cross of St
Gregory at Kwaaihoek. This cross served as a beacon
to Portuguese seafarers for
more than a century.
(Oberholzer 1972)
THUS
We find a few common
threads:
o In order to monumentalize a place, the place is
marked with stones, plant
material etc. which is taken
from the natural enviroment
but rearranged to have a
specific cultural meaning.
o These "monuments" grow and change with time -
passersby add to stone
cairns, visitors bring tributes
…
o Authority is visually expressed by physical
structures, elevation of
royal enclosures above the
level of the populace's
habitation
o Decorative stone work, drawings/engravings and
physical structures such as
monoliths often indicate a
place of cultural importance,
although they may have
had other, even primary,
functions.
SOURCES
BARNARD, A. Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa.
A comparative ethnography of
the Khoisan peoples.
Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
FOCK, G.J.and FOCK, D. 1989.
Felsbilder in Südafrika,
Teil III. Köln: Böhlau
Verlag.
HALL, M. 1987. The changing
past: Farmers, Kings and
Traders in southern Africa,
200-1860. Cape Town: David
Philip.
HULL, R.W. 1981. Southern
Africa: Civilizations in
Turmoil. New York: New York
University Press.
OBERHOLSTER, J.J. 1972. Die
Historiese Monumente van
Suid-Afrika. Kaapstad: Die
Kultuurstigting Rembrandt
van Rijn.
STOW, G.W. 1910. The Native
Races of South Africa.
London: Swan Sonneschein
& Co. Ltd.
WALTON, H. 1956. African
Village. Pretoria: J.L. van
Schaik Ltd.