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Shashe-Limpopo
Basins Research Symposium, 26-30 Sept. 2007
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Hosted by the University
of Pretoria’s Department of
Anthropology and Archaeology, the Shashe-Limpopo research symposium brought
together archaeologists (and some historians) from three different countries – South Africa, Botswana
and Zimbabwe – to share
their recent archaeological and historical research in the Shashe and Limpopo river basin areas.
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A second (but no less
important) aim was to create stronger links between researchers and
institutions in the three countries, in order to promote cross-border and
inter-institutional research projects.
Papers presented during the symposium covered topics ranging from rock
art, hunter-gatherer and farmer archaeology, complex societies such as K2 and
Mapungubwe, interaction, historical archaeology, working with communities, past
climate, cattle herding, and indigenous glass bead-making in the 10 & 11th
centuries in Mozambique.
Papers on Mapungubwe National Park, rainmaking and rain-control turned out
to be of special relevance to our 3-day post-symposium tour, which took us to
the Shashe-Limpopo confluence area in South
Africa’s Limpopo
Province.
As we left Pretoria, heading for the site museum of Schoemansdal
in the Soutpansberg, it began to rain. The rain continued as we drove further
north: a third of the Shashe-Limpopo region’s total annual rainfall (i.e. about
100mm of rain) fell over just two days during our three day trip. A proposed
day trip to see various sites in Botswana
had to be cancelled due to flooding of both nearby South Africa/Botswana border
posts and parts of south-eastern Botswana. In place of visiting the Botswana sites,
we visited a variety of South African sites, including (appropriately it seems)
two rain control sites and two hunter-gatherer rock art sites.
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On the final day
of the trip, we visited Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site to see the
sites of K2 and Mapungubwe. We also had the
rare opportunity of seeing water flowing in the Limpopo
river from the Shashe-Limpopo confluence viewpoint.
For more information on K2, Mapungubwe and the development of complex states in southern Africa, visit the Natal Museum's 'Towns and Trade' display.
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