Archived Articles

Justine 1

𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘄𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲!

Money cowries are tropical sea snails (Monetaria moneta). They have delicate lace-like bodies that are protected by a smooth, hard shell (or ‘exoskeleton’).

The material this shell is made of is strong and bright, almost gem-like. As their common name – ‘money cowries’ – tells us, for thousands of years people across the globe used them as a kind of currency.

Many money cowries came from the Maldives, which had a vibrant cowrie industry. This industry was a rare example of a sustainable reef fishery. It didn’t end due to over-fishing, but rather to changes in economic dynamics.

#heritagemonth #kznmuseum #cowries #heritage #seasnails #money #Maldives #MonetariaMoneta) #RéunionIsland #PhilippeBourjon

📸 A live money cowrie (Monetaria moneta) in Réunion island lagoon photographed by Philippe Bourjon (2015). Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0.

SOCIAL2S_SHARE_TEXT

justine AM 2

𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵: 𝗔 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘀

During Africa Month, KZN Museum celebrates its connections to other countries in the region and on the continent. We celebrate our learning from objects that transcend modern national boundaries.

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 ‘𝗦𝗮𝗻’ (𝗼𝗿 ‘𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻’) 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻, 𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵-𝗲𝗴𝗴𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀.

𝗘𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. 𝗘𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗱.

𝗘𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘃𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗮, 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘀𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮.

𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑗𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑉𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑘𝑒 𝑉𝑖𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑠𝑙𝑜 𝑖𝑛 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒 ‘𝐴 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑠’ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝐴𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐴𝑟𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑊𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝐴𝑟𝑡 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑢𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑜ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑔. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 40 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑘 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐴𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑊𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡.

#africamonth #kznmuseum #archaeology #san #kalahari #bushman #aprons #objects

SOCIAL2S_SHARE_TEXT

In December 2019, Dr Geoff Blundell and Troy Meyers visited Cape Town to undertake research in the National Archives Repository on the Khoisan peoples of the Nomansland region. Nomansland was the name given to the area that fell between the Cape and Natal colonies and beyond the control of the large Cape Nguni polities along the south-eastern seaboard of South Africa. Of course, the area was not really a No-Man’s-land but was the home territory of a number of Khoisan peoples. After 1863, when the Griqua made their epic trek from the interior of the country through the Drakensberg and eventually settled in the region of present-day Kokstad, the area was renamed East Griqualand. The work undertaken by Dr Blundell and Troy Meyers is part of an ongoing collaborative project that looks at the histories of Khoisan peoples in the Nomansland area.

SOCIAL2S_SHARE_TEXT

In response to our outreach program with

St. Nicholas Diocesan School

for Arbour Week, we are very pleased to be able to share with you their progress with the planting and making of seed bombs! It certainly looked like the learners had loads of fun. Well done to all the learners for the enthusiasm and efforts, and especially for the entries towards our Arbour Day competition.

#arbourweek #seedbombs #MarshaKalika #outreach #spring #education #schools #partnership #planting #gardening #companionplanting #spekboom #vegetables

SOCIAL2S_SHARE_TEXT

Opening Times