120 Years in 120 Objects

Join the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in celebrating the museum’s 120^th year of orbiting the sun. Staff and guest curators have chosen one object or item per year of our existence to highlight to the public. Visit the website and our social media platforms regularly to see the latest object and keep an eye out for information about a physical exhibition later this year!

Today’s Object is from 1991

Jojosi Donga: 110,000 year-old tools by Aron Mazel, Gunther Möller, and Manuel Will

In September 1991, Aron Mazel, Mike Moon, and Greg Botha undertook archaeological fieldwork at Jojosi donga, near Nquthu, in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal (Picture 1). Until then, stone artefacts had been found in great numbers out in the open across KwaZulu-Natal. So, the reason why Jojosi was different is that there were artefacts embedded in the earth on the side of a donga. The team not only collected the eroded stone artefacts from the surface (Picture 2), but they also carefully dug into side of the donga, which they subdivided into small units (Picture 3). This allowed them to plot the location of artefacts in relation to the others.

The artefacts were not investigated at the time. Fortunately, however, Gunther Möller (Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Germany) recently studied them for his Master’s degree. Altogether, he analysed 7529 stone artefacts, most of which were less than one centimetre in size. Gunther’s research shows that Jojosi was a place where hunter-gatherers chipped stones to make useful artefacts with locally available and very suitable stone known as hornfels. Remarkably, many of the pieces appear to lie in the same position where they were left over 110 000 years ago! This has helped Gunther to reconstruct 48 of the original stones with the pieces that had been flaked off by their hunter-gatherer makers (Picture 4). Alongside Gunther’s research, Dr Svenja Riedesel (University of Cologne, Germany) undertook Optically Stimulated Luminesce (OSL) dating at Jojosi showing that hunter-gatherers worked the stone artefacts there between 110 000 and 128 000 years ago. They belong to a period known archaeologically as the Middle Stone Age.

Context of Jojosi donga archaeological site, which is to the right of the 2m long scale. Picture: Aron Mazel.

Eroding artefacts on the surface of Jojosi donga and artefacts embedded in the side of the donga (marked by the white arrows). Scale is 1m long. Picture: Aron Mazel.

Pegs mark the different horizontal units. Scale is 50cm long. Picture: Aron Mazel.

One of the reconstructed original stones showing the different flakes. Picture: Gunther Möller.

This year the KwaZulu Natal Museum will celebrate its 5th annual Storytelling Festival. Siboniso Gcumisa, the Museum’s ‘Heritage Symbols and Cultural History Intern,’ is planning a week filled with captivating storytelling and poetry sessions at the end of August. This celebration aims to promote reading, writing, and the rich tradition of storytelling, showcasing the diverse heritage and cultural history that we all share.

In support of literacy and education, the museum is calling for donations of books, both used and new. Your generous book donations can make a significant difference. If you have books that you no longer need, please consider dropping them off at the museum.

Many reading clubs established in schools over the past five years lack the necessary resources to foster a love for reading among learners.

Exciting day at the KZN Museum! Today, we welcomed the new Minister of the @sportartsculture, the Honourable Gayton Mackenzie, who met with our Museum staff to discuss the amalgamation with Ditsong Museums of South Africa. The atmosphere was electric as our staff eagerly engaged with the minister, who addressed their concerns and shared insights about this significant transition. Here's to a bright future for our museum community!