The Cape Field School in South Africa
Karen van Niekerk B.Sc.(Hons.) M.Phil.
Field School
Big Excavation Vaalkrans
Chris Henshilwood, Ph. D
Site Survey
Information about the Cape Field School
For a number of years Prof. Christopher Henshilwood and his colleagues have convened field schools for international and local archaeology students in the southern Cape, South Africa. In conjunction with Prof. Randi Haaland and the Centre for Development Studies at the University of Bergen, Prof. Henshilwood at Department of Archaeology, history, cultural studies and religion has set up a field school program especially for Scandinavian students. There is one field school annually of three months duration during September - December.
The Western Cape, the southernmost province of South Africa, has been occupied by people for more than a million years and is an area rich in archaeological sites. We have selected the spectacular De Hoop Nature Reserve, about 200 km east of Cape Town, as the main location for the field school. Many coastal caves here contain well preserved Later- and Middle Stone Age deposits. For a number of years Prof. Henshilwood has been surveying sites in De Hoop with the aim of finding a site that will complement the ongoing research and excavations at nearby Blombos Cave.
In 2002, excavations commenced at a Later Stone Age site known as Vaalkrans Shelter, overlooking the Indian Ocean and located within De Hoop Nature Reserve. The shelter contains deposit of an unknown depth with excellent preservation of organic deposits. Of particular interest are the well preserved fish bones and plant materials. Excavations continue here annually and focus on extending the excavation both vertically and horizontally.
Excavation is carefully supervised by Prof. Henshilwood and Karen van Niekerk. Under their supervision you will have the opportunity to be trained in excavation techniques and then participate in this dig. Prior to excavation, students first attend lectures in Cape Town on southern African archaeology, ranging from human evolution up to the colonial period in the Cape.
Programme
The Cape Field School programme is held annually during the South African winter months of September- December. The school offers a rare opportunity to learn about southern African archaeology from both a theoretical and practical perspective. The program is particularly suited to archaeology graduates and undergraduates who wish to become archaeologists. One important fact to have in mind is that as a student you can participate at the field school only one time. It will not be possible to join the field school in South Africa at both 200- and 300-level.
Students will participate in classroom and excavation activities during an intensive twelve week field school based in Cape Town and at De Hoop Nature Reserve. All students will participate at the field school on two parallel levels. For the undergraduate students the stay in South-Africa will give them excellent experience with field work in South-African archaeology, and give them the opportunity to write their Bachelor essay in African archaeology.
The master students will do the same activities as the other students, but at a higher level. They will write an essay, which will be part of their master studies at their home University. For the students at University of Bergen the field school in South Africa will replace the Norwegian field school at Stend (ARK301) and the course ARK302. We recommend students from other universities to contact their local Studies Adviser, regarding how the field school can be part of their study plan.
Teoretical and practial field work
When the students arrive in South Africa they will begin a week of formal classes held at the African Heritage Research Institute in Cape Town. Expert local archaeologists and historians provide a detailed theoretical background to the southern African Stone Ages. The Field School then moves to De Hoop Nature Reserve for the next 4 weeks.
At De Hoop Nature Reserve the students will have practical training in field craft, geology, faunal osteology, shellfish identification, lithic technology, surveying, site location and recording and assessing site potential.The field school further focuses on hands-on training in all aspects of site excavation. Students receive practical training in laying out a site, excavation techniques, processing and recording finds and finds analysis. For two weeks we excavate a Later Stone Age site, Vaalkrans Shelter, located in De Hoop. Excavation can for instance be on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and thus Wednesday is spent sorting and analysing the recovered material. Each artefact larger than 2 cm is piece plotted using XYZ co-ordinates during excavation and then identified to body part, species, raw material etc. This information is entered on a record sheet and plotted on graph paper. The artefact is placed in a zip top bag with the relevant information recorded on the bag.
Thus, the excavation process is slow but accurate and theoretically each piece recovered could be placed back in the exact position from which it was recovered. This information is vital when we look at spatial patterning within the site and tells us how people organised their activities within the cave. Students are expected to keep a detailed field journal that is evaluated, as is the performance of field and analysis tasks.
During the first part of the field school there will be an exam. The exam consists of an evaluation of a report from the archaeological fieldwork (counts 20%) and a two-hour practical exam (counts 80%). The grading scale A-F will be used for evaluation of the exams.
At the second part of the field school all students will spend the last five weeks in Cape Town. The aim of the course is to allow the student to independently research a topic on African archaeology. The student will write an essay under supervision during the whole period. At this stage the master students will write an essay on African archaeology and to present an essay of about 6000 words on this topic for assessment.
Staff
Programme Directors
Christopher Henshilwood
Christopher Henshilwood is a professor at the Department of archaeology, history, cultural studies and religion at the University of Bergen in Norway and heads the African Heritage Research Institute in Cape Town. He directs the Blombos Cave Project in South Africa, a major archaeological research initiative that is contributing significantly to the international debate on the origins of what is considered 'modern' human behaviour. Since 1991, he has led the excavations at Blombos Cave that have uncovered more marine shell beads, engraved ochres and bone tools that date to 75 000 years ago. These finds are widely believed to signify that southern Africa was a primary centre for the early development of modern human behaviour and for the evolution of complex language. He has excavated a number of other Stone Age sites in South Africa and currently directs excavations at a Later Stone Age site, Vaalkrans Shelter situated in the De Hoop Nature Reserve. Henshilwood organizes and directs an annual three-month field school programme based in this reserve for archaeology students from Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States.
Henshilwood holds an honours degree from the University of Cape Town and read for his Ph.D. in archaeology at the University of Cambridge from 1991-1995. He held post-doctoral research fellowships at the University of Cape Town and was an adjunct professor at Stony Brook, New York before assuming his current positions. He is a director of the Southern Cape Archaeology Trust, the Cape Leopard Trust and since 2001 a research member of a Centre National de la Rescherche Scientifique (CNRS) program ‘Origine de l'Homme, du langage et des langue's based in Bordeaux, France. As a result of his contribution to archaeology he was recently awarded the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Prime Minister. In addition to publishing articles in scientific journals, he has lectured widely in Europe, America, Asia and southern Africa on the Middle Stone Age and origins of modern human behaviour. He has been invited to give many public lectures, present a number of television and radio programs, and has written widely for general audiences.
He is director of the African Heritage Research Institute in Cape Town and directs the Cape Field School programme in South Africa.
Karen B.Sc. (Hons.) Field School Coordinator
Karen van Niekerk has been field school co-ordinator of the CFS programme since 2002. She is a research member of the Blombos Cave Project and has excavated at Blombos Cave and other sites during the past five years. Her research specialty is marine fauna, in particular fish and shellfish.
Karen has a B.Sc. Honours (Distinction) in archaeology from the University of Cape Town and an M. Phil. (Archaeology) from the University of Bergen, Norway.
Specialist field staff with experience in African archaeology are appointed for each field school. Local field school staff includes a catering supervisor and field assistants.
Application
Norwegian students from The University of Bergen or other Norwegian universities are welcome to apply for The Field School in South Africa. To apply for The Field School you must fill in the Application form at this site and send it by e-mail to the Department of archaeology, history, cultural studies and religion. Together with the Application Form you must submit a transcription of your academic record from your university in English.
The application deadline for The Field School in South Africa is 15th of April.
In total 10 students can be enrolled at the Field School for the next fall. To have the possibility to be accepted at the Field School at the 200-level you must have studied at least 60 ECTS in archaeology at the 100-level. To apply for the Field school at the 300-level, you must be enrolled at a master´s programme in archaeology. If you apply for a master´s programme in Archaeology starting this fall, you must send us a copy of your acceptance letter as soon as you receive it, in order to keep your position at the Cape Field School.
Students from other Norwegian universities have to register for the fall semester and pay the semester fee at their own university, and send a copy of the receipt and the valid student card to our Department as soon as possible, and at latest within the 15th of August.
Remains
Sist endret: 13.3.2009
Last ned filer
- Application Form Cape Field School (PDF-fil, 115 Kb)