Papers by Thomas Thondhlana
Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline and reflect on the new research agenda for the Gre... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline and reflect on the new research agenda for the Great Zimbabwe World Heritage property. This research agenda was jointly developed by academics and practitioners from Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) and the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) respectively. This Research-Practice Team was put together for the Heritage Place Lab (HPL), a pilot project of the ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership programme.Design/methodology/approachA series of steps were undertaken to come up with research priorities and a new research agenda that are presented in this paper. The HPL project involved online workshops, due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions, that were held between September 2021 and April 2022. The HPL methodology involved six assignments that were based on the Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0 (EOH) which was being designed by UNESCO and its Advisory Bodies. This toolkit encouraged the team to establish site-specific manage...
Curator: The Museum Journal
African Archaeological Review
De nombreux docteurs ont été formés en archéométallurgie africaine dans le Nord global ainsi que ... more De nombreux docteurs ont été formés en archéométallurgie africaine dans le Nord global ainsi que sur le continent africain. L'archéométallurgie africaine continue d'attirer un nombre important de chercheurs d'Europe et d'Amérique du Nord. Cet article est basé sur nos expériences vécues en tant qu'archéométallurgistes africains résidents. Nous soutenons que, par frustration en raison des relations de pouvoir inégales et au manque d'accès aux laboratoires de sciences archéologiques et au financement, la plupart des archéométallurgistes africains poursuivent désormais d'autres domaines de recherche et carrières. Nous proposons quelques solutions pour assurer la pérennité de la formation et de la pratique des scientifiques archéologiques sur le continent africain. Nous concluons que les universitaires africains doivent développer des capacités et des stratégies de recherche locales et à long terme.
Cultural Heritage Management in Africa
Independent Museums and Culture Centres in Colonial and Post-colonial Zimbabwe, 2022
Independent Museums and Culture Centres in Colonial and Post-colonial Zimbabwe, 2022
Independent Museums and Culture Centres in Colonial and Post-colonial Zimbabwe, 2022
Independent Museums and Culture Centres in Colonial and Post-colonial Zimbabwe, 2022
Curator: The Museum Journal, 2022
Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014
Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2013
I, Thomas Panganayi Thondhlana, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where i... more I, Thomas Panganayi Thondhlana, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that it is indicated in the thesis.
Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2015
partnerships with their husbands in a variety of roles; Agatha Christie was married to the archae... more partnerships with their husbands in a variety of roles; Agatha Christie was married to the archaeologist Max Mallowan, who once remarked that she knew more about prehistoric pottery than any woman in England. Clearly, Dorothy Pond was of the same independent-minded and, yes, courageous, stock. She was an integral part of the archaeological work that took place despite a lack of publications and recognition. Throughout her life, she made lasting contributions through joint endeavours with Alonzo in archaeology, tourism and writing, as well as giving her own lectures on travelling and natural history. This book not only makes a fascinating and entertaining read, but stands also as a poignant testament to the spirit of curiosity, adventure and courage required in archaeological exploration, past and present.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2016
Our primary debt is to Emeritus Professor Nikolaas van der Merwe, who initiated the archaeologica... more Our primary debt is to Emeritus Professor Nikolaas van der Merwe, who initiated the archaeological study of mining and metallurgy in the Lowveld in the 1960s; both Killick and Miller were his students at the University of Cape Town. We thank the Palabora Mining Company, the Maranda Mining Company, and too many farmers to mention individually, for access to their land. This work could not have been carried out without the generous help of Charles More, Ike Lombaard and Jan Scholtemeyer of Phalaborwa, all now deceased. Each of them shared their extensive knowledge of indigenous mining and metal working in the Lowveld. We also wish to thank the
Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 2016
Mining and metallurgy have previously been cited as the sole activities that encouraged the perma... more Mining and metallurgy have previously been cited as the sole activities that encouraged the permanent occupation of the agropastorally marginal region conventionally known as the northern Lowveld of South Africa prior to the nineteenth century. Archaeologists have previously documented more than 50 second-millennium AD settlements, associated with extensive evidence of metal production, around Phalaborwa in this region. Archaeometallurgical research was carried out at Shankare Hill, one of these Iron Age settlements with remarkable evidence of metal production, in order to reconstruct the extractive metallurgical activities represented at the site. To achieve this standard archaeological fieldwork procedures together with post-fieldwork laboratory studies were employed. This paper presents both the archaeological and archaeometric results that enabled the reconstruction, in great detail, of the various metal production activities from ore beneficiation to primary smelting and subsequent metal refining processes that took place at Shankare. Iron smelting debris, which significantly differed both microscopically and chemically from copper smelting slags, was documented at middens with exclusive metal production debris, whilst copper production debris, which included mostly crushed furnace slag and secondary refining ceramic crucible fragments, was confined to low density scatters and domestic middens. The Palabora Igneous Complex, whose unique ore signature is well documented in the geological literature, was identified as the source of both the copper and iron ores smelted at Shankare. Beyond the technological reconstruction, the results are used to discuss the role of metal production and exchange within the wider southern African archaeological context.
Journal of African Archaeology, 2009
... Compositionally, unalloyed copper, arsenical cop-per and tin bronzes were identified in ... K... more ... Compositionally, unalloyed copper, arsenical cop-per and tin bronzes were identified in ... Keywords:archaeometallurgy, Zimbabwe, Later Farming Communities, copper and copper alloys, technology ... The main goal of this paper is to employ archaeometallurgical investigations to ...
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Papers by Thomas Thondhlana