The South African Archaeological Society was founded in 1945 to promote public awareness of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

and its findings in

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

, facilitating interaction between professional archaeologists and people with a lay interest in the subject. The society, through its branches, organizes regular lectures and excursions, and, since its inception, has been responsible for publications including a professional journal and a range of newsletters of a more popular nature at national and branch levels. Informally the society is known as "ArchSoc".

Origins and membership

A Cape Archaeological Society was founded in Cape Town in August 1944 by A.J.H. Goodwin (1900-1959;

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

). In the following year, on 5 June 1945, it was agreed to establish the South African Archaeological Society, with membership open to interested persons from neighbouring countries in southern Africa. Today the society has more than 800 individual and institutional members in more than 20 countries.

Branches and activities

Branches of the Society were established and currently exist in

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

/ Pietermaritzburg and

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

/ Kimberley. Typically branch activity includes the presentation of lectures and excursions that promote awareness of southern Africa’s past as revealed by archaeology. Archaeologists, and scholars from cognate disciplines, actively engaged in research in the subcontinent regularly contribute to these programmes. The spectrum of sub-fields reflected include human evolution, Stone Age archaeology, the histories of hunter-gatherers, herders, Iron Age farmers and early European colonists, rock art, past environments and climate change, and historical shipwrecks. The society actively supports conservation of archaeological resources, lobbying relevant parties including government to heed national heritage concerns, particularly where archaeological sites are threatened or damaged by mining or development. Such concerns were recently raised, for instance, over mining encroachment on the World Heritage site of

Mapungubwe The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (or Maphungubgwe) (c. 1075–c. 1220) was a medieval state in South Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The name is derived from either TjiKalanga and Tshivenda ...

. The society makes funds available for research, while a major objective from the outset was to publish the findings of Southern African archaeology.

Publications

In December 1945 the first issue of the '' South African Archaeological Bulletin'' (''SAAB'') was published, a biannual peer-reviewed

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and ...

. Since 2005 it has been edited by the Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists. In 1972 the first volume of an occasional publication, the ''Goodwin Series'', named after the founder of the Society, was published. Several themed issues have appeared since then. Monographs have also been published. A newsletter, started in 1978, has been known from 1984 as ''The Digging Stick''. Individual branches have, in addition, brought out their own newsletters. The society also communicates with the public at large by way of national and branch websites.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Archaeological organizations 1945 establishments in South Africa Organizations established in 1945 Learned societies of South Africa