LECTURE: Tuesday 11 March, 18:00 for 18:30 at the SAAO Auditorium, Observatory

 

SPEAKER: Jenna Larangeira

 

TITLE: The Digitisation of South African Heritage Resources: Corbelled Buildings and their Contribution to Microscale Analyses of Past Rural Pastoral Economies in the Northern Cape. 

 

ABSTRACT: There has been a rise in research and excavations conducted around corbelled buildings in South Africa in the last decade, particularly in the Northern Cape regions of Carnarvon, Calvinia, and Loxton. These buildings play an integral role in analysing the lifeways of rural economies and how they link to the broader South Africa. Additionally, corbelled houses further our understanding of everyday pastoral life in the 19th century. 

An excavation conducted outside of Carnarvon at Rondawels, a corbelled building complex, in November of 2023 by myself and my supervisors, Dr Vuyiswa Lupuwana, Emeritus Associate Professor Simon Hall, and Patricia Kramer allowed for a deeper understanding of the houses’ inhabitants. As with all Historical Archaeology sites we found ceramics, glass and faunal remains which can indicate socio-economic status. However, more information about the pastoral remains of the corbelled buildings were revealed when the Geomatics department of UCT joined the excavation and took high quality orthophotos and created 3D models of the houses. These 3D renderings are not the first done of corbelled buildings in South Africa, however, they are the first renderings completed of the Rondawels site.

The presentation will focus on the digitisation of the corbelled buildings that we have visited and excavated at, and how this new mode of research can help historical archaeologists further their understanding of the microscale economies in rural Northern Cape.

 

BIO: Jenna Larangeira is an Historical Archaeologist completing her Master’s degree at the University of Cape Town under the guidance of Dr Vuyiswa Lupuwana, Professor Simon Hall, and Patricia Kramer. Fascinated by South Africa’s history and the recent past, Jenna moved to Cape Town in 2019 to study Archaeology, Anthropology, and History at UCT. She obtained her Undergraduate and Honour’s degrees specialising in Archaeology. Jenna is passionate about uncovering hidden stories and histories of ‘forgotten’ peoples, which interests her in her Master’s project regarding corbelled buildings.