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

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and its findings in

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

, 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

The 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) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

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

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

and

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

. 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. 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 Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

. 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