Research

The School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies is one of the most productive research units on Campus.  Staff in the School contribute regularly to local and international journals and are active members of the editorial boards of many prestiguous journals in the fields of Geography, Archaeology and the broad area of environmental science.

The School hosts several formally constituted research groups including: Acacia (Professor Lyn Wadley), Archaeological Resources Management (Professor Tom Huffman), Climatology Research Group (Dr Stuart Piketh), ReVamp (Professor Coleen Vogel), and the Rock Art Research Institute (Dr Benjamin Smith).

In addition to these formal research units, the disciplines of Geography and Archaeology specialise in several fields. In the Geography discipline, Professor Coleen Vogel holds the BMW chair of sustainability and Dr Zarina Patel and Dr Emma Archer both work in the field of human-environment interaction. Several researchers work in the area of climate change with the Climatology Research Group monitoring and modelling climate change, Emma examining how climate change affects food security and Coleen examining (and influencing!) policy and practice around the issue of climate change internationally and locally. Prof Stefan Grab also works on analysing archival and air photo change analysis in African climates. The cross-cutting emphasis for our sustainability researchers is the issue of environmental justice and vulnerability reduction.

Food security and agro-food restructuring are key research areas in Geography and in addition to the work Emma and Coleen have completed on vulnerability reduction, Prof Charles Mather and Caryn Abrahams specialise in the impact of market liberalisation and globalisation on agriculture in southern Africa.

The School also specialises in tourism and heritage studies. Prof Chris Rogerson specialises in the problems of tourism small enterprises, pro-poor tourism and local impacts of tourism. Dr Jennifer Lally is an eco-tourism expert who focusses on the compatibility of consumptive and non-consumptive tourist activities in wildlife areas. In Archaeology, Dr Amanda Esterhuizen has a long association with the Sterkfontein hominid fossil site (part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site), and continues to research and write up popular materials on the fossil hominids, fauna and flora of the area. She is currently conducting research in the Makapan Valley. The research interrogates the famous siege of the Kekana Ndebele by the Trekboers in 1854.  Prof Tom Huffman is also involved in the archaeology and preservation of the important tourist and heritage site,  Mapungubwe in Limpopo Province. The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape, incorporating the National Park, is also on the World Heritage List. In addition to these projects, the Rock Art Research Institute is an internationally renowned contributor to rock art studies and Dr Benjamin Smith, the director of this institute is involved in exploring ways in which this heritage resource could be managed. 

The discipline of Archaeology also has a number of experts on ancient livestock herding and ceramics in southern Africa and Prof Karim Sadr and Tom Huffman are widely published in this area. Prof Lyn Wadley and Dr Kathy Kuman are both experts on Middle Stone Age studies and Lyn heads the Ancient Cognition and Culture in Africa group (ACACIA).  

Our biophysical research interests are led by Stefan Grab and Jennifer Lalley.  Stefan’s interests range from the geomorphic makeup of mountainous regions throughout Africa to soil structure in relation to human activities. Jennifer’s focus is in biogeography and biodiversity conservation with species-specific and eco-regional projects throughout the southern African region.

The School also has a cities focus. Dr Teresa Dirsuweit is concerned with issues of consumption and citizenship and the effects these have on the democratisation of the city. Caryn Abrahams in her work on food networks emphasises consumption patterns in local urban food markets and is concerned the impacts of these on urban food security. Chris Rogerson has been working on small enterprise development in cities for last 20 years and has a published a large number of articles and books on the topic. A number of our post-graduate researchers have also examined the effects of privatisation on service delivery and issues of urban social justice. Teresa and Zarina are also concerned with participation and urban governance and the effects of these on social and environmental urban justice.

The School also contributes to University wide research on pedagogy. Cheryl Chamberlain has focussed her research on supervision and Tracy Cull is involved in developing teaching for students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

GAES PUBLICATIONS FOR 2006

ACADEMIC JOURNAL ARTICLES

Accredited Publications

ALLOTT L F,

“Archaeological charcoal as a window on palaeovegetation and wood-use during the Middle Stone Age at Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 173-201, 2006.

BAWA N,

“Family-owned business in south Africa: Local enterprise responses by South African Indian family-owned business”, Urban Forum, 17 (2): pp 167-198, 2006.

CAIN C R,

“Human activity suggested by the taphonomy of 60 ka and 50 ka faunal remains from Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 241-260, 2006.

CAIN C R,

“Implications of the marked artifacts of the Middle Stone Age of Africa”, Current Anthropology, 47 (4): pp 675-681, 2006.

COCHRANE G W G,

“An analysis of lithic artefacts from the -60 ka layers of Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 69-88, 2006.

DELAGNES A, WADLEY L, VILLA P & LOMBARD M,

“Crystal quartz backed tools from the Howiesons Poort at Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 43-56, 2006.

DIRSUWEIT T C & WAFER A,

“Scale, governance and the maintenance of privileged control: The case of road closures in Johannesburg's northern suburbs”, Urban Forum, 17 (4): pp 327-352, 2006.

DIRSUWEIT T C,

“Security, citizenship and governance: An introduction”, Urban Forum, 17 (4): pp 295-300, 2006.

EASTWOOD E B,

“Animals behaving like people: San rock paintings of kudu in the Central Limpopo Basin, southern Africa”, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 61 (183): pp 26-39, 2006.

HOERLE S, “Rock temperatures as an indicator of weathering processes affecting rock art”, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 31: pp 383-389, 2006.

FAUVELLE-AYMAR F - X, SADR K, BON F & GRONENBORN D,

“The visibility and invisibility of herders' kraals in southern Africa, with reference to a possible early contact period Khoekhoe Kraal at HFS5, Western Cape”, Journal of African Archaeology, 4 (2): pp 253-271, 2006.

GLENNY W,

“Report on the micromammal assemblage analysis from Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 279-288, 2006.

GRANT R J,

“Out of place? Global citizens in local spaces: A study of the informal settlements in the Lorle Laboon environs in Accra, Ghana”, Urban Forum, 17 (1): pp 1-24, 2006.

HALL G, PICKERING R, SOSA LACRUZ R, HANCOX P J, BERGER L R & SCHMID P,

“An Acheulean handaxe from Gladysvale Cave Site, Gauteng, South Africa”, South African Journal of Science, May 102: pp 103-105, 2006.

HINZE A J, PILLAY N & GRAB S W,

“The burrow system of the African ice rat Otomys sloggetti robertsi”, Mammalian Biology, 71 (6): pp 356-365, 2006.

HUFFMAN T N,

“Archaeological mitigation for Project Lion”, Southern African Field Archaeology, 13&14: pp 42-48, 2005.

HUFFMAN T N,

“Maize grindstones, Madikwe pottery and ochre mining in precolonial South Africa”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (2): pp 51-70, 2006.

LANGEJANS G H J,

“Starch grain analysis on Late Iron Age grindstones from South Africa”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (2): pp 71-91, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D & PEARCE D G,

“An accidental revolution? Early Neolithic religion and economic change”, Minerva, July: pp 29-31, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D & PEARCE D G,

“Data and types of explanation in Lombard's review of the Howieson's Poort debate”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (2): pp 182-188, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D,

“Debating rock art: Myth and ritual theories and facts”, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 61 (183): pp 105-114, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D,

“The evolution of theory, method and technique in southern African rock art research”, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory,13 (4): pp 343-377, 2006.

LOMBARD M,

“First impressions of the functions and hafting technology of Still Bay pointed artefacts from Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 27-41, 2006.

MATHER C T & MACKENZIE C,

“The body of transnational commodity cultures: South Africa's Outspan 'girls' campaign”, Social & Cultural Geography, 7 (3): pp 403-420, 2006.

MESKELL L & WEISS L,

“Coetzee on South Africa's past: Remembering in the time of forgetting”, American Anthropologist, 108 (1): pp 88-99, 2006.

MGUNI S,

“Iconography of termites' nests and termites: Symbolic nuances of formlings in southern African San rock art”, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 16 (1): pp 53-71, 2006.

MGUNI S,

“King's monuments: Identifying 'formlings' in southern African San rock paintings”, Antiquity, 80: pp 583-598, 2006.

NEL E, ROGERSON C M & MARAIS L,

“Restructuring manufacturing in South Africa's lagging regions: The case of the Free State”, South African Geographical Journal, 88 (1): pp 48-57, 2006.

NHAMO S & NHAMO G,

“Macroeconomics, (Adult) education, and poverty eradication in southern Africa”, International Review of Education, 52 (3-4): pp 305-322, 2006.

PATEL Z,

“Of questionable value: The role of practitioners in building sustainable cities”, Geogorum, 37: pp 682-694, 2006.

PATEL Z,

“Africa: A continent of hope?”, Local Environment, 11 (1): pp 7-15, 2006.

PEARCE D G,

“A comment on Swart's rock art sequences and use of the Harris Matrix in the Drakensberg”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (2): pp 173-188, 2006.

REID P & VOGEL C H,

“Living and responding to multiple stressors in South Africa - Glimpses from KwaZulu-Natal”, Global Environmental Change, 16: pp 195-206, 2006.

ROBERTSHAW P, RASOARIFETRA B, WOOD M H, MELCHIORRE E, POPELKA-FILCOFF R S & GLASCOCK M D,

“Chemical analysis of glass beads from Madagascar”, Journal of African Archaeology, 4 (1): pp 91-109, 2006.

ROGERSON C M & VISSER G,

“International tourist flows and urban tourism in South Africa”, Urban Forum, 17 (2): pp 199-213, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

“Developing SMMEs in peripheral spaces: The experience of Free State Province, South Africa”, South African Geographical Journal, 88 (1): pp 66-78, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

 “Creative industries and urban tourism: South African perspectives”, Urban Forum, 17 (2): pp 149-166, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

“The market development approach to SMME development: Implications for local government in South Africa”, Urban Forum, 17 (1): pp 54-78, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

“Developing the fashion industry in Africa: The case of Johannesburg”, Urban Forum, 17 (3): pp 215-240, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

“Pro-poor local economic development in South Africa: The role of pro-poor tourism”, Local Environment, 88 (1): pp 37-60, 2006.

SADR K & FAUVELLE-AYMAR F - X,

“Ellipsoid grinding hollows on the west coast of South Africa”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (2): pp 29-50, 2006.

SADR K & SAMPSON C G,

“Through thick and thin: Early pottery in southern Africa”, Journal of African Archaeology, 4 (2): pp 235-252, 2006.

SCHOEMAN M H,

“Imagining rain-places: Rain-control and changing ritual landscapes in the Shashe-Limpopo confluence area, South Africa”,

South African Archaeological Bulletin,

61 (184): pp 152-165, 2006.

SIEVERS C,

“Seeds from the Middle Stone Age layers at Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 203-222, 2006.

SPENCELEY A,

“Tourism in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park”, Development Southern Africa, 23 (5): pp 649-667, 2006.

WADLEY L,

“Partners in grime: Results of multi-disciplinary archaeology at Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities,

18 (1): pp 315-341, 2006.

WADLEY L,

“Comment on Sealy, J. "Diet, mobility and settlement pattern among Holocene hunter-gatherers in southernmost Africa"“, Current Anthropology, 47 (4): pp 588-589, 2006.

WADLEY L & JACOBS Z,

“Sibudu Cave: Background to the excavations, stratigraphy and dating”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 1-26, 2006.

WELLS C,

“A sample integrity analysis of faunal remains from the RSp layer at Sibudu Cave”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 261-277, 2006.

WINTJES J & SIEVERS C,

“Seeing Sibudu seeds: An illustrated text of the more frequent Middle Stone Age stones, nuts and seeds”, Southern African Humanities, 18 (1): pp 223-233, 2006.

Non-accredited Publications

GRONENBORN D, BON F, FAUVELLE-AYMAR F - X & SADR K,

“Hirtennomaden zwischen Steinzeit und Neuzeit”, Archäologie in Deutschland, 5: pp 14-19, 2006.

IGBAFE A, JEWELL L L, PIKETH S J & DLAMINI T S,

“A wintertime impact of dilution on transformation rate in the planetary boundary layer”, Journal of Environmental Informatics, 8 (1): pp 34-48, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D,

“Explaining the inexplicable: Upper Palaeolithic cave art”, Minerva, May: pp 28-30, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D,

“Setting the record straight”, The Digging Stick, 23 (2): pp 6-8, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D,

“Early San spirituality - evidence from the Howieson's Poort industry: A note to J Parkington's review of 'San spirituality'“, Journal of African Archaeology, 4 (2): pp 349-350, 2006.

NHAMO G,

“Why can't we clean up our own act”, South African Labour Bulletin, 30 (2): pp 10-13, 2006.

SUSINO G J,

“Analysis of lithic artefact microdebitage for chronological determination of archaeological sites”, Australian Archaeology, 62: pp 65-66, 2006.

VOGEL C H,

“Foreword: Resilience, vulnerability and adaptation: A cross-cutting theme of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change”, Global environmental Change, 16: pp 235-236, 2006.

 

BOOKS

Accredited Publications

EASTWOOD E B & EASTWOOD C,

Capturing the Spoor: An Exploration of Southern African Rock Art. New Africa Books (Pty) Ltd, Claremont, Cape, First edition, 216 pp, 2006.

Non-accredited Publications

ZUBIETA L F,

The Rock Art of Mwana wa Chentcherere II Rock Shelter, Malawi. African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands, First edition, 140 pp, 2006.

 

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS

Accredited Publications

DIRSUWEIT T C,

“The problem of identities”, Chapter 15, pp 325-347. In Ballard R, Habib A & Valodia I, Voices of Protest: Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa, First edition, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, Scottsville, South Africa, 2006.

GREENBERG S,

“The landless people's movement and the failure of post-apartheid land reform”, Chapter 7, pp 133-153. In Ballard R, Habib A & Valodia I, Voices of Protest: Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa, First edition, Universit of KwaZulu-Natal Press, Scottsville, South Africa, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D,

“Saving a tradition”, pp 160-165. In Blundell G, Origins: The Story of the Emergence of Nomads and Humanity in Africa, First edition, Double Storey Press, Cape Town, 2006.

NAMONO C,

“Farmer rock art of Africa”, pp 145-152. In Blundell G, Origins: The Story of the Emergence of Nomads and Humanity in Africa, First edition, Double Storey Press, Cape Town, 2006.

PEARCE D G,

“The origin of complex burial in southern Africa”, pp 86-92. In Blundell G, Origins: The Story of the Emergence of Nomads and Humanity in Africa, First edition, Double Storey Press, Cape Town, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

“Tourism policy, local economic development and South African cities”, Chapter 10, pp 230-250. In Pillay U, Tomlinson R & Du Toit J, Democracy and Delivery: Urban Policy in South Africa, First edition, HSRC Press, Cape Town, 2006.

SCHLANGER N,

“Introduction: Technological commitments: Marcel Mauss and the study of techniques in the French social sciences”, pp 1-29. In Schlanger N, Marcel Mauss: Techniques, Technology and Civilisation, First edition, Durkheim Press/Berghahn Books, New York, Oxford, 2006.

SMITH B W,

“The rock arts of sub-Saharan Africa”, pp 92-115. In Blundell G, Origins: The Story of the Emergence of Nomads and Humanity in Africa, First edition, Double Storey Press, Cape Town, 2006.

Non-accredited Publications

BLUNDELL G,

“Introduction: Seven million years of African history”, pp 6-13. In Blundell G, Origins: The Story of the Emergence of Nomads and Humanity in Africa, First edition, Double Storey Press, Cape Town, 2006.

BONNER P L & ESTERHUYSEN A B,

“The amazing Makapan”, Chapter 5, pp 38-44. In Blundell G, Origins: The Story of the Emergence of Humans and Humanity in Africa, First edition, Double Storey Press, Cape Town, 2006.

DIRSUWEIT T C,

“Gated community”, pp 173-174. In Warf B, Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Sage Publications, California, USA, 2006.

 

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Accredited Publications

CLOTTES J & LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D,

“After the 'Shamans of Prehistory': Polemics and responses”, The Ethnography of World Rock Art, Portland, USA, 14-18 September, Talking with the Past: The Ethnography of Rock Art, pp 100-135, 2006.

HUFFMAN T N,

“Bantu migrations in southern Africa”, Africa Genome Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 19-22 March,

The Prehistory of Africa: Tracing the Lineage of Modern Man, 1: pp 97-108, 2006.

LEWIS-WILLIAMS J D,

“Rock art and ethnography: A case in point from southern Africa”, The Ethnography of World Rock Art, Portland, USA, 14-18 September, Talking with the Past: The Ethnography of Rock Art, pp 30-48, 2006.

MATHER C T & KENNY B C,

“The difficulties of 'emerging markets': Cross-continental investment in the South African dairy sector”, Cross-Continental Food Commodity Chain Systems, Copenhagen, Denmark, 10-11 October, Cross-Continental Food Chains, pp 179-190, 2005.

MATHER C T,

“'Fragmenting the chain': Economic and spatial differentiation in the post-liberalisation South African citrus export commodity chain”, IGU Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces, Johannesburg, 29 July-2 August, Linking Industries Across the World: Processes of Global Networking, pp 29-50, 2005.

NHAMO G,

“Institutional and legal provisions for the Clean Development Mechanism”, First International Conference on Environmental Economics and Investment Assessment, Mykonos, Greece, 13-15 September, Environmental Economics and Investment Analysis, pp 167-176, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

“'The region is local': Restructuring the clothing industry of southern Africa”, IGU Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces, Johannesburg, 29 July-2 August, Linking Industries Across the World: Processes of Global Networking, pp 277-295, 2005.

ROGERSON C M,

“Local economic development in post-apartheid South Africa: A ten-year research review”, 50th Anniversary Conference reviewing the First Decade of Development and Democracy in South Africa, Durban, 21-22 October, The Development Decade? Economic and Social Change in South Africa, 1994-2004, pp 227-253, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

“From national industrial workshop to 'Rustbelt'? Restructuring the manufacturing economy of Ekurhuleni, 1980-1999”, Wits-Ekurhuleni Symposium: Sustainable Manufacturing, Brakpan, 10-11 June, Sustainable Manufacturing? The Case of South Africa & Ekurhuleni, pp 112-120, 2006.

ROGERSON C M,

“Local economic development planning in Johannesburg, Africa's 'World City'“, Local Economic Development and Globalization, Addis Ababa, 2-4 April, Local Economic Development in Africa: Enterprises, Communities and Local Government, pp 274-299, 2005.

WADLEY L,

“Revisiting cultural modernity and the role of ochre in the Middle Stone Age”, Africa Genome Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 19-22 March, The Prehistory of Africa: Tracing the Lineage of Modern Man, 1: pp 49-63, 2006.

WADLEY L,

“The use of space in the Late Middle Stone Age of Rose Cottage Cave, South Africa: Was there a shift to modern behavior?”, The Middle Paleolithic: Climbing uphill slowly or going nowhere fast? and Stability and Change in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, Denver, Colorado, USA, 13-16 March, Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age, pp 279-294, 2006.

SMITH B W,

“Rock Art tourism in southern Africa: Problems, possibilities, and poverty relief”, 5th World Archaeological Congress, Washington DC, 22-26 June, Of the Past, for the Future: Integrating Archaeology and Conservation, pp 322-330, 2006.

SMITH B W,

“Reading rock art and writing genetic history: Regionalism, ethnicity and the rock art of southern Africa”, Africa Genome Conference, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 19-22 March, The Prehistory of Africa: Tracing the Lineage of Modern Man, 1: pp 76-96, 2006.

 

EDITORSHIPS

BLUNDELL G,

Editor:  Origins: The Story of the Emergence of Humans and Humanity in Africa, (1), Double Storey/Juta, Cape Town, 2006.

SCHLANGER N,

Editor:  Marcel Mauss: Techniques, Technology and Civilisation, (1), Durkheim Press/Berghahn Books, New York, Oxford, 2006.