Collections

Artefacts from Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

The Anthropological and Archaeological collections of the University of Pretoria constitute an ‘Archive’ that is invaluable for research, education and heritage management. By ‘Archive’ is meant, inter alia, anthropological & archaeological artefacts, field diaries, meta-data associated with those artefacts such as audio tapes and field diaries, and related sites, personalia and such like. The meta-data associated with the artefacts are themselves artefacts that reflect evolving attitudes towards ‘heritage’. This Archive is part of South Africa’s ‘national estate’ as defined by the National Heritage Resources Act (25 of 1999), over which the University of Pretoria has custodial responsibility. It is acknowledged that the bulk of this Archive has been collected via public funds and is under UP’s stewardship and UP is thus obligated to ensure its proper curation. The AA Archive (hereafter ‘AA Archive’) is primarily a research entity, with strong educational and heritage management components.