An archaeology of colonization: excavations at a stonewalled site near Rosetta, KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Archaeological mitigation on stonewalled site 2929BD20 in the Spring Grove Dam basin, KwaZulu-Natal, shows that the site was most probably built by labour tenants in the 1870s or 1880s and used through to at least the early 1900s. This conclusion is consistent with a statement collected during the Phase 1 impact assessment, which associated the site with a particular family. The original occupants possibly came from north of the uThukela River. This project could mark the beginning of work that reveals the archaeological identity of an increasingly colonized people from 1800 into the twentieth century.