New exhibition at the Origins Centre.


In honour of women’s month join us for the launch From Abidjan to Joburg;
an exhibition brought to you by Veronique Tadjo and the Origins Centre.
Opening date: 5th Aug
Opening time: 18H30 for 19H00
Opening Speaker:  Justice Malala
Entrance:  Free; drinks and snacks will be served.
The exhibition will run until the 10th of October; entrance is usually R35
except on the evening of the opening (which is free).
RSVP: ; 011 717 4700

By borrowing from different cultural traditions, Tadjo allows us to see
the complex and dynamic nature of our past and present.  A Wits-based
writer and academic, she uses a literary term to qualify her style:
magical realism. It is the desire to look beyond the visible to get at the
essence of our human experience. Forms are primal: charged with symbolism
and emotion.  To honour women’s month this exhibition also pays homage to
the artist’s mother, Michèle Tadjo, who was a painter and a sculptor.

Download the invitation

E-mail   
Postal     P.O. Box 203
                Parklands
                2121
                South Africa
Phone    + 27 (0) 11 717 6668
Fax        + 27 (0) 11 717 6688

Walking Tall Educational Project

One of the projects within PAST’s portfolio is the educational learner project WalkingTall. This initiative developed from workshops presented to learners at fossil sites near the Sterkfontein Caves between 1997 and 2002.  These workshops were presented almost exclusively to private schools in a position to afford this privilege. It became clear to PAST that the workshops required a far broader reach, specifically targeting previously disadvantaged learners who now had to engage with the topic of evolution and palaeontological science within the public school curriculum.  To address this need Walking Tall was developed.

Arts and Culture and its obvious link to Heritage provided the perfect vehicle for bringing the science of palaeontology to previously disadvantaged schools.  To that effect a theatrical performance explaining the concepts of human evolution was written and cast in 2002.  Teacher workshops were held at various Teacher Centres around Gauteng to introduce the project to educators and to facilitate the booking of the show to perform at their schools.  A curriculum-based learner booklet was produced providing information and outcomes-based lesson plans to both educators and learners.  

In 2006 a second Walking Tall team was launched in Gauteng and thus far the programme has reached nearly 100 000 learners in the province. The need for a simple and effective tool (theatre and workshops) to teach the concept of evolution (which underpins the teaching of natural sciences) to South Africa’s diverse learner and adult audiences is clear and we now stand poised to expand Walking Tall into a nationwide project benefiting previously disadvantaged learners countrywide.  A long-term focus must also be applied to reach rural learners and to ensure that adult education and awareness is also incorporated.

Produced by:

Andrea Leenen
Greg Melvill-Smith
Sibulele Gcilitshana

Original cast members:

Den Antonakas
Sibu Gcilitshana
Mahlubi Kraai

Acknowledgements:

Walking Tall wishes to thank the following sponsors for their generous support:

Principal Sponsor

FirstRand Foundation

General Sponsor

JP Morgan

Walking Tall also wishes to acknowledge the scientists and excavators who research and preserve Africa’s wonderful fossil heritage.

Bookings

To book a ‘Walking Tall’ performance for your school please contact:

- Projects

- Personalities

	Lucinda Ruth Backwell Born in South Africa, Lucinda Backwell currently holds dual registration as a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. L.R. Berger with the Palaeo-Anthropology Unit for Research and Exploration, University of the Witwatersrand, and Dr. F. d’Errico of the Institut de Préhistoire et de Géologie du Quaternaire, University of Bordeaux, France. Her thesis, entitled ‘Early hominid bone tool Industries’ aims to establish the extent and type of bone tool traditions recorded in the South and East African Plio-Pleistocene fossil records. This will allow her to compare the geographically disparate cultural and behavioural adaptations of early man, whilst establishing a typology for the bone tool Industries. She obtained her Masters degree with distinction in July 2000, and in so doing became the second South African woman to have graduated with a degree in Palaeo-Anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School. In the spirit of enterprise she studies the worlds most ancient bone tools to better understand early hominid behaviour. Ongoing research Lucinda and her colleague Francesco d’Errico of the University of Bordeaux have proposed implement-assisted termite-foraging as a dietary adaptation of early hominids in South Africa between 1 and 2 million years ago. Three of the major hominid sites in South Africa (Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Drimolen) have yielded a total of 108 bone tools. From their overall form and microscopic wear patterns, it would appear that the bone tools were used for digging in termite mounds. Knowing that many non-human processes and agents are capable of modifying bone to produce tool mimics, they studied a broad range of bone collections modified by known non-human agents (animals, water and geological processes). None of the wear patterns matched those on the fossils. They then conducted a series of experiments using bone tools as implements. Using image analysis software to compare the striations recorded on the experimental and fossil tools they found those resulting from digging in termite mounds to be most similar. Jane Goodall predicted termite foraging by early hominids as far by as 1963, but until now the empirical support has remained elusive. These results thus demonstrate the oft predicted link between living chimpanzee and early hominid social and cultural adaptation, and the manifestation of modern chimpanzee behaviours in the fossil hominid record.
	Francesco d’Errico (COLLABORATOR AND CO-SUPERVISOR) http/www.iquat.u-bordeaux.fr/paleo-art Francesco d’Errico is a Centre National du Recherche Scientifique researcher at the Institut de Préhistoire et de Géologie du Quaternaire, University of Bordeaux in France. He obtained a PhD at the Institute of Palaeontology in Paris for his study of Epi-Palaeolithic art, now published as a CNRS monograph. From 1987-1991 he was at that institute as Assistant Lecturer, Fellow of the Fyssen Foundation, and Fellow of the NATO-Science Program. In 1991 he was Research Associate of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum of Mainz, Germany, and in 1992 Research Fellow in Madrid. He moved to Cambridge in 1992 as postdoctoral Fellow attached to the Department of Archaeology and Research Associate of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, before joining the CNRS in 1994. He was also Fellow of the Royal Society-CNRS exchange programme and invited academic of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.  His main research interest is the evolution of human cognitive ability.  He has published a number of papers in the Journal of Human Evolution, Journal of Archaeological Science, Current Anthropology, Cambridge Archaeological Journal and Nature on the origin of symbolism, Palaeolithic notations, Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition, prehistoric technology, bone taphonomy, first use of bone tools, and the application of new techniques of analysis to the study of Palaeolithic art objects.
	Pedro Boshoff (MASTERS CANDIDATE) Pedro Boshoff joined the Palaeontological unit a year ago spending his time in acquiring his Honours degree in Palaeontology and doing some fieldwork and related tasks for the department. He is currently involved with research concerning his Masters thesis. The research revolves around looking at methodology’s by with maximum information can be extracted from Plio/Pleistocene coprolite material coming from the known cave site’s from which important information are forthcoming concerning human evolution. This research will not merely look at tried and tested methodologies, but will actually make use of other techniques, some totally new, and some not often used. The project will then try to evaluate and rate these various techniques as to their viability, possibility’s and limitations.  This will mainly be done by actually applying these techniques and then record the results. Born in South Africa where he had a keen interest in human evolution since being a young boy having visited the Sterkfontein caves. This also started a life long fascination with caves and since round about 1983 when he joined Sasa (the South African spelaeological society) explored in excess of 600 caves in Southern Africa, often making discoverys of archaeological and palaeontological importance.  He has been involved in the discovery of several unknown caves, one of them proving to be the biggest in Africa. Presently he holds a B.sc hons degree in palaeontology and is further involved in aerial and land reconnaissance in the cradle of mankind area looking for new Plio/Pleistocene sites. This entails flying over the area in a micro light “aeroplane” jotting down possible site positions. Afterwards this is followed up by map, compass, GPS work as well as substantial footwork, often resulting in the location of a possible site (33 up to date). The purpose of the project is to build up a working relationship with the landowners as well as building up an easily accessible database of possible sites for future use. He plans to further his studies at the Unit to a PhD level and hopes to stay on as an active research scientist as well as a lecturer.
	Headman Zondo My full name is Babehleka Headman Zondo who was born from Zulu Cultural background family in Pogola, Northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. I finished my standard 10 at my home high school called Khulumeluzulu in 1995. In the years between 1996 and 1999 I managed to finish my first degree in Social Science from University of Natal (Durban Campus), majoring in Linguistics and Industrial Psychology.  After my first degree in the year 2000 I did Post-Graduate Diploma in Industrial Relations, majoring in Labour Law from the same university (University of Natal Durban Campus). During my first degree I found myself very much interested to study about Human Origins after we were taught about Darwin’s theory of evolution of the species as one of the modules of Psychology in those years. Due to the lack of information about where I can do such a study, I end up coming to Johannesburg after my studies with an aim of working. Luckily, before I got any employment, I met Dr Lee Berger’s family friend Mike Kirkinis who is a director of Olympic Traveling Company.  He told me about Dr Berger and PURE where I can apply for studying Human Origin. He did even arrange a quick meeting for Dr Berger and myself. From there Dr Berger arranged funding for my studies in 2001 at University of the Witswatersrand as an Occasional student doing Geology 1,3 and Archaeology 1 under his supervision. At the end of 2002 I managed to finish BSc Honours in Paleontology under the supervision of Dr de Ruiter. This year I ‘m admitted to do BSc Masters in Palaeoanthropology under the co-supervision of both Drs Berger and de Ruiter. My Masters topic is as follows: A Morphological and Taxonomic Analysis of the South African Fossil Hyracoidea Including the Relative Abundance of Hyracoidea and Correlations of South African Hominid Localities in the Sterkfontein Valley, South Africa.
	Rodrigo Lacruz Rodrigo Lacruz was born in Spain where he completed his undergraduate degree. He has lived in the US, where he also qualified as a commercial pilot; Kenya and Tanzania where he worked as a safari guide and pilot; England, and in Botswana’s northern Kalahari before arriving in South Africa in 1999. His MSc research project which was completed during 2002 granted CUM LAUDE was based on the analysis of stratified fossil deposits from the hominid-bearing cave site of Gladysvale. These deposits were dated to 800.000 years, and although no new fossil hominids can be reported, the fauna is very diverse. This work was very comprehensive and included identification of over 4000 fossil specimens, interpretation of the stratigraphic context, taphonomy of the fossil assemblage and Geographical Information System (GIS) use in spatial distribution of fossils. His current doctoral thesis deals with biological and taxonomic issues in hominid evolution. More specifically, the project is designed to investigate patterns of developmental growth in early African hominids. Possible use of micro-anatomical features of the hominid dentition to identify fossil “species” will also be tested in the southern African fossil record. In addition to his doctoral research, his main interests are the understanding of evolutionary patterns during the Plio-Pleistocene in Africa, with special emphasis in antelopes and carnivores.
	Robyn Pickering I am born and bred in Johannesburg. I matriculated in 1997 from St. Mary’s School and spent the next year overseas as a Gap year. It was during this time that I decided that I really wanted to be a palaeoanthropologist, and not an occupational therapist, which was what I had been accepted for. I registered at Wits University to do a Bachelor of Science, with majors in Geology and Archaeology, and various courses in human anatomy, which were the closest I could get the Palaeoanthropology as an undergraduate. In the course of this degree I fell in love with geology, and decided to become a geologist. In 2002 I did joint Honours (also at Wits), in Geology and Palaeontology, and found a niche for myself as a geologist working on the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the hominid caves in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, which really was a dream come true. My honours project was supervised by Dr. Lee Berger, from PURE and Dr. John Hancox, from the Geology Department at Wits, and was based on the Peabody Chamber, at Gladysvale Cave. I have just started my Masters degree, also on the sedimentology of the deposits at Gladysvale, and am hoping to date the sediments through radiometric techniques, which will further our understanding on the controls of cave sedimentation. This is a very exciting project and I am looking forward to finally being part of South African Palaeoanthropology. Outside university I enjoy travelling, hiking, bird watching, reading, painting and spending time with my family and friends.
	Christine Steininger Christine Steininger has finished her MSc. The title of her thesis is “Taxonomic affinity of a hominid specimens from the Coopers Cave, South Africa.” Not only has she looked at taxonomic affinity of the new face from Coopers Cave, but she also examined the range of variation of fossil hominines to determine the parameters of variation. Ms. Steininger has some interesting insights into the pattern and degree of variation of Paranthropus robustus and has concluded that the new hominin specimen belongs within this taxon. She is submitting a paper for publication on this new specimen this year. Christine has many varied interest in Palaeoanthropology. Her primary interest lies in early hominin variation and its relevance in identification of species. She is also interested in bone histology and the stresses induced by environmental factors, a subject that could be applied to microvertebrates, especially herpetiles. Present research note that reptiles and amphibians are environmentally sensitive. Herpetology can prove to be useful in understanding the microenvironments where larger deposits with longer accumulation rates tend to fail.

Principal Sponsors:

Standard Bank

Department of Science and Technology (DST)

General Sponsors:

FirstRand Foundation
Nedbank

GRANT APPLICATIONS    

‘The Palaeontological Scientific Trust supports research and education into our human and more ancient heritage in southern Africa’

GUIDELINES FOR A GRANT APPLICATION

Applicants for grants and bursaries are invited from researchers, educators and post-graduate students at South African institutions in support of projects involving palaeo-anthropology, palaeontology, archaeology and cognate disciplines.  Such grants will be made to the relevant institutions involved for the use of the applicant concerned.  An application must be accompanied by a supporting letter from the institution involved and must explain the significance and feasibility of the project, together with details of how the money will be spent.  A curriculum vitae and publication list of the applicants are also required.  Applications may be submitted at any time, but the grants will be awarded on an annual basis, with the understanding that yearly progress reports and financial statements will be provided.  Applications must please reveal any other confirmed or potential sources of funding/financial support.

Applications from organisations with interests in the above fields may also be considered.

All correspondence relating to financial assistance should be sent via e-mail (in Microsoft Word format only).  Applications should be no more than 6 pages in total and please do not include photos or sketches. The original document must also be posted to:

Andrea Leenen
Fund Manager
P. O Box 203
Parklands
2121
Tel: 27-11-717 6668
E-mail correspondence to:

ABOUT US: FROM THE PAST INTO THE FUTURE

Since the 1924 discovery of the skull of the Taung child - a 2.5 million year old human ancestor- southern Africa, and more particularly the Cradle of Humankind surrounding Sterkfontein, has become the single richest area where fossilised remains of our earliest hominids are found. It provides compelling evidence that humankind originated in Africa.

Scientific research and exploration funding for this resource has, since 1994 been almost solely the responsibility of PAST. We continue to support these sites as well as sites across the country including dinosaur track way sites and archaeological excavations.

WHAT WE SET OUT TO DO IN 1994

PAST was established in 1994 for the specific initial purpose of assisting the University of the Witwatersrand to secure the future of palaeo-anthropological research and to prevent the shutdown of excavation and research at the renowned Sterkfontein Caves site.

Our original mission statement focused on raising funds from South African and international donors for the following purposes:

    * To initiate, support and guide palaeo-anthropological projects in South Africa.
    * To support the training of students in the study of palaeo-anthropology through scholarships, bursaries and grants.
    * To assist and promote the education of the public, particularly school-going children, about their palaeo-anthropological heritage.
    * To develop, preserve and protect South African homind sites to facilitate archaeo-tourism and assist in attracting South Africans and international tourists to these sites.

 
WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN THE LAST 10 YEARS & OUR FUTURE VISION

PAST has achieved its initial aims, and currently we support scientific research and education to the tune of nearly six million rand per annum. The Trust’s mission is to ensure the continuation and expansion of education and research into the human and more ancient heritage within southern Africa and to ensure that these studies, efforts and findings are recognised world-wide.

Responsible for funding the majority of current human origins research in southern Africa, the Trust’s activities for the next decade will focus on the expansion of research, the intensification of the educational programme and ensuring that as many people as possible are exposed to the intriguing account of their shared past through public lectures, fossil site tours and learner programmes, archaeological excavations,as well as scientific publications, conferences and educational programmes for young learners.

Through the provision of funding for scientific research and education, PAST is playing a leading role in showcasing South Africa’s unique heritage to the world while, at the same time bringing an awareness to South Africans of the origins of humankind.
 

 

test

The Origins Centre Association
The Origins Centre is administered by the Origins Centre Association, a Section 21 or
Public Benefit Company. The Association was established at the end of 2005, shortly
before the Origins Centre Project was completed in March 2006 and opened by
President Thabo Mbeki, to takeover the management of the completed project. The
Association has close ties to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) but is a separate
legal entity with many non-Wits directors serving on the Board. The Board meets
quarterly and a smaller Management Committee meets more frequently.


Company Details
Company Registration No. 2005/D35112/08. Vat Registration No. 4290224841.
Auditors: Price, Waterhouse, Coopers. Accountant: Mr V. Slade. Banking details
provided on request for business purposes.


Contact Details
Origins Centre
Cnr Yale & Enoch Sontonga
Wits University
Braamfontein
2050
Johannesburg
South Africa
M Private Bag 3, PO Wits 2050
T  +27 (0)11 717-4700
F  +27 (0)11 717-4701
E 
W http://www.origins.org.za
L events.origins.org.za


Business Divisions
Origins Centre Association
Origins Museum
Origins Shop
Services, Tourism & Training Institute

Members & Directors
Belinda Bozzoli. Chairperson. Deputy-Vice Chancellor (Research), Wits University. Patrick
Fitzgerald. Chief Financial Officer, Wits University. Charles Mather. Head of School of
Geography, Archaeology & Environmental Sciences, Wits University.  Ben Smith. Head of
the Rock Art Research Institute, Wits University. Bruce Rubidge. Head of BPI
(Palaeontology), Wits University. Bruce Fordyce. In his private capacity. Margie Keeton.
Executive Director of Tshikululu Social Investments. In her capacity as a representative
of Anglo-American. Steven Sack.  Director of Arts, Culture and Heritage Services, City of
Johannesburg. Cawe Mahlati. CEO Gauteng Tourism Authority. Douglas Ramaphosa. In
his capacity as a private individual. Nicola Danby. CEO Business and Arts South Africa.
Mallele Petje. Head of Gauteng Education.

Staff
Please refer all general enquiries to reception first (see above for contact details):
Dr G. Blundell, Curator. +27 (0)11 717-4702.
Ms A. Caldwell, Bookkeeper. +27 (0)11 717-4713.
Mr M. Lebele, Operations Manager. +27 (0)11 717-4703.
Mr J. Mathata, Operations Officer (Technical). +27 (0)11 717-4709.
Ms V. Ngesman, Operations Officer (Administrative). +27 (0)11 717-4715.
Ms C. Turner, Programmes Officer (Academic). +27 (0)11 717-4706.
Ms S. Reis, Marketing & Merchandising Manager. +27 (0)11 717-4706.
Ms L. Sithole, Operations Officer (Administrative). +27 (0)11 717-4714.
Ms R. Roggerini, Training, Guiding & Education Manager. +27 (0)11 717-4702.
Ms L. Smith, Principal: STTI. +27 (0)11 717-4712.
Ms V. Redman, Temporary Staff Co-Ordinator. +27 (0)11 717-4700.
Mr J. Byrne, Webmaster. +27 (0)11 717-4706.  

Useful Contacts


The following organisations and people conduct research on rock art. In some cases, they also take small groups or larger tours to rock art sites.

National Monuments Council
PO Box 4637
Cape Town
8000
462-4502

Rock Art Research Centre
University of the Witwatersrand
Private Bag 3
PO Wits 2050
Johannesburg
Tel: (011) 716-2745
Fax: (011) 339-1620

Rock Art Department
National Museum
PO Box 266
Bloemfontein
9300
Tel: (051) 447-9609
Fax: (051) 447-6273

Palaeo-Art Field Services
PO Box 168
Louis Trichardt
0920
Northern Province
Tel: (015) 517-7243

David Morris
McGregor Museum
PO Box 316
Kimberley
8300
Tel: (053) 132-645

Tony Manhire
Archaeology Department
University of Cape Town
Private Bag
Rondebosch
7700
Tel: (021) 650-2357
Fax: (021) 650-2352

The dinosaurs of the Karoo: a record of the early days of dinosaur dominance -
A public lecture by Dr Adam Yates
 
The Karoo Basin of South Africa is justly famous for its superb record of fossil
synapsids, the extinct creatures that eventually gave rise to mammals including
ourselves. Less-well appreciated are the dinosaurs that are preserved in the
uppermost strata of the Karoo Basin. Recent research is showing these dinosaurs
have much to tell us about the early days of the ‘age of dinosaurs’. In this
lecture we will look at this record from the earliest traces to its fiery finale
when the entire region was drowned in a vast volcanic outpouring.
 
Dr Adam Yates  is a graduate of the University of Adelaide, South Australia where
he obtained a first-class honours degree in geology in 1994. He then moved to La
Trobe University, Victoria, Australia where he studied fossil amphibians from the
Triassic of Australia for his PhD, which was awarded in 1999. He has since switched
his attention to dinosaur fossils, first working as a postdoc at University of
Bristol in the UK, and then moving to South Africa in 2003. He is now a research
officer on the staff of the Bernard Price Institute, University of the
Witwatersrand. His researched is focused on the dinosaurs of the Karoo, especially
what they can tell us about the early evolution of the megaherbivorous sauropods.

Date: Tuesday 24 June 2008
Time: 18:00 for 18:30
Place: Origins Centre Lecture Centre
Cost: R20 per adult/R15 per student
RSVP: / 011 717 4700

Raiders of the Lost Art: A New Rock Art Tradition in the Eastern Cape Province
- A public lecture by Lara Mallen
 
Who made the painted images? This is a question that hardly needs to be asked
for the majority of southern African rock art. However, at 12 rock art sites
in the southern Drakensberg mountains, paintings have been found that are
distinct from the by now well-known San, Khoekhoen and Bantu-speaker rock
art. The questions of who made this unusual art and why are important. In
order to gain some insight into this enigmatic art,  in this lecture I
consider what we know about the inhabitants of the area in the nineteenth
century and the stock raiding economy in which many were involved.

Lara Mallen has recently completed her Masters degree at the Rock Art
Research Institute at Wits University. She specialises in the study of
South African rock art and has published previously on the rock art
at various Eastern Cape rock art sites.She will be beginning her PhD
at the University of Oxford later this year.

Date: Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Time: 18:00 for 18:30 (NOTE THE TIMES HAVE CHANGED BACK TO 18:30)
Place: Origins Centre, Wits University
Cost: R20 per adult/R15 per student
RSVP: by 9 June to or 011 717 4700

          2008 Public Lecture Series

Download posters of previous speakers…

Neil Price

Leslie Zubieta     

Thomas Huffman

Himla Soodyall

Christopher Henshilwood

John Wright

Robert Thornton

Lara Mallen 

Adam Yates

Judd Kirkel

Natalie Swanepoel

Amanda Esterhuysen

Webber Ndoro

Open from Monday to Sunday 09h00 - 17h00

Please note that centre will close on the 25th May 2009 till the 27th May 2009.

Origins Centre
Cnr Yale & Enoch Sontonga
Wits University
Braamfontein
2050
Johannesburg
South Africa 

Electronic Equipment

Hardware: Two MacBook Pro laptops are available. Built-
in digital projectors, electronic screens and PA systems
in most venues. The Centre does not support 35mm
slides and overhead projection. A wireless lapel or ear
microphone or free-standing microphones are available.

Software: Latest version of MacOS or Windows XP Pro.
Keynote or MS Powerpoint for Mac. Keynote is the pre-
ferred system and the programme also runs Powerpoint
files. The Centre does not allow the use of other com-
puters on its system and does not support other applica-
tions.

Please discuss any equipment requirements you may have with our Marketing Office:
Phone    +27 (0)11 717 4700
Email   

Neil Price Podcast - Purchase and Download Podcast

Note: Subscribe to this podcast feed using itunes - 29MB 

Purchase a wide variety of Origins branded merchandise.

more coming soon 

The Origins Shop stocks a wide variety of locally produced arts and crafts.

More coming soon 

 Funding Partners

Anglo American, Standard Bank of South Africa Ltd, Atlantic Philanthropies, First Rand
Foundation, Gauteng Department of Education, Graham Beck Foundation, Impala
Platinum Ltd., Wits University, Murray & Roberts, Department of Environmental Affairs &
Tourism, Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Conference Workshop Cultural Initiative Fund,
BHP Billiton Development Trust, African Rainbow Minerals, World Wide Fund for Nature,
AVI Ltd.

In 1999, President Thabo Mbeki visited the world-famous rock art site of Game Pass in the Kamberg area of the Kwazulu-Natal Drakensberg. President Mbeki, already a champion of African heritage, was shocked to see how little had been done to present such a famous site to the general public. He contacted the then minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Valli Moosa, and urged him to develop South African rock art sites in general for the greater benefit of the country. Minister Moosa then visited the Rock Art Research Institute at Wits University and asked the staff to put together a proposal to develop rock art for sustainable tourism. This the Institute duly did, opting to put forward a proposal for the development of three facilities that would act as models on which further development could take place.

At the end of 2000, the Rock Art Research Institute awarded a grant from the Lotto Fund in order to develop two rock art sites for public visitation—the site visited by President Mbeki, Game Pass Shelter and the site of Wildebeestkuil in Kimberley. The third facility was to be a modest rock art museum in the City of Johannesburg that would function as a vehicle for the promotion of the sites at Kamberg and Wildebeestkuil, as well as other public rock art sites. In addition, such a museum would act to inform visitors about rock art, even if they could not venture out to see public rock art sites.

The original idea for a small museum was soon expanded and it became clear that there was scope for a more ambitious facility. A project director was appointed and several professionals were assembled to form the core team that would develop the concept further. Significant additional funds were also raised. The core team decided that the best place to house the new museum would be at the University of the Witwatersrand, where the internationally known Rock Art Research Institute’s (RARI) substantial archive was situated. By housing the planned museum—now named the South African Museum of Rock Art (SAMORA)—at Wits, RARI’s collections could be adequately housed and opened for public viewing. The University’s administration identified a suitable building site at the Wedge Complex, two buildings that are situated between the University’s Yale Road entrance and the M1 Motorway.

With the building site identified, a design team was assembled in 2001, comprised of architects, designers, film-makers, educationalists, Khoisan representatives, museum specialists, academics and rock art specialists. This team met over the course of 2002 and drafted a narrative structure for the planned museum. With the core of the design in place, the team was disbanded in late 2002. Over the course of 2003, the narrative design lay dormant as various practicalities concerning the museum construction came into play. Then, at the beginning of 2004, a new design team was assembled that included some members of the first design team as well as additional new members. This second narrative team revisited the original design document and developed the ideas further. Subsequently, a small group, have refined the second reworking of the narrative.

By the end of 2004, the requisite capital expenditure of some R40 million had been raised and building began in the first quarter of 2005. The construction was completed by mid-December t 2005 and the exhibits were installed during January 2006. The museum opened in February the same year for a month long test run before officially opening in March 2006.

The South African Museum of Rock Art is the first and largest part of the Origins Centre to open; the James Kitching Gallery, a museum devoted to dinosaurs and prehistoric life in general will open alongside SAMORA, thereby completing the Origins Centre.

Download the Origins Newsletter in PDF format

download Origins Newsletter 1.1.pdf 

download Origins Newsletter 1.2.pdf

student area

MA, MSc and Diploma in the field of Rock Art Studies

Rock Art Studies is an exciting field that considers the encoding of beliefs and social relations within ancient images. Our new suite of courses is flexibly planned so that it can meet your individual rock art research and management training needs.

The Rock Art Research Institute, based within the Department of Archaeology at Wits, is a recognised world leader in the field of Rock Art Studies. It is ideally positioned as a research and training centre because it is situated at the heart of one of the richest regions for rock art in the world. For more than twenty years the Rock Art Research Institute has been at the forefront of Rock Art Studies, leading the way with its publications on theoretical and methodological issues. In recent years, members of the Institute have published on rock art in southern Africa, central Africa, eastern Africa, western Europe and the USA. Our courses have an African focus, but the methodological and management issues addressed are of universal relevance. We welcome applications from candidates with research projects from any country.

Why do a Graduate Degree in Rock Art?
The Masters degrees and Diploma have been designed to meet the interests and requirements of anyone conducting research or requiring managerial skills in the field of rock Art Studies. The courses have both theoretical and applied foci. Importantly, field training and experience form an integral part of the courses. The flexibility in the course structure allows candidates to choose a focus suited to their own interests and needs.
Course Structure
The Masters degree is a combination of coursework (50%) and research (50%). The Diploma comprises coursework and field training only. All candidates are required to sit three courses (candidates can elect to sit a fourth course for an additional fee). Two of the courses must be chosen from those offered in Rock Art Studies. The others may be in Rock Art Studies or may be chosen from a wide range of courses in the field of Heritage Studies, or from a wide range of other available courses. Candidates sitting the Masters degrees, in addition to coursework, will complete a research report. This report may relate to any subject in the field of Rock Art Studies, provided that it is accepted by the course convenor. The research report has a maximum length of 30,000 words.
Core Courses
These core courses are also offered as optional modules in other fields including Culture Studies, Heritage Studies, Precolonial Studies, Anthropology, Archaeology and History of Art:

Anthropological Theory and the Philosophy of Rock Art as Information.
The Rock Art of Africa.
Rock Art Management.

Recommended Optional Courses:

Public Culture Culture and the Socio-economics of Tourism and Heritage Southern Africa.
AD 1000-1880 Methods and Theory for Precolonial Studies.
The Role of Public History and Heritage in Education.
Art and Heritage in Africa.
Anthropological Approaches to Culture.
Core Methods for Anthropology.
Advanced Study of African Traditional Religion.
Heritage Management.
Core Course Details
Anthropological Theory and the Philosophy of Rock Art as Information:

How do we escape from the gaze-and-guess syndrome that has plagued rock art studies in many parts of the world? This series of seminars, spread over six months, addresses the problem through an examination of theory and method in Rock Art Studies. The course has a global focus, drawing on examples of the history and development of interpretative frameworks for rock art from around the world. We examine both informed and formal approaches to rock art interpretation and consider Anthropological as well as Art Historical theory. Issues relating to chronology challenge the application of all these approaches. An obsession with age often appears to hold back potential advances in our understanding of rock art, but how far can one extend informed ethnographic approaches in the absence of knowledge about dating? The fineness of South African rock art and the beauty of its mountain setting draw visitors and researchers from around the world.


The Rock Art of Africa:

This course considers rock art interpretation as it is applied within Africa. The seminars, spread over six months, provide an overview of the principal rock art traditions of the continent. We examine the San art of southern Africa, the ‘schematic rock art zone’ of central Africa, the east African art in Tanzania that became famous through the work of Mary Leakey, and the celebrated art of Tassili and the surrounding area of the Sahara desert. The seminars will use the rock art of Africa to raise issues of debate that revolve around the recognition of style, sequence, composition, symbols and symbolism, the judging of relationships between figures, the application and relevance of ethnography, the role of gender, the rock surface as a context, shamanism, vision experience, neuropsychology, polysemy, multivocality and art and agency. Those studying at the Rock Art Research Institute spend much time in the field learning and practising site survey and recording work.


Rock Art Management:

This course explores the intellectual as well as the practical challenges faced by those who manage rock art. The structure, seminars and field exercises spread over six months, centres on the development and implementation of a management plan for a single rock art site or a group of sites. Rock art management is not a simple administrative exercise but an emotive process fraught with value judgements and difficult compromises. For whom do we manage rock art? Is conservation the sole or even primary aim of management? Who has the right to deny/allow access to rock art sites? Should concerns about conservation take precedence over traditional cultural practices? Where do we draw the line between maximising protective physical interventions, such as conservation measures, and minimising visual intrusions upon the site? How should we display a site to visitors and what information should we present? A section of the course focuses on the more technical aspects to rock art management such as the methods of recording and documenting rock art, the conservation measures that are available to arrest natural destructive processes and the measures that have proven effective in the control of human agency.
Course Duration
Courses are offered in alternate years (2003, 2005, 2007 etc.); all courses commence in February. Applications should be received by 31st October in the year preceding registration. Late applications will be considered if places are available. The Masters degrees and Diploma may be taken full-time over one year or part-time over two teaching years (three calendar years).
The New Rock Art Information Pack is available now with colour information brochures in South Africa.

With generous funding from the Ringing Rocks Foundation, USA we have updated and re-designed our old ‘Land Managers Pack, now renamed the ‘Rock Art Information Pack’.

The pack was designed to provide information to all those whose own, manage and live off the land on which rock art is found. Our aims are threefold:

1. To provide information about the age, authorship and meaning of south African Rock Art.
2. To provide practical information on managing and conserving rock art.
3. To inform all about the legislation that protects this irreplaceable and important part of our cultural heritage and to explain how this legislation can be used to help all to protect South Africa’s heritage.

To accompany the information pack we have designed a colour leaflet that would cover the questions most commonly asked by members of the public about rock art. The leaflet is accessible and concise and has been translated into language groups that cover all of South Africa’s eleven official languages. The colour leaflets that accompany the pack are translated in to eight of South Africa’s eleven official languages. These are Setswana, Tshivenda, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, English and Sepedi. The decision to use only eight of the languages followed on from our consultation with the Wits Language School who recommended that the similarities between some language groups were so great that production in each language was unnecessary unless demand grew from specific language groups.

To obtain a free copy of the Rock Art Information Pack please mailto: or call us on 011-717 6056/51.

copy

Terms copy

Do you teach?

    * History and Social Sciences
    * Natural Sciences
    * Geography
    * History
    * Life Sciences
    * Arts and Culture

Bring your learners to the Origins Centre to learn about:

    * Archaeology
    * The Stone Age
    * Rock Art
    * The San (Bushmen) spirit world
    * Values, attitudes, and beliefs

Combine your tour with a visit to the School of Geosciences Museums:

    * Fossils and the fossil record
    * Dinosaurs
    * Mammal-Ancestors
    * Meteorite Impact
    * Real Gold and Exploding Volcanoes

We also offer learning adventures through:

        * Shadow theatre
        * Story telling
        * Music and Dance
        * Visual Arts

For reservations and enquiries please contact us via phone or email:

Phone       +27 (0)11 717 4700

Email       

Past customers copy

Pricing copy

Host your Function in a World Class Museum

If you’re looking for a venue for your function that is
not the same old bland conference centre or hotel,
the Origins Centre is for you. Five unique venues
cater for a range of functions, from small work-
shops, to cocktail evenings through to lectures for
150 seated people. The Centre also has state-of-
the-art digital projectors, laptops and microphones.
Each room offers its own unique atmosphere, from
the high vaulted Tapestry Room, with its gorgeous
11 hanging panels to the Gallery where a changing
exhibition schedule ensures that no two functions
ever look the same to more intimate rooms that
cater for smaller functions. 

For more information, please contact the Marketing Office:

Phone    +27 (0)11 717 4700
Email    

 Tapestry Room: 120 seated or 150 maximum
standing. Built-in projector and PA system. Massive  
projection area.
 
 
 
 
 Gallery: 120 seated or maximum 150 standing.
Built-in projector, screen and PA system. Changing
exhibits for different atmosphere.
 

 
 
 Eland Room: 50 seated or maximum 80 standing.

 

 

For more information on our facilities, please contact the Marketing Office:

Phone    +27 (0)11 717 4700
 Email    

Other events copy

2007 Public Lecture series Posters

Download posters of previous speakers…

Lynn Meskell

Sven Ouzman

Ron Clarke

Alex Schoeman

Sheila Coulson

Tim Insoll

Ben Smith

Innocent Pikirayi

Chris Ehret

Karim Sadr

Calendar copy

A DVD of four of the five major films on show in the Origins Centre has been released. The films
included are: 1. The Eland Hunt 2. Trance Dance 3. Rain 4. Makagabeng. The DVD also includes
a slideshow of some of the exhibits within the centre. The DVD retails for R135 from the Origins Shop.

The Origins Centre has three different gardens: Kalahari vegetation; Drakensberg vegetation and prehistoric plants (under construction). There are almost 400 plant species on exhibit at the centre, most of these are endemic to southern Africa. The gardens, established by Patrick Watson and his team, are entirely unique; even though the gardens are themed on particular biomes, the combination of all the plants cannot be viewed in nature.

Most tourists in France are there for the Eiffel Tower, Louis Vuitton, and wine with lunch. In my case, I had the opportunity to see some of France minus its clichés when I attended a research collaboration meeting held in Les Eyzies de Tayac in south-western France on behalf of the Origins Centre, and see some of the archaeological heritage the area had to offer. Palaeolithic cave art is often one of the major attractions for tourists visiting the southern reaches of France, and I was taken to see four such caves. However, with the exception of Font de Gaume, I was left a little disappointed at the amount and quality of the art at the sites we saw, and realised, with some surprise, that many of the rock art sites in South Africa are truly more spectacular. However, my sense of great South African patriotism was short-lived when we visited the museum in Les Eyzies itself. Built into the limestone cliff, part of which is used as the wall of the building, the presentation and content in the museum emphasised the significant regard the French have for their heritage. In addition to the variety of displays encompassing the prehistory of France, the museum also boasted an education room in which school children and blind visitors can interact closely with some museum exhibits, as well as reproduce stone tools, art mobilier and miniature stratigraphies. The tactile models of various Palaeolithic animals designed specially for blind visitors were particularly impressive, and suggested to me that despite South Africa’s intense emphasis on ensuring accessibility to public places by all people, there is still more which can be done in our museums to cater to the needs of a wider range of visitors.-Claire Turner.

New discovery in Morocco

An international team of archaeologists, led by Oxford Univer sity’s Institute of Archaeology, have made another remarkable discovery from the African Middle Stone Age. Thirteen shells of Nassarius gibbosulus have been found in excavations at Grottes des Pigeons near the town of Taforalt in eastern Morocco; ten of these shells are perforated. The shells appear to have been collected by huntergatherers from the coast, some 40km away. The shells do not appear to have been harvested for food because they have certain features that suggest that they were collected from the seashore when they were already dead. Wear patterns on some of the shells suggest that they were suspended and used as ornamentation, probably a necklace. The shells were also covered in ochre. These marine shells are of the same genus as the marine shell beads found at Blombos Cave in South Africa and at other sites found throughout North Africa and southwest Asia. The beads from Blombos are dated to 75,000 years ago while the ones from Morocco are dated by four different techniques (Radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry, o p t i c a l l y s t i m u l a t e d l u m i n e s c e n c e , thermoluminescence, Uraniumseries isotopes) to 82,000 years ago. Importantly, this is some 40 millennia before evidence for ornamentation appears in Europe and these new finds are yet another nail in the coffin of arguments that hold that Europe was the location of our development into modern human beings. Increasingly, it is becoming clear that Africa holds the keys to understanding our species’ cognitive development. 

THis is the home page

Please note that centre will close on the 25th May 2009 till the 27th May 2009.

Cnr Yale & Enoch Sontonga
Wits University
Braamfontein
2050
Johannesburg
South Africa

The Origins Shop offers high quality, relevant and local range of handcrafted items sourced from southern Africa.

The shop focuses on supplying visitors with eclectic and beautiful authentic traditional as well as contemporary items relating to South African identity.

The shop strives to deal predominantly with creative and craft initiatives led by local communities, ngos, womens’ groups and individual artists and crafters. Detailed information on these is available where possible. The shop operates along the lines of fair trade.

The Origins Shop also offers the discerning reader an unequalled range of books on Africa. Concentrating on African rock art, San and Khoi studies, and archaeology, the books on offer also cover African art, history, peoples and cultures, Black conscious, folktales and myths, geology, gender issues, human evolution, natural history and science, politics, ritual and religion, and travel and exploration.

Browse through a selection of significant autobiographies, African fiction and poetry. Of special interest is the book Origins by Dr Geoffrey Blundell, curator of the Origins Museum. Together with your purchase, take home a gift from the best African children’s books available, or a DVD or CD featuring San music.

Our staff is enthusiastic, knowledgeable and friendly, and will assist you in finding the perfect piece, information on pieces, craft groups or books, as well as order you items or books that are currently unavailable in stock.

We look forward to your visit!

Services and Tourism Training Institute has earned an enviable reputation throughout the South African Tourism Industry for its high level of performance in the field of tourist guide training, and the provision of qualified, professional Tourist Guides to the South African Tourism Industry. In order to broaden the scope of Gold Reef Guides the Company underwent a name change from Gold Reef Guides to the Services and Tourism Training Institute (STTI).

Keeping fully abreast of recent legislation regarding the training of Tourist Guides and the importance of opening up the industry to previously disadvantaged South Africans, Gold Reef Guides/STTI has, since 1987, been recognized by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism as a leader in empowering black South Africans for the South African Tourist Guide Industry.

Services and Tourism Training Institute is an Accredited Training Provider in terms of the stringent requirements laid down by THETA (Tourism, Hospitality & Sport Education Training Authority) and the company’s staff complement of lecturers and trainers comprise accredited facilitators, assessors and moderators.

Services & Tourism Training Institute is naturally proud of its historic role in the training of Tourist Guides for the South African Tourism Industry and intends maintaining its leadership position through constant in-house staff training, supplemented by regular liaison with the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations based in Vienna, Austria.  

STTI has been instrumental in the development of sites with the view to development within the scope of tourism. More recently, we have been involved with the development, training and opening of the Origins Centre - the first ever Rock Art Museum at the Witwatersrand University and the first in the world.
Basic History of Services & Tourism Training Institute Since 1987, the Training Institute has been recognized by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism as a leader in the field of Tourist Guide Training.

STTI participated in the Integrated Nature-Based Tourism and Conservation Management project (INTAC). The aim of the project was to up-skill learners within the fields of nature-based tourism and conservation management in the following areas:

    * Kgalagadi National Park
    * Namaqua Park
    * Riemvasmaak (Augrabies)
    * Pilansberg
    * Richtersveld
    * Kruger National Park and various game lodges.


STTI was also responsible for the training of 180 Historically Disadvantaged Individuals for the Gauteng Tourism Authority in 2003/4 and a first in the South African Tourism Industry in the training of 60 people with disabilities on a learnership programme.

We are currently busy with the Learnership for the Johannesburg Zoo and the training of tourist guides at Sterkfontein and we are spreading our portfolio of training to include, Fly-fishing, Rock Art, Tour Operating, Customer Care Skills programmes, Events Management and Floristry.

Soon we will be able to offer the candidate who already has a Certificate in Tourism: Guiding (20155), the opportunity to further their provincial studies online.

With a history of dedication and professionalism in the training of Tourist Guides covering more than two decades, Services and Tourism Training Institute has been recognized as a leader in its field.

The Company is proud of the fact that it has opened up the Industry for previously disadvantaged South Africans residing in the major townships within Gauteng Province and encouraging them to grasp the many opportunities offered by the South African Tourism Industry.

STTI was responsible for pioneering tourist routes in Soweto (1987) and with its dedication to upliftment, has trained Tourist Guides for South Africa’s most important township community with enthusiasm and professionalism.

In addition, STTI has carried on the good work in other townships in Gauteng Province, including Alexandra as well as Tembisa, Katlehong and Sharpeville, where they have been involved in research.  Many students have qualified with honours and advanced beyond tourist guiding, to higher levels within the South African Tourism Industry.

SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY Most of our courses are registered with SAQA through THETA.  Others are in the process of being registered as the Standards Generating Body are still busy writing some of the unit standards for certain qualifications, after which these will be submitted to SAQA for approval. TOURISM, HOSPITALITY AND SPORT EDUCATION TRAINING STTI are an accredited training Provider with THETA and as such we comply with their strict requirements. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION STTI are registered with the DoE as a Further Education Training Provider – according to their stringent requirements. Counsil for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education Training.

STTI are in the process of registering with Umalusi. The General and Further Education and Training Quality Assurance ACT No 58 of 2001 mandates Umalusi to monitor the adequacy and suitability of qualifications and standards within the General and Further Education and Training bands.
SOUTHERN AFRICA TOURISM SERVICES ASSOCIATION Gold Reef Guides/STTI are proud to be members of this association and have been actively involved for many years.
FUTURE PROGRAMMES ON OFFER

    * CERTIFICATE IN TOUR OPERATING
    * DIPLOMA IN TOUR OPERATING
    * CERTIFICATE IN ADVENTURE GUIDING: FLY FISHING
    * (Offered through an associate Academy)
    * SKILLS PROGRAMME IN NATURE GUIDING LEVEL 2
    * SKILLS PROGRAMME IN NATURE GUIDING LEVEL 4
    * SKILLS PROGRAMME IN FRONT OFFICE/RECEPTION
    * DIPLOMA IN EVENTS MANAGEMENT
    * CERTIFICATE IN FLORISTRY
    * E-LEARNING – VARIOUS PROVINCES ON OFFER
    * SITE GUIDE SPECIALISING IN ROCK ART (Offered by the WITS Rock Art Institute)
    * SITE GUIDE – specializing in museums (Offered by the WITS Rock Art Institute)


E-LEARNING Should you wish to do any provinces via the e-learning method for certification purposes, the following will apply:

    * Already qualified for the Certificate in Tourism: Guiding (20155)
    * Have completed at least 3 practical provincial training modules i.e. Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West – for those living outside of Gauteng, you need to be qualified for at least 3 provinces closest to you (proof must be supplied).
    * After the on-line written assessment, you will be required to do:

       1. An overview of the province concerned
       2. A one-day itinerary with commentary
       3. A 5-day itinerary with commentary
       4. Hand the above in to our offices for marking
       5. Undertake a one-on-one assessment with one of our assessors

    * Once the above is completed, and you are found competent, a letter will be issued by us, for registration purposes which will take place at your local Tourism Authority.


You are free to pay the on-line subscription fee for any of the courses/provinces on offer on e-learning and not undertake the above.  However, we will not issue any declaration of competency in this instance.

What you need to do (if requiring certification):

   1. Register on-line for the specific province you wish to study
   2. Pay for the course (on-line or direct deposit, in which case a copy of the deposit slip needs to be faxed to our offices)
   3. You will be issued with a code to gain access to the specific course
   4. Download your learning material for that province
   5. When you are ready, you will complete the on-line ‘written’ assessment in the form of a multiple choice questionnaire.
   6. Upon receiving your results, you need to complete the 3 tasks mentioned above (overview and itineraries)
   7. Post or deliver these to our offices at Origins Centre, WITS University
   8. Pay R350-00 Assessment fee
   9. The assessor will contact you with regard to an appointment, once he/she has marked your assignments.
  10. Once found competent by the assessor, a moderator will ensure all requirements have been met.
  11. A letter of competency is issued to you for registration purposes.


For those people not wishing to continue with the assessment, points 1 to 5 will apply.

The STTI e-learning programme is still under development and will launch in the near future.

SERVICES AND TOURISM TRAINING INSTITUTE (STTI)

PHYSICAL ADDRESS:

    ORIGINS CENTRE
    WITS Campus
    Cnr of Yales & Enoch Snotonga
    Braamfontein

POSTAL ADDRESS:

    Private Bag 3
    WITS
    2050

TELEPHONE:

    Sonya Richter (Principal)    011 717-4706
    Reception   011 717-4700
    Roberta Roggerini (Admin)   011 717-4706

FAX:

    086 546-6904

E-MAIL:

   

            Capture The Rain

            Joan Abrahams