Shadreck Chirikure

 

 

archaeology dept, beattie building, room 3.20

phone: +27 21 650-2350

fax: +27 21 650-2352

email: shadreck.chirikure AT uct.ac.za

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Courses lectured: SAN1015F: Words, Bones, Deeds and Things, AGE3011F: The Roots of the Black people of South Africa, AGE3012S (Undergraduate), Honours in Archaeology Programme (AGE4000W) – Working with Objects & Heritage Management Modules 

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I have two broad research interests namely artifact studies and heritage management in contemporary Africa. My work in artifact studies, seeks to integrate strands of evidence from disparate disciplines to understand indigenous metals production and use in sub-Saharan Africa. I combine archaeological, anthropological and historical approaches with standard metallurgical and mineralogical techniques to investigate pre-colonial metal extractive technologies and the associated socio-cultural processes. Currently my research in this field is restricted to indigenous mining and metallurgy in southern Africa. This work is carried out in our well equipped Materials Laboratory.

Remnants from pre-colonial technologies are part of our heritage and indigenous knowledge systems. Therefore, they must be protected for the benefit of present and future generations. As such, I am actively involved with research on heritage management in contemporary Africa. My work in this field studies the relevance of UNESCO Conventions in protecting African Heritage. I work closely with leading organizations such as the newly established Africa World Heritage Fund in promoting this research. The often politically charged issue of community participation in heritage management also excites me.

Because of these broad research interests, I am involved in a number of projects that involve leading international researchers and institutions. Examples of these include the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, University of Arizona, Tucson, Stanford University, University of Pretoria, The University of Botswana, the University of Zimbabwe, the University of Dar es Salam and the Africa World Heritage Fund.

 

 
Shadreck Chirikure is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town. He obtained the degrees of MA Artefact Studies (2002) and PhD in Archaeology (2005) from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. His doctoral thesis explored the technology and socio-cultural metaphors associated with pre-colonial iron production in northern Zimbabwe.

 

Selected publications:    

Chirikure, S. Heimann, R, and Killick, D. 2010 “The technology of tin smelting in the Rooiberg Valley, Limpopo Province, South Africa, ca. 1650–1850 CE” Journal of Archaeological Science 37, 7. 1656-1669

Heimann, R. Chirikure, S and Killick, D. 2010 “Mineralogy and chemistry of stannous spinels of tin smelting slags from Rooiberg, South Africa” European Journal of Mineralogy 22, 751–761

Chirikure, S. 2010. “On evidence, facts and fantasy: on the origins of metallurgy in Africa” Journal of African Archaeology 8, 1. DOI 10.3213/1612-1651-101** Published online in March 2010 © Africa Magna Verlag, Frankfurt M

Chirikure, S, Sinamai, A, Mubusisi, Mombolah -/Goagoses, E. Ndoro, W 2010 “Globalisation and maritime trade during the Age of Discoveries: A case study of the Oranjemund shipwreck cargo” Journal of Maritime Archaeology. 5:37–55

Mlaudzi, M, Schoeman, A. M and Chirikure, S 2010 “Continuing conversations at the frontier” South African Historical Journal 62 (2) 2010 ISSN: Print 0258-2473/Online 1726-1686 DOI 0.1080/02582473.2010.492982

Chirikure, S., Manyanga, M., Ndoro, W,. Pwiti, G 2010 “Unfulfilled promises: community participation at some of Africa’s World Heritage Sites” International Journal of Heritage Studies 16, 1 & 2, 30-44.

Chirikure, S., Burret, R, and Heimann, R, B. 2009 “Beyond furnaces and slags: bellows and their contribution to pre-colonial African Metallurgical Processes” Azania 2. 195-215.

Ndoro, W. and  Chirikure, S 2009 “Developments in the practice of heritage management in Africa” In Conserving Authenticity (eds) Stanley-Price, N and King J, ICCROM Conservation Studies 10. Rome: ICCROM. 235-247.

Chirikure, S. 2009 “New knowledge and the university” Anthropology Southern Africa 32, 1-2, 77.

Chirikure, S. and Pikirayi, I. 2008 “Inside and outside the stone walls: the material culture of Great Zimbabwe” Antiquity 82.  976–993

Chirikure, S and Pwiti, G. 2008 “Community involvement in archaeology and heritage management: case studies from southern Africa and elsewhere” Current Anthropology 49, 3. 467-485

Chirikure, S. 2008. Language and archaeology in southern Africa: the search for post-colonial reality. Archaeologies-Journal of the World Archaeological Congress, 4, 1. 182-185.

Chirikure, S, Hall, S., and Maggs, T. 2008 “Metals beyond frontiers: a study of the production and distribution of metals in the Free State grasslands” In Swanepoel, N., Esterhuysen, A., and Bonner, P., (eds). Five hundred years rediscovered: southern African precedents and prospects. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. 88-102.

Chirikure, S. 2007 “Metals and society: specialist iron production in Iron Age southern Africa” Journal of Social Archaeology 7, 2. 72-100

Chirikure, S., Hall, S, Miller, D. 2007 “One hundred years on – what do we know about tin and bronze production in southern Africa? In Laniece, S, Hook, D. and Craddock, P (eds) Mines and Metal: Essays in honour of Paul Craddock. London: British Museum Press. 112-122

Rehren, Th., Charlton, M, Chirikure, S, Humphris, J, Ige, A, and Veldhuijzen, A. 2007 “The human factor in African iron working” In Laniece, Young and Rehren, Th. (eds) Mines and Metals: Essays in honour of Paul Craddock. London: British Museum Press. 211-219

Chirikure, S 2006 New light on Njanja iron working: towards a systematic encounter between ethnohistory and archaeometallurgy.  South African Archaeological Bulletin 61, 184, 142-151.

Chirikure, S. and Rehren, Th. 2006. Iron production in pre-colonial Zimbabwe – evidence for diachronic change from Swart Village and Baranda. Journal of African Archaeology. 4 (1) 37-54

Chirikure, S and Rehren, Th. 2004. Ores, furnaces and slags: aspects of iron working in the Nyanga complex. African Archaeological Review. 115-134

Chirikure, S. 2001, Pwiti, G., Pikirayi, A comparative study of Khami pottery Zimbabwe. In Pwiti, G and Chami, F. (eds). Southern Africa and the Swahili World. Dar es Salam: Dar es Salam University Press. 131-146.

Books

Chirikure, S. 2010. Indigenous mining and metallurgy in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ndoro, W and Chirikure, S. (eds).  In press. The African Experience: Heritage Management in Africa. London: Left Coast Press

Chirikure, S. and Paynter, S. 2002. A metallurgical Investigation of iron working remains from Snettisham, Norfolk. English Heritage Centre for Archaeology Monographs 50.