PROFESSIONALISATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY: AN IMPORTANT LEAP TO THE FUTURE

Abstract

Archaeology as a discipline has developed following generally similar trends around the world. In its infancy days, archaeology was largely dominated by collectors who were not providing much interpretation of the materials they were gathering. As amateurs, their analyses of the last was severely limited. In the case of South Africa, it was only in 1923 that a first South African was trained as an archaeologists. Training of more archaeologists was a slow phenomenon for many reasons, and thus it was not until a growing number of universities introduced archaeological programs in the country that there were concerted efforts to train more scholars in the discipline. While all these developments were taking place, however, the professional was not regulated. Instead, archaeological associations were informally constituted by like-minded people who shared the same passion for the past. It was not until March 2018 that the Association for Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA), administratively and historically based in South Africa, was recognised as a non-statutory body. The discipline has taken a long trajectory to reach this level. In my opinion, the preferred recognition would have been registration as a statutory body established by the law of South African Parliament. That aside, I share the journey South African archaeology has traversed over the period encompassing four centuries, as well as evaluate the impact made by the 2018 recognition by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).